Before unification The Santa Clara Unified School District was preceded by three elementary school districts and one
union high school district.
Alviso School District The
Alviso School District was established in 1855 and administered several
primary schools in the
North San Jose and
Rancho Milpitas areas. The district primarily served the children of local farmers and had a significant
Japanese population. In 1965, the Alviso School District served 757 students. and it was where
Bank of America founder
Amadeo Giannini attended elementary school. After the school burned down in 1899, it was rebuilt as the Alviso School with funding and land from local rancher George Mayne. to administer several
primary schools in rural
unincorporated areas in
Santa Clara and
Sunnyvale. and administered several
primary schools in downtown
Santa Clara, east of the
San Tomas Aquino Creek.
Santa Clara Union High School District The
Santa Clara Union High School District was a
union school district established before the 1921–1922 academic year to administer several
secondary schools in the areas covered by the Alviso, Jefferson, and Santa Clara Elementary districts. In 1959, it served roughly 2,800 students. By 1966, the district included
Santa Clara High School,
Emil R. Buchser High School,
Adrian C. Wilcox High School, and
Marian A. Peterson High School.
Unification and recent history Due to rapid population increases and industrialization, the four school districts began making efforts to merge in the 1950s. Following new financial incentives offered by the state government in 1964, Santa Clara voters approved
school district unification in September 1965. to serve neighborhoods in Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, San Jose, and Cupertino. SCUSD's first superintendent was Lawrence C. Curtis, who had previously served as the superintendent of Jefferson Union School District. In the 1970s and 1980s, demographic shifts resulted in smaller, older families in the area, causing a 50% decrease in enrollment and the closure of 15 schools before the 1981–1982 academic year.
Buchser High School closed, and its campus was repurposed as
Santa Clara High School's new location. Buchser Middle School was established at the former Santa Clara High School campus. Additionally,
Peterson High School was converted into Peterson Middle School, with the high school students joining the
Wilcox High School student body. Agnew Elementary School and Huerta Middle School opened in 2021, and
MacDonald High School opened in 2022. In 2017, the district began paying for certain college entrance and
Advanced Placement exams to eliminate barriers for low-income students. On March 13, 2020, the
Santa Clara County Public Health Department announced the closure of all public schools in the county due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. At the time of the closure, no SCUSD students or staff had tested positive for COVID-19. The district began
distance learning on March 24, 2020, for grades 6–12 and on March 30, 2020, for grades K–5. Distance learning continued into the 2020–2021 academic year. Schools began a phased reopening with a hybrid learning format on March 29, 2021. The district fully reopened for the 2021–2022 academic year with several precautions, including mask-wearing and weekly
COVID-19 screening. In 2023, the Santa Clara Unified School District introduced a
student senate consisting of one representative from each high school. The district kept the previously-established student trustee position. The Santa Clara Unified School District implemented phone- and device-free policies across all schools at the start of the 2025–2026 academic year in accordance with California's
Phone-Free School Act. Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, incumbent superintendent Damon J. Wright oversaw a significant reduction in teachers and faculty in the entire school district. His aim is to correct a $30,000,000 dollar deficit in the districts' finances due to decreasing enrollment and overstaffing. His policies were met with major opposition from students, staff, and community members.
Superintendents • Lawrence C. Curtis (1966–1970) • Donald J. Callejon (1973–1974) • Rudy Gatti (1974–1989) • Paul Perotti (1994–2005) • Steve Stavis (2008–2011) • Bobbie Plough (2011–2013) • Stanley Rose III (2013–2019) • Stella M. Kemp (2019–2022) • Gary Waddell (2022–2025) • Damon J. Wright (2025–present) == Administration ==