Since 2017, Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) has intended to build a new school for New Valley High School, and in 2024, the board approved a plan to move the school to a renovated Wilson Educational Options Campus.
But despite years of very public discussion and planning, opponents of the Wilson plan continue to attack the plan because, they say, it would “jeopardize their well-being and security.”
This two-part series will examine the history of New Valley, the opposition and the important question of equal treatment for all SCUSD students.
Far from being a recent addition to SCUSD’s portfolio, New Valley was founded in 1965 as a path to high school graduation for students at risk of dropping out. Students may have experienced severe disruptions in their lives. They may be foster children. They may have learning disabilities or behavior problems. For whatever reason, they need extra help getting back on track. Student enrollment ranges from 150 to 250.
New Valley’s home for most of those years has been portable classrooms behind the district office. The only amenity is a basketball court, and the school has no specialized classrooms, labs, gyms or sports fields that are givens at other district high schools.
In 2018, the district passed a bond measure (BB) to build new “classrooms, labs, and school libraries,” “acquire, renovate, construct and equip facilities to improve older schools,” and “fix deteriorating roofs, plumbing and electrical systems.” One of the projects the district discussed was a new school building for New Valley.
Five other sites were considered for an entirely new high school building for New Valley, but construction costs had doubled since the 2018 estimate, making a new building and campus financially out of reach. The school board ultimately decided to move New Valley to the Wilson Educational Options Campus on Benton Street, which is also home to Wilson Pre-School, Adult Secondary education, Independence Network, Wilson High School self-study program, Career and Technical Education and community classes.
In addition to costing half of what it would cost to build a new school, Wilson campus already had many of the facilities New Valley needed: a gym, cafeteria and sports fields. It’s also more accessible to public transportation. Moving to an already-existing and fully operational SCUSD campus would allow the district to share [resources] and allow other programs on the campus to benefit from improvements.
The first of eight public townhall-style meetings on the evolving New Valley plans was held in October 2024. After more than a year of discussion about alternative designs, SCUSD trustees approved moving New Valley to the Wilson campus on Oct. 24, 2024.
The plan presented at the Nov. 3, 2025 meeting was designed to locate buildings away from residential neighbors, reduce parking on nearby streets, route traffic through Homestead Road instead of Benton Street, and retain as much open space as possible. District officials anticipate moving New Valley programs to Wilson in the 27/28 school year, with the new classroom wing opening in 2029.
For more details on New Valley High School:
Santa Clara Unified: New Valley High School Finds New Home
New Valley and Wilson Seniors Win Kiwanis Club Turnaround Scholarships
