Middle College High School

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History of MCHS

Middle College HS, modeled after La Guardia Middle College HS in Queens, NY, was started in 1989 with a grant from the California Community College Foundation. For most of its 18 years, the school occupied between seven and ten temporary bungalows that were the original classrooms of Los Angeles Southwest College (LASC).

Middle College HS was designed to serve at risk students who were intellectually capable but not sufficiently challenged or nurtured in traditional schools. During those initial years, Middle College High School was one of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s continuation schools. MCHS, however, experienced a transformation over the years. The school began to attract increasingly more capable and fewer at-risk students (though the risk factors for academic failure, early pregnancy, drug abuse, and incarceration remain acutely high for all young people).

During the late 1990s, when an increasing number of the students found themselves academically prepared for more competitive universities—but unqualified because of MCHS’s continuation school designation—the faculty and administration applied for an independent accreditation. In the spring of 2000 Middle College High School was first accredited. In the spring of 2006, another three-year term of accreditation was awarded.

During School Year 2005-2006, the school community was challenged by a temporary relocation to a vacant elementary school while a long term interim facility was built. In January, 2006, we moved to our new facility on the southwestern edge of LASC. Although limited in space and amenities, it has not limited our creativity or our students’ success. During school year 2005-2006, the LAUSD Board of Education agreed to build a permanent facility for MCHS, and on November 28, 2007, District staff announced that it would be located on the main campus of LASC—our students, parents, and staff are eagerly awaiting the groundbreaking ceremony and subsequent construction!