Middle College High School (Santa Ana)

Middle College High School
Motto	"College is our Sport"- Mr. Valenzuela (Teacher)
Type	Public
Principal	Mrs. Flint
Grades	9-12
Location	1530 W. 17th Street, Santa Ana, California, USA
District	Santa Ana Unified School District
Colors	Purple and Silver
Mascot	Wizard
Website	MCHS Website

Middle College High School @ Santa Ana College (Commonly referred to as Middle College or MCHS) is located on the campus of Santa Ana College, in Santa Ana, California. This school has about 300 students, with an average of 80 pupils in each grade level and 15-28 students per class. It includes grade levels ninth through twelve, and the school's mascot is the wizard. The school's colors are Purple and Silver

Background

MCHS allows high school students to take high school classes and college courses at the same time. It was only in the year 2003 that they had ninth graders participating in the program as part of the transition to the Early College model conceptualized by the Middle College National Consortium.

Most students have the opportunity to earn credit and to complete from a year to even an AA Degree worth of college classes. Most students take 3 to 11 college units a semester.Students have educational plans that structure their learning so that they can complete their AA requirements at Santa Ana College, while completing their high school course work.

College courses are free to all MCHS students because educational partners such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation offer grants to pay for the students' college tuition and textbooks. MCHS has a high school academic counselors and a part-time SAC academic counselor who help students plan their courses. The school is staff by 13 teachers who are responsible for teaching the core curricula and a few electives; the students spend their day taking both college and high school classes.

Athletics

Middle College High School does not have any high school-related sports; only college sports in which students must be 18 years or older to participate. Most universities only check the high school and college grades for the student's sophomore and junior year. In order to take college courses while at MCHS, student's parents have to sign the CAP form, a permission slip saying that the parents agree to let the student take the course that was assigned. Students take college PE classes to fulfill their physical education classes. Such classes include yoga, dance (from ballet to hip hop), circuit training, track, swimming, aerobics, soccer, etc.

Achievements

Although the school is still growing, it has many achievements that are noteworthy: Honorable Mention as a CA Distinguished High School; growth in its API score; and a 100% pass rate on the CAHSEE for the last 6 consecutive years. Most recently, U.S. News & World Report ranks Middle College High among one of the 'Best High Schools' in the Nation.^{[citation needed]}. In 2008, based on its API score, Middle College High School was ranked the 5th best High School in Orange County, California. In 2009 MCHS was awarded A Blue Ribbon Award and was named A California Distinguished School. In 2010, MCHS's score on the Star Tests was 890 and their goal this year (2011) is to reach 900.

Clubs

MCHS currently hosts the following clubs: Gay Straight Alliance, ECO, Varsity Club, Health Club, Hacky Sack Club, Invisible Children, Book Club, Film Club, Gamers Club, Yearbook, The Spellbinder, and Stand Up 2 Cancer.

References

External links

• Middle College High School Website
• Middle College Foundation

Coordinates: 33°45′36″N 117°53′19″W / 33.760061°N 117.88859°W / 33.760061; -117.88859