Our Past
The West Valley Joint Community College District was established in January 1963 after the approval of voters living within the boundaries of the Campbell Union High School District and Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District.
The first classes at West Valley College were held in September 1964 at the Campbell campus, located in the former Campbell Union Grammar School. Classes continued at that location while the District purchased a 143-acre site in Saratoga. The site would eventually become the permanent campus for West Valley College and the District offices.
Construction on the new campus began in 1967 and a year later the campus’ first building was occupied. A few classes transitioned to the new campus, many in temporary classrooms while more buildings were constructed. The college fully transitioned to the new campus by 1975.
That same year, the District acquired 12 acres in Santa Clara for second college, Mission College. The location eventually grew to be a 164-acre site. While construction was underway, Mission College was temporarily located at Jefferson Intermediate School from 1975 to 1979. The college’s first building phase was completed in 1979 and the new campus opened its doors to students.
In 1985, the District name was changed to reflect the status of Mission College. Known since then as the West Valley-Mission Community College District, the District has been a major provider of credit and non-credit education in the Santa Clara Valley through its two campuses.
Our Present
Each of our two colleges, West Valley College and Mission College, has developed its own character, style, programs, and atmosphere. Yet both colleges share a commitment to academic excellence.
- Faculty and staff at each college are dedicated to assisting students in meeting their academic goals, vocational interests, and special needs.
- Each semester, more than 20,000 students enroll in courses between the two colleges.
- Thousands of others take online, off-campus, or non-credit courses and seminars offered through a variety of programs.
- All programs are aimed at meeting the training and retraining needs of the people of Silicon Valley.
Our district is part of California’s public community college system of 112 colleges in 72 districts across the state, which serves more than 2.5 million students and represents the largest system of higher education in the world.