The Folsom Cordova Unified School District enjoys a long history and reputation for excellence in all we do. Over 19,000 students attend our schools, and our team of outstanding faculty, staff and administration works hard daily to provide a great educational opportunity for each of them!
The Folsom Cordova Unified School District has a very colorful and interesting past.
In reading the old records at Granite, we find entries that go back to the turn of the century! Evidently, there was an original white wooden structure that looked similar to the typical one-room school pictured in historical records. Later, a three-room, brick building was added to the site. Both were razed to make way for the present building called Granite. The bonds for this building were sold in September 1914.
The Granite School District (as it was called then) served a wide area beyond the current boundaries of the district. High school students of the area attended San Juan High School. Eventually, it was decided to build Folsom High School, and students first attended Folsom High in 1924, with an enrollment of 75.
The two schools (Granite Elementary and Folsom High) were operated under two separate school boards with no superintendent. Mr. W. E. Mitchell, however, was principal of both schools. Under his leadership, the districts were unified in 1949 with 757 students. The district was called the Folsom Cordova Joint School District. It served parts of El Dorado County, Orangevale, and down river into what is now the Rancho Cordova area.
In 1967, the properties outside of the county and the Orangevale area were released, and the district's name was changed to Folsom Cordova Unified School District.
Mather Elementary School was opened in 1952, and in 1956, Rancho Cordova Elementary School opened. This resulted from the boom in construction in Rancho Cordova.
The secondary students from Rancho Cordova were bussed to Folsom until Mills Junior High School opened in 1958 and Cordova Senior High School opened in 1963. Mather secondary students were bussed to Folsom High School until 1988.
Rancho Cordova celebrated the opening of its newest school, Navigator Elementary School, in August 2006.
Folsom's school construction boom started in 1986 with the opening of Carl H. Sundahl Elementary School. Since that time, the number of Folsom schools has expanded with the opening of seven more elementary schools, the new site for Folsom High School in 1998, the conversion of the Folsom High School Riley Street campus into Sutter Middle School, and the opening of Vista del Lago High School in August 2007.
Today, Folsom Cordova Unified School District has a rich diversity of cultures and socio-economic populations. It includes a large Food Services Department, Transportation system, Student Support Services (including expanded programs for students with disabilities) Maintenance and Facilities support teams. Our Educational Technology & Information Systems Dept. has expanded the use of modern technologies to encompass not only all administrative and business services, but to rich, sophisticated uses of technology to improve instruction.
