Silver Valley High School

Welcome to the Silver Valley High School website!  We hope you find the information here helpful and informative.

Silver Valley High School (SVHS) is the only comprehensive high school in the Silver Valley Unified School District (SVUSD) located in the Mojave Desert of Southern California.  Geographically, the school district encompasses approximately 3,200 square miles, is 156 miles wide at its widest point, and serves 2,593 students.  Silver Valley High School reported a student population of 395 students for the October 2015 CBEDS.

The students attending Silver Valley High School come from two distinct areas:  the U.S. Army Ft. Irwin National Training Center and the valley region surrounding the school.  The surrounding communities include Yermo, Calico, Daggett, Newberry Springs, and Ludlow.  Many of the families who live in the valley work in agriculture, railroading, trucking, local businesses, or on military bases.  Sixty-five percent (65%) of the families are military or are military related.

This school district was part of the BarstowUnifiedSchool District until 1979, when the Silver Valley district was formed.  Initially, the high school was housed on the former Daggett Middle School campus.  Construction of a new campus was completed in the winter of 1985, and the high school program was relocated to its present site.

Because of its relatively small enrollment for a comprehensive high school, Silver Valley High School exhibits many of the positive attributes of a small learning community.  The school’s learning environment is very safe and controlled, but also relaxed and positive.  Student attendance, test scores, and graduation rates are relatively high, while suspension and expulsion rates are low. 

A significant challenge facing the district is the lack of a cohesive sense of community.  The high school plays a key role in tying the district’s wide-ranged communities together.  Because the communities within Silver Valley are far apart, students may spend up to 1 ½ to 2 hours a day on the bus getting to and from school.  This means some students start their day at 5:30 a.m., and when participating in extracurricular activities, may not return home until 7:00 p.m.  Students from Ft.Irwin face additional challenges due to the remote location of the post and the transition involved for students coming from larger high schools throughout the United States or transferring from Department of Defense schools located around the world.  These students, although used to relocating every 2-3 years, also face problems with the continuity of their high school program.

Silver Valley High School is sponsored by the 1916th Support Battalion located at Ft. Irwin.  Two other essential personnel connected to our military sponsorship include a high school military liaison and a school liaison officer.

The parent/community organizations for Silver Valley High School include the Parent Booster Club, comprised primarily of parents.  School Site Council (SSC) is composed of classified, certificated, administrative, parent/community and student representatives. The Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC), a private nonprofit organization focuses on the academic and school related needs of the military-connected child.  Annually SVHS staff is sent to MCEC conferences.  Secondary Education Transition Study (SETS) is a collaborative committee consisting of military personnel, the civilian military liaison, the principals, and the superintendent.   

Other school/business relationships involve local business representatives who support SVHS with career day, senior exit interviews, and work experience