History of Name

  Middle College High School (MCHS) is a Santa Ana Unified School District school, located at  Santa Ana College. A collaborative venture between the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) and Santa Ana College(SAC), opened its doors in 1997 with approximately 80 sophomores and a staff consisting of four teachers, a high school counselor, a principal and two classified employees.  In 2000 Middle College High School graduated its first class with its valedictorian holding the distinguished rank of valedictorian of the high school and the college.   Since 2000, Middle College has been a member of the Middle College High School National Consortium, a network of Middle College High Schools. In 2004, Middle College became part of the redesigned initiative of Early College. To make this dream a reality, Santa Ana Unified School District, Middle College High School, and Santa Ana College worked collaboratively to rethink the traditional curriculum sequences,  to find creative ways to align and connect high school and college experiences, and then provide the academic and social supports needed to succeed in an intensive early college program of study. 

Since the implementation of our focus on standards based instruction and assessment, the MCHS Academic Performance Index (API) has improved from 728 in 2003 to 850 in 2009, a gain of 122 points.  In addition, we have celebrated a 100% pass rate on the California High School Exit Exam for the past three school years.  This data demonstrates that our efforts are closing the achievement gap for our students to provide access to higher level learning in high school and college. MCHS has increased graduation rates, provided support to our students for them to persist in rigorous high school and college courses, and instilled in them a commitment to earn a college degree. 

The Middle College High School community at Santa Ana College is proud of our academic accomplishments.  In 2007, 2008 and 2009, Middle College High School was recognized as a National Title I Achievement School by the California Department of Education (CDE).  Only two schools in California received this honor. We have also been recognized as a 2009 California Distinguished School, and a 2009 National Blue Ribbon School for our work in closing the achievement gap.  In 2008 and 2009, U.S. World and News Report listed Middle College High School as a Silver and Bronze Medal winner, one of the top schools in the country.

Date Built and/or Occupied

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