West Valley College

The college was founded as West Valley Junior College in 1963. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] It was to serve the footprint of the Campbell Union High School District , the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District , and the Santa Clara Unified School District . The district was formed by voter approval in January 1963. [ 2 ] The first classes began September 14, 1964. [ 4 ] The first campus took over the space of the defunct Campbell Union Grammar School , at 1 East Campbell Avenue near Winchester Boulevard in Campbell across the street from Campbell High School . [ 5 ] The grammar school itself was closed because its WPA era buildings were deemed unsafe in the event of an earthquake. While some of the existing buildings used, most of the classrooms were portable, parked on the former playgrounds. [ 6 ] The land for the new campus, where the school is located now was purchased in 1966. Groundbreaking for the new construction was June 15, 1967. [ 2 ] [ 7 ] Starting in 1968 the first new building was occupied and a few classes transitioned to the new campus, many in temporary classrooms while further permanent structures were built. The transition was completed in 1975. [ 8 ]

The campus occupies 143 acres (58 ha) near the West Valley Freeway in Saratoga .

West Valley College is part of Silicon Valley's West Valley–Mission Community College District, which also administers Mission College in nearby Santa Clara , in turn part of the California Community Colleges System . The district serves the cities of Saratoga , Campbell , Los Gatos , Monte Sereno, Santa Clara , and San Jose . The district headquarters is on the West Valley College campus.

As of 2005, West Valley College offered 61 associate degree programs and 94 certificate programs. As of 2017, the school had a total enrollment of 9,463 students and its faculty had 404 full-time and 168 associate members. From those 9,463 students, 5,721 are returning students from the semester before.