Mira Costa High School
Mira Costa High School is a four-year public high school located in Manhattan Beach, California, United States that first opened 1950. It is the only high school in the Manhattan Beach Unified School District. The school's athletic teams are known as the Mustangs and the school colors are green and gold. Mira Costa is located on the corner of Peck Avenue and Artesia Boulevard.
History
Groundbreaking for the site of the school took place on May 24, 1949, for the first high school in Manhattan Beach. It was a forty-acre site that had belonged to a Japanese American landscaper who had been interned during World War II and was paid $60,000 for the land. Mira Costa High School opened on September 30, 1950. The school was dedicated by then-state superintendent of schools, Roy E. Simpson, with additional remarks made by the president of the board of trustees.It was a part of the South Bay Union High School District until 1993, when this district was dissolved and the Manhattan Beach Unified School District was formed.
School information
As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,568 students and 108 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 24:1. There were 175 students eligible for free lunch and 2 eligible for reduced-cost lunch.| Race | Percentage |
| American Indian/Alaskan Native | 0.1% |
| Asian | 10.6 % |
| Hispanic | 14.6% |
| Black | 1.4% |
| White | 59.5% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.2% |
| Multiple races | 13.3% |
Mira Costa is the only high school in the MBUSD. All residents of Manhattan Beach are eligible to attend. Residents of Hermosa Beach may choose to attend Redondo Union High School of the Redondo Beach Unified School District or Mira Costa. As of Fall 2006, Redondo Beach residents living in the 90278 zip code were allowed to attend Mira Costa.
Controversy
On June 11, 2020, hundreds of Mira Costa students and parents attended a march from Hermosa Beach to Manhattan Beach to celebrate their graduation in violation of CDC social distancing guidelines. Their actions attracted widespread negative attention from media and concerned citizens for putting others at risk during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.Extracurricular activities and programs
Choir program
The Mira Costa Choir Program consists of three curricular choirs, Vocal Ensemble, Choral Union, and MC voices, which meet during the school day year-round, and two small ensembles, Coterie and Mira Costa Muscle, which meet after school.In the summer of 2010 Vocal Ensemble sang in the International Festival of the Aegean in Syros, Greece. They performed as part of the opera chorus in Carmen and were the closing choir in the Sunset Concert at St. Nicholas Cathedral on Sunday, 18 July 2010.
In the Spring of 2011, all four Mira Costa Choirs performed in Carnegie Hall as part of Carnegie Hall's WorldStrides National Choral Festival. The Vocal Ensemble had the honor of performing as the featured solo choir.
Mira Costa Bands
The Mira Costa Bands is one of the largest student groups on campus. It is directed by Joel Carlson and consists of 3 concert ensembles -- the Wind Symphony, Wind Ensemble, and Symphonic Band---, 2 Jazz Bands -- Jazz 1 and Jazz 2--, the Marching Band, Winterguard, and Indoor Drumline.In May 2016, the Mira Costa Bands traveled to Carnegie Hall in New York as part of a series outlining the best band programs in the country. The band had previously performed at Carnegie Hall in 2011. In 2024, the Jazz bands won the National Jazz Festival in Philadelphia. Additionally, in 2022 the Wind Symphony won first place at the Presidents Cup concert band festival and the combined Symphonic and Wind Ensemble group, performing as the Symphony Band, placed 2nd. In 2014, the band received the Grammy Foundation Signature Schools 2014 Gold Award, which includes a grant of $5000.
