About
MacDonald High School is the newest comprehensive high school in Santa Clara Unified School District. The school opened its doors in 2022, serving a diverse community of students residing in Santa Clara and San Jose. The school colors are blue, green, and grey, and the school mascot is the California Condor.
Mission Statement
To empower all students to develop into ethical, productive, and global-minded citizens.
Vision Statement
MacDonald High School will be a fully inclusive community that focuses on each student’s educational and interpersonal development to become productive and ethical global citizens in a rapidly changing world.
Core Values
- Educational equity means that each child is ensured equally high outcomes, removing the impact of deficit thinking, interrupting inequitable practices related to social and cultural factors, and creating intersectionality inclusive school environments for adults and children, while discovering and cultivating the unique gifts, talents and interests that every human possesses.
- Agency means that students experience voice, autonomy, and self-actualization, which manifest throughout their educational setting.
- Student-Centered means that students’ physical, social-emotional and academic needs are at the heart of all conversations, decision making, systems and actions.
Guiding Principles
Collaboration and Connectivity
We are an interdependent, globally-minded, and connected community that collaborates and supports each other for professional growth, wellness and student success.
Interdisciplinary
Concepts from multiple contexts or disciplines are synthesized to create and apply new ideas, understandings, and solutions.
Flexible
Our mindset encourages adaptability of environment, processes, resources, outcomes and perspectives.
Inquiry-Based
Questions engage and drive the exploration of relevant experiences where students construct and evaluate their knowledge through research and exploration.
Personalized, Competency-Based Instruction
Each learner is challenged and supported based on their learning progression, which is co-created with their teachers based on their interests and strengths in order to reach mastery of their learning.
Innovative
Learners creatively iterate and explore ethical and imaginative ways to problem solve and critically think.
Expression of our Core Values and Guiding Principles
Multi-Tiered Systems of Support speaks to a Whole Child Approach that is aligned with our District Priorities and Graduate Portrait.
Our Full Inclusion model speaks to our belief that diversity, inclusion, and equity are of utmost importance. Our commitment to Grading for Equity speaks to our belief that all students should have access to multiple opportunities for demonstrating skill and knowledge tied to content area standards and graduate portrait competencies.