The Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) is a public school district in Santa Clara County, California, United States that serves roughly 14,000 students from the cities of Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, and San Jose. The Santa Clara Unified School District operates eighteen elementary schools (K–5), four middle schools (6–8), one K–8 school, five high schools (9–12), one community day school, one adult education program, and one dual enrollment partnership with the West Valley–Mission Community College District at Mission College. The district is very diverse, with 71% of the community being nonwhite.

History

In the late 1860s, the Santa Clara Grammar School was established in downtown Santa Clara as the city's first school. In 1872, Santa Clara High School was established on the same property. However, in 1905, the high school's board of education oversaw the construction of a new building at a different site, and the school moved the following year. By 1922, the Santa Clara Union High School District was established as a union school district covering the area of several nearby elementary schools. Prior to 1965, the Santa Clara region comprised four school districts: the Alviso School District, the Santa Clara Elementary School District, the Santa Clara Union High School District, and the Jefferson School District. Due to rapid population increases and industrialization, the four districts began making efforts to unify in the 1950s. They ultimately merged in 1965 to form the Santa Clara Unified School District. The Santa Clara Unified School District underwent significant restructuring before the 1981–1982 school year. Buchser High School closed, and its campus was repurposed as Santa Clara High School's new location. Buchser Junior High School was established at the former Santa Clara High School campus. Additionally, Peterson High School was converted into Peterson Middle School, with the high school students joining the Wilcox High School student body. In June 2014, the Santa Clara Unified School District purchased 59.4 acres of the former Agnews Developmental Center to build a K–12 educational facility. Agnew Elementary School and Huerta Middle School opened in 2021, and MacDonald High School opened in 2022.

Schools

High schools

Kathleen MacDonald High School

MacDonald High School opened in 2022 and is the newest school in the Santa Clara Unified School District.

Mission Early College High School

Mission Early College High School is a dual enrollment partnership with the West Valley–Mission Community College District. It was established in 2017 as a college immersion program to replace the former Mission Middle College Program.

New Valley High School

New Valley High School is a small alternative continuation high school.

Santa Clara High School

Santa Clara High School, originally established as Santa Clara Union High School in 1872, moved to the campus of then-Emil R. Buchser High School in 1981.

Adrian C. Wilcox High School

Wilcox High School opened in 1961 and has been a California Distinguished School since 2005. It is named after Adrian Clyde Wilcox, a longtime Santa Clara Union High School board member.

Wilson High School

Wilson High School is an alternative school established in 1982

Teacher housing

In 2002 the district opened Casa del Maestro ("House of the Teacher" in Spanish), housing for employees. A second phase opened in 2009.

Transportation

Santa Clara Unified School District consists of the following bus fleet; the amounts are unknown

Historical fleet