''La Vista''
Mira Costa's student-run newspaper La Vista has been a perennial winner of silver and gold awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association since 1980.Mustang Morning News
The Mustang Morning News is a student-run broadcast.Model United Nations
Mira Costa Model United Nations is a debate team that takes part in mock debates of the United Nations. The team hosts the Los Angeles Invitational Model United Nations Conference, a novice and advanced conference held in docket-style debate. Mira Costa's team has multiple Large School Delegation awards.Beach Cities Robotics
Costa students team up with Redondo Union High School students to create Beach Cities Robotics. The team participates in the organization FIRST as Team 294. Beach Cities Robotics has won numerous awards since starting in 1997, including 2 World Championship wins. They scored 1st place at the FRC finals in 2001 against more than 50 other teams at the event from around the country. In 2008, they won first place at the inaugural FTC World Championship. Beach Cities Robotics won the FRC finals again in 2010 as its "alliance" captain, against over 300 teams attending the World Championship, and over 1800 teams worldwide.Volleyball team
, who was named the 2005 and 2006 California Gatorade State Player of the Year for Volleyball, and the 2006 Gatorade National Player of the Year, led Mira Costa to three consecutive California State Championships, and three consecutive Southern Section California Interscholastic Federation Championships. The Boys' Volleyball team has won the Southern Section California Interscholastic Federation Championships in 1984, 1990, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2008 and 2012.Recognition
Mira Costa was recognized as a Blue Ribbon school in 1996. It was named a California Distinguished School by the Board of Education in 2011 and ranked #341 nationally by Newsweek in 2015.In 2000, 12th-grade English teacher Marilyn Jachetti Whirry was selected as the National Teacher of the Year. Whirry had taught at Mira Costa in the 1958–59 academic year and then from 1967 through 2000.
In September 2010, U.S. history teacher Bill Fauver was selected as one of Los Angeles County's 16 Teachers of the Year. He was once named MBUSD Teacher of the Year.
Notable alumni
- Jeff AtkinsonClass of 1981, Olympian, Track and Field runner
- Milo AukermanClass of 1981, singer for punk rock band Descendents
- David BenoitClass of 1971, jazz pianist, conductor, and composer
- Rachel BloomClass of 2005, actress, comedian, and screenwriter; 2015 Golden Globes winner for Best Actress in a Comedy Series
- Jamais CascioClass of 1983, author and futurist
- Mike DoddClass of 1975, beach volleyball pioneer
- Eric Fonoimoana – Class of 1988, gold medal-winning Olympian, professional volleyball player
- Anitra Fordactress and model, original model on The Price Is Right, 1972–1977
- Semra HunterClass of 2005, football journalist
- Alix Klineman Class of 2007, gold medal-winning Olympian, volleyball player
- Jimmy LindbergClass of 1983, co-founder of punk rock band Pennywise
- Gavin MacIntoshClass of 2016, model, actor in Freeform's TV series The Fosters
- Noah MametClass of 1987, US Ambassador to Argentina
- Jill McCormickClass of 1995, philanthropist, activist and fashion model
- Holly McPeakClass of 1987, Olympian, professional volleyball player
- Joe MoellerClass of 1960, professional baseball pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers
- Carrie NugentClass of 2002, astronomer
- Dylan O'BrienClass of 2009, actor in MTV's Teen Wolf and The Maze Runner movies
- Mike OkwoClass of 2003, professional football player, Chicago Bears
- Dave RatClass of 1980, sound engineer
- Jeff RohrerClass of 1977, professional football player, Dallas Cowboys
- Taylor SpiveyClass of 2009, triathlete
- Bill StevensonClass of 1981, drummer for punk rock bands Descendents, Black Flag, and ALL
- Danny StrongClass of 1992, actor and award-winning screenwriter
- Michele TafoyaClass of 1983, sportscaster; Emmy winner for Sports Personality-Sports Reporter
- The Tavai brothers: Jonah Tavai, Justus Tavai, Jahlani Tavai, and J. R. Tavai, all football players
- Avi VinocurClass of 2002, musician, member of Americana band Goodnight, Texas and occasional Metallica collaborator
- Dewey WeberClass of 1956, surfing pioneer
- Marianne Sellek Wibberly and Cormac WibberlyClass of 1982 and 1979, screenwriters
In television and film