West Valley College is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...
in
Saratoga, California
Saratoga is a city in Santa Clara County, California. Located in Silicon Valley, in the southern Bay Area, its population was 31,051 at the 2020 census. Saratoga is an affluent residential community, known for its wineries, restaurants, and attra ...
. It is part of the
California Community College
The California Community Colleges is a postsecondary education system in the U.S. state of California.California Education CodSection 70900(added to the Education Code by Chapter 973 of the California Statutes of 1988Assembly Bill No. 1725 sectio ...
system.
History
The college was founded as West Valley Junior College in 1963.
It was to serve the footprint of the
Campbell Union High School District
Campbell Union High School District (abbreviated as CUHSD) is a school district based in Santa Clara County, California, serving the Silicon Valley communities of San Jose, Campbell, Saratoga, Santa Clara, Los Gatos and Monte Sereno.
It op ...
, the
Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District
The Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District (formerly Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District) is a high school district in the greater San Jose, California, U.S. area. It operates two high schools, and is ranked the Best Schoo ...
, and the
Santa Clara Unified School District
The Santa Clara Unified School District is a school district in Silicon Valley, serving three cities in Santa Clara County, California: Santa Clara, California, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, California, Sunnyvale, and San Jose, California, San Jose. Sa ...
. The district was formed by voter approval in January 1963.
The first classes began September 14, 1964. The first campus took over the space of the defunct
Campbell Union Grammar School, at 1 East Campbell Avenue near Winchester Boulevard in
Campbell Campbell may refer to:
People Surname
* Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell
Given name
* Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer
* Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...
across the street from
Campbell High School. The grammar school itself was closed because its
WPA
WPA may refer to:
Computing
*Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard
*Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing
* Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada
* Windows Performance An ...
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.
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.
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.
Campus
The campus occupies near the
West Valley Freeway in
Saratoga.
Organization and administration
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 California Community Colleges is a postsecondary education system in the U.S. state of California.California Education CodSection 70900(added to the Education Code by Chapter 973 of the California Statutes of 1988Assembly Bill No. 1725 sectio ...
. The district serves the cities of
Saratoga,
Campbell Campbell may refer to:
People Surname
* Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell
Given name
* Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer
* Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...
,
Los Gatos
Los Gatos (, ; ) is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located in the San Franci ...
, Monte Sereno,
Santa Clara, and
San Jose. The district headquarters is on the West Valley College campus.
Academics
As of 2005, West Valley College offered 61
associate degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree.
The fi ...
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.
Student demographics
Student percentages are: Hispanic 29%, White 38%, Asian 17%, African-American 4%, Filipino 5%, other 7%.
Athletics
West Valley offers a plethora of men and women sporting activities including: baseball, men's basketball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's swimming, men's and women's water polo, softball, women's volleyball, women's tennis and beach volleyball. West Valley Athletics is known as the West Valley Vikings, with the mascot being a Viking. Team colors are navy blue, orange and white.
Men's soccer
Winning Percentage of (.715) over the last 10 seasons only losing 48 games while winning 151.
12 Coast Conference Championships since 1998, last being in 2015 where they Four-Peated as champions from 2012-2015.
Nationally ranked 8 seasons since 1998. last being in 2015.
Men's baseball
One of six teams to have won more than 130 games in a span of four seasons.
7 Conference Championships, last being in 2009.
Nine Super Regionals, last being in 2008.
Reached the Final Four in 2008 and was ranked #7 in the nation that same season.
Men's water polo
West Valley's community college program and in all of California with a multitude of trophies including:
Six State Championships,
Twenty Northern California Championships,
and Twenty-Eight Conference Championships.
Women's softball
Since 2010, the West Valley softball team has reached the playoffs four times and won two Conference Championships, the last in 2015. The Vikings were CCCAA State Champions in 1990 and 2002.
The team received a top eight selection in 2013.
Notable people
*
Mark Bingham
Mark Kendall Bingham (May 22, 1970 – September 11, 2001) was an American public relations executive who founded his own company, the Bingham Group. During the September 11 attacks in 2001, he was a passenger on board United Airlines Flight 93. ...
and Nicole C. Miller, passengers on the
United 93 flight during the
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
*
Stan Bunger, news anchor on KCBS
*
, Major League Baseball player
*
Vicky Galindo
Victoria Noel Galindo-Piatt (born December 22, 1983), commonly known as Vicky Galindo, is an American, former collegiate All-American, medal-winning Olympian, three-time professional All-Star, softball player and current head coach at West Va ...
, Olympic Silver Medalist and former
National Pro Fastpitch
National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup.
The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revive ...
second and third baseman for the
Chicago Bandits
The Chicago Bandits were a women's professional softball team based in Rosemont, Illinois. Since the 2005 season, they have played as a member of National Pro Fastpitch (NPF). The Bandits won the 2008 NPF championship, defeating the Washington ...
*
Kit Lathrop
Kit Douglas Lathrop (born August 10, 1956) is a former American football defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) and in the United States Football League (USFL).
College career
He played college football at West Valley College an ...
, former NFL defensive end/defensive tackle
*
Cung Le
Cung Le ( vi, Lê Cung; born May 25, 1972) is a Vietnamese-born American actor, retired mixed martial artist, Sanshou fighter and kickboxer. He competed as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), holding a record ...
, former International Kickboxing Federation Light Heavyweight World Champion; professional
mixed martial artist
Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...
, former
Strikeforce middleweight champion, competed in the
UFC
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
's Middleweight Division
*
H. Paul Shuch
H. Paul Shuch (born May 23, 1946) is an American scientist and engineer who has coordinated radio amateurs to help in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).
Shuch, an aerospace engineer, microwave technologist, and radio amateur ...
,
SETI
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is a collective term for scientific searches for intelligent extraterrestrial life, for example, monitoring electromagnetic radiation for signs of transmissions from civilizations on other p ...
scientist
*
Jason Tarver
Jason Tarver (born August 28, 1974) is an American football coach who is the linebackers coach for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raid ...
, NFL assistant linebackers coach for the
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
*
John Hendy, former NFL cornerback
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...
First Team All Rookie 1985, 2 year starter at
Long Beach State 49ers football
The Long Beach State 49ers football team represented California State University, Long Beach from the 1955 through 1991 seasons. The 49ers originally competed as an Independent before joining the California Collegiate Athletic Association in 1958 ...
1984 College Football All-America Team
The 1984 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1984. The National Collegiate Athletic Ass ...
defensive back.
References
External links
Official website
{{authority control
California Community Colleges
Educational institutions established in 1963
Saratoga, California
Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Universities and colleges in Santa Clara County, California
1963 establishments in California
Two-year colleges in the United States