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“In the end, it was the common vision of all the partners that made

the Golden Valley project a success.”

~~ Richard A. Patterson
Santa Clarita Valley Facilities Foundation

Location, Location, Location

A s soon as Valencia High School opened in 1994, the District realized it would need to start planning a new school

immediately in order to meet its burgeoning growth. The effort to locate a site, plan a school, establish partnerships,
develop the site and finance the school to serve the eastern portion of the Santa Clarita Valley began in earnest in 1997.
The first difficulty was identifying a site that was acceptable, reasonably priced and close enough to La Mesa Junior High
to meet the District’s desire for paired junior and senior high schools. Then-board member John Hassel first introduced the

current site – an undeveloped mountaintop that coincided with a future City road alignment.
The Golden Valley area was one of several the Hart District examined at the start of the site selection process. “At 135
acres it was too big; it was landlocked; it needed water, sewer and roads,” explained then-Hart District Superintendant Robert
C. Lee. “However, we saw the potential of a beautiful hilltop school of excellence and moved forward to make it happen.” Once
the common needs of the school district and the City came together, it became the primary site.
Moving a mountain is never an easy task. The District had to remove the top 140 feet from the hilltop, avoid earthquake
faults and utility lines, and eliminate a good number of geological and manmade problems. The project was so uniquely

constructed that it received an award from the California Geotechnical Engineers as one of the top three engineered projects
in the State for 2001.
In the end, it was Golden Valley’s location in the center of the valley and the ability to partner with the City of Santa
Clarita that convinced the Hart District to take up the challenge. And so, the Santa Clarita Valley Facilities Foundation, a
nonprofit benefit corporation, was formed.

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