The school opened in 1959 as Pomona Catholic Boys High School and was renamed in 1967 as Damien High School, in honor of St. Damien de Veuster, SS.CC., who was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday October 11, 2009. The Sacred Heart Fathers have staffed and administered the school since its beginning in La Verne. The courage and capacity for self-sacrifice in the cause of others, is encouraged as an impetus toward social causes in the lives of Damien's students. In 1996, a new swimming pool and locker room were constructed. Six new tennis courts were also built near the priests’ residence and a new ticket/snack bar/rest room facility was built in Spartan Stadium. A new gymnasium, The Travers Cronin Athletic Center, was opened in 2006. In 2008, the Spartan Stadium was renovated. It now includes an all weather track and FieldTurf. Spartan Stadium was renamed "Dick Larson Stadium" in honor of the school's longtime football coach. 2010 brought a renovation of the football stadium, including the installation of a new scoreboard and stadium seating. The stadium was officially named "Tom Carroll Stadium," in honor of Damien's Athletic Director of 37 years. In 2014, Damien and St. Lucy's Priory High School were moved from the Sierra League, where they had competed since 1998, to the Baseline League. The League consists of Damien/St. Lucy's, Chino Hills, Etiwanda, Los Osos, Rancho Cucamonga, and Upland. In 2015, the basketball team won the California Interscholastic Federation State championship by defeating Campolindo High of Moraga by the score of 70-57 at Haas Pavilion on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley.
The Damien Policy Debate team won the 2009 National Debate Coach's Association National Championship, the 2009 National Forensic League National Tournament, and the inaugural Unger Cup, the award given to the "nation’s most successful high school debate squad." Damien qualified 4 teams to the TOC in 2009, more than any other school in the nation. A school team won the National Debate Coaches Association Tournament, in 2011, making Damien the first school to win the NDCA twice.
Student Spaceflight Experiments Program
Damien High School was one of 23 communities involved with Student Spaceflight Experiment Program Mission 7 to send a science experiment to the International Space Station. The experiment was originally aboard the SpaceX-7 rocket launched on June 28, 2015 which exploded 2 minutes into launch. The experiment was successfully re-flown on the SpaceX CRS-8 on April 8, 2016, and docked with the International Space Station two days later. The experiment studies the effects of tardigrades in a microgravity environment.
Tri-School Community
Damien High School is a part of the "tri-school" community existing between St. Lucy's Priory High School and Pomona Catholic High School. Numerous dances and functions are coordinated between the three schools during the school year. Additionally, financial incentives exist for parents who have multiple children attending these schools.
