Mira Mesa Senior High School

Located in the northern portion of the San Diego city limits, Mira Mesa is located in an area once situated by Native American tribes. Due to much of the land being considered wasteland, it was not put to much use for years until the early 1960s. Developers saw its potential to relieve the housing shortage San Diego was facing.

In 1974, a school bond issue was passed to help build the schools that the now full-fledged town of Mira Mesa sorely needed. On September 13, 1976, Mira Mesa Jr./Sr. High School was opened and now serves grades 9-12, fed by the local Challenger and Wangenheim Middle Schools.^[5]

Since 1998, Mira Mesa High School has seen an increase in diversity among its students. As of the 2014–15 school year, the student body was composed of around 28% Filipino, 22% Hispanic, and 14% White.^[6]

In the spring of 2016 the school was re-accredited for another six years by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).^[7]

Starting in 2019 major construction projects started on campus, including a new building replacing the bungalow units, and a new music building in the front of the school.^[8] This was completed before the 2021 school year, and a second phase of major construction is also expected to be complete by the 2027 school year.^[9]

Mira Mesa High School's Athletics programs include football, basketball, field hockey, water polo, swimming, baseball, soccer, tennis, cross country, dance, volleyball, badminton, softball, wrestling, lacrosse, and track and field.

The Mira Mesa Boys Wrestling team has won fourteen consecutive League Titles (2012-2025) and 25 overall. The team also won thirteen consecutive San Diego City Conference (Willie Jones Jr. Memorial) Titles (2012-2024) and 21 overall. The boys wrestling team won its first-ever CIF Championship (Division 1) in 2014 and finished CIF runner-up in 2005, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. The Team once again won a CIF Championship in 2024. The Girls team was CIF runner-up in 2021 and 2022. The Girls Team was the San Diego Section Masters Champions in 2022. The Girls have won the first three City Conference Girls Championships (2023, 2024, 2025) ^[10]

Mira Mesa High School is home to the 8th Battalion, an Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps unit and one of the fourteen units contained within the San Diego Unified School District JROTC Joint Brigade.^[13] It was formerly home to the 936th Wing of Air Force JROTC (CA-936). Established in September 1993, the unit has served Mira Mesa High School and the local community, participating in many community service events such as the annual Mira Mesa Street Fair and Fourth of July Parade.^[14]

CA-936 was led by two certified Aerospace Science Instructors consisting of a retired United States Air Force Major and a retired United States Air Force Senior Master Sergeant. As an Army JROTC unit, it is currently led by a retired United States Army Lieutenant Colonel and a retired United States Army Sergeant First Class. Cadet leadership within the unit consists of a thirteen-member "Senior Staff" led by a Battalion Commander. The unit has four drill teams: an Armed Fancy Drill Team, a Color Guard, a Sabre Team, and an Unarmed Fancy Drill Team. The program also boasts several special teams, including a CyberPatriot Team, an Awareness Presentation Team, an Academic Team, and a Raiders Team. In addition to being awarded the Distinguished Unit Award multiple times by AFJROTC Headquarters, CA-936 has twice been awarded the SDUSD Brigade's Stilwell trophy in 2001 and 2002.^[15]

On October 22, 2007, many victims found shelter in the school gym, after they evacuated from the Witch Creek Fire and several other fires threatening San Diego at the time. The fire burned over 20,000 acres (81 km²).

• Primary and secondary schools in San Diego, California