Mira Costa High history

Known then as the Oceanside-Carlsbad Junior College Department of the Oceanside High School District, the school opened on September 3, 1934, with 20 faculty members who taught about 120 students.

In April 1935, the California State Board of Education approved its permanent establishment.

When word got around in 1941 that women at the Oceanside-Carlsbad Junior College (O-CJC) were taking welding.

The tower was given to the college by Dana Caroll and Eleanor Monroe Blayney in memory of their son, Robert Monroe Blayney, who was killed in action December 11, 1944, while serving our country in France.

Mira Costa High School opened in 1950.

1955 Oceanside-Carlsbad Junior College campus.

In 1957, under the coaching of John W. “Bill” Corchran, the college’s football team won the South Central Conference championship and the yearbook responded by devoting 13 pages just to football.

By 1959, Oceanside-Carlsbad Junior College was prepared to accommodate 500 full-time students in classrooms on 30 acres adjacent to Oceanside High School.

In 1960, electors of the district voted to establish a separate junior college district.

By 1970, a women’s locker room had been built, an exercise room was added to the gymnasium, an agricultural area and horticulture greenhouse had been developed and a theatre stagecraft building was erected.

In 1972, the college built the music and art buildings as several other minor buildings.

On the Oceanside Campus, a new state-of-the-art theatre opened in May of 1981, and the construction didn’t stop there.

In 1988, after much negotiation with the Coastal Commission, the San Elijo Campus opened its doors; the California Costal Commission first semester, nearly 2,500 credit students enjoyed classes at the beautiful campus—1,000 more than were expected.

MiraCosta College's Adult Learning Center opened in 1992 at a newly remodeled site on Horne Street in downtown Oceanside.

In 2000, the Adult Learning Center relocated to its current permanent location on Mission Avenue in Oceanside and was renamed the Community Learning Center.

Also on the Oceanside Campus, years of planning and work culminated with the opening of the $13million,48,000-square-foot library and information hub in 2003.

In the beginning of 2007, MiraCosta College’s newly remodeled theatre hosted its first show.

On the San Elijo Campus, students are enjoying the new student center, which opened during the 2008 spring semester.

In 2011, MiraCosta College received a seven-year, $7 million federal GEAR UP grant, which provides multiple services to ensure middle school students and their families are prepared for college and career choices.

In fall 2013, the Department of Labor awarded MiraCosta College a $2.75 million federal grant to start a Technology Career Institute (TCI) aimed at filling a growing demand for qualified machinists and industrial technicians in North County.