Mount Miguel to become an early college high school

Starting in fall 2026, Mount Miguel will become an early college high school, with students able to dual enroll in the Spring Valley high school and nearby Cuyamaca Community College.

The Grossmont Union High School board voted to approve the change at its Oct. 9 meeting.

Teachers, students and alumni attended the meeting to testify to the effectiveness of the Matador Early College program, which has existed for the past 15 years to improve graduation rates, now at 76%, and career and college readiness.

With the board’s vote, now all students at Mount Miguel will have the opportunity to take college classes while receiving support and assistance from the high school’s staff. For some students, the program is life-changing.

“If it weren’t for my experiences taking in-person classes on campus at Cuyamaca, I would have given up. If it weren’t for these experiences, I’d be looking pretty with my GED working the McDonald’s drive-through,” said Mount Miguel student Gabriel Battle. “The most important thing that this program has given me was hope. It gave me a plan for the future. It gave me a way out from the hopelessness that surrounded me at home.”

Community members say the transformational change will elevate the school, which serves a more impoverished student population than others in the district, with 80% of the 1,500 students qualifying for free or reduced lunches.

The change comes after California’s College and Career Access Pathways, passed in 2016, enacted partnerships between higher education institutions and K-12 schools with underserved populations not typically seen as “college ready.”

Governor Gavin Newsom further strengthened those partnerships with a grant program, Golden State Pathways, meant to help more high schools become early or middle college high schools. Mount Miguel received $250,000 from the program.

College experience vs. college credits

To Mark Jeffers, who leads MEC and has worked to expand the program outside its cohorts, the program’s importance stems from high school students enrolling in regular college classes. Students do not just receive college credit — they have a college experience with the expectations, schedule and self-motivation necessary.

“Our students on the campus are treated like any other college student,” Jeffers said.

Those who are part of MEC have more support from high school teachers while adapting to the changes of a college course, where there are less grace periods for late work, less parental oversight of grades, and less teacher-instigated interventions for struggling students.

Whether online or on campus in Rancho San Diego, the dual enrollees need to meet the rigorous demands of a college course, which would not be adapted to younger learners. Whether a 35-year-old adult taking night classes or a 15-year-old sophomore taking a class after sports practice, both receive the same education from a professor.

Jessica Robinson, president of Cuyamaca College, spoke in favor of the change. The Mount Miguel and Cuyamaca College alum shared that in spring 2025, 111 Mount Miguel students took a total of 215 courses at Cuyamaca College, with the “extraordinary” result of 97% receiving successful grades of C or higher.

“I know the brilliance and determination Mount Miguel students carry, and I know that they don’t need us to give them talent. They already have that,” Robinson said. “What they need are doors opened earlier, opportunities to step into a college classroom and the chance to see themselves as scholars before anyone else can tell them that they aren’t.”

The program does not mean the main career pathway promoted to students will only be a 4-year college. Cuyamaca has career preparation programs such as water studies, child development, real estate and automotive technology that do not require further degrees. Mount Miguel students could have a head start in those programs, leading to better-paid jobs faster after graduation.

An SDSU nursing student, Christian Haddock, attended the meeting to share his own success in the program and that of his high school best friend. That friend found a goal to strive for, and even studied for a final for the first time, when taking an automotive class.

“Without MEC, I don’t think he would have graduated high school, so I’m forever grateful that MEC put him in a position to graduate,” Haddock said.

He sees the program not as a way for students to turn into college class-taking machines, but as a way for Mount Miguel students to compete with students from other schools with a larger student population, more resources and where more parents are college-educated.

House system

Mount Miguel students will not be required to take college courses. But the program has driven more interest in the school, which suffers from a poor reputation.

The school will undergo major changes, but will not become a charter or magnet school for those outside the Spring Valley and Lemon Grove neighborhoods. Instead, Jeffers hopes families in the community will be less likely to transfer their children to outside schools with better test scores. He wants local students to have the opportunity to excel in their community and for the community to be proud of its school.

One significant change coming to the school is the advent of houses. Instead of cohorts, now every staff member and student will be part of one of six houses debuting in 2026. Those houses will remain the same throughout high school, with teachers developing deeper connections with students over all four years.

Rachel Moritz, a MEC teacher, explained at the meeting how a cohort “develops an incredible relationship that is lasting” where older students guide younger ones and teachers teach the same students multiple times. 

With the switch to an early college high school, Moritz said, “It’s about building confidence and developing purpose and opening doors and career pathways that our students might not have otherwise imagined for themselves.”