History of Manteca Unified School District

Manteca Unified currently serves more than 23,500 students.  The District serves three cities: Stockton, Lathrop, Manteca, as well as the town of French Camp.  The District is approximately 113 square miles and is located in the Southern part of San Joaquin County.  Manteca Unified was formed in 1966.  There were two high schools at the time, East Union and Manteca High.  Unification included 12 elementary schools: Calla, French Camp, Golden West, Lathrop, Lincoln, Lindbergh, Mossdale, New Haven, Nile Garden, Sequoia, Shasta, and Yosemite.  The unification saw the end of several smaller districts including:  Calla, French Camp, Lathrop, Mossdale, New Haven, and Nile Garden.

Changing with the times!

Through the years there have been several public schools which either no longer exist, or no longer house schools.  A few of our current school sites, however, have seen dramatic change to their schools but continue to serve students on their original school grounds.  The oldest school campus in our District is French Camp School.  Having continually served students on the same property for more than 150 years, French Camp has seen at least three school buildings over the years. 

The original Manteca High School (see top picture) which was dedicated on January 27, 1923, was a beautiful California-Mission style school.  The school served students for more than 45 years when fire and the Field Act standards saw the demise of the original structure.  Yosemite School was the second elementary school built in the Manteca area in 1914.  The original Yosemite School (see last photo), often simply called Manteca School, was also destroyed by fire in 1948.  The current Yosemite school which now serves as the Manteca Community Day School was opened in 1950. 

Moving With The Times

Some of the schools in Manteca Unified hold a name which is older than the current building and site on which they are located.  Lathrop School currently located at Thomson and Fifth Street is actually the fourth school which has held that name.  The first Lathrop School was actually located outside of Lathrop.  The second school, a two story wooden school was located on I Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets (see picture to the left).  The third school was built at the current Lathrop School address.  The third school in Lathrop lasted only one year and was torn down in 1952 and replaced by the present school.  Manteca Unified's newest elementary school, Mossdale, will actually be the third Mossdale School to serve students in the area.  The first two Mossdale schools were located about one mile west of the current Mossdale site just east of the I-5 freeway.

Like some of our schools the Manteca Unified School District office has also moved through the years.  The first office maintained by the newly unified school district was located on West Alameda Street in Manteca.  With unification came the need to bring all departments together under one roof.  By the summer of 1966 all District personnel were housed in Lindbergh School's brick building.  From there the District Office moved to the west wing of the Manteca High tower building.  Following a fire in the Manteca High School tower in 1968, the District Offices were moved to a house located on the Spreckles Sugar Company property.  During the time the District Office was housed at the Spreckles Sugar Company, plans were drawn up for the current District Office which is housed at the corner of Louise and Airport adjacent to the District Farm.

Now, in the 2022-23 school year, Manteca Unified School District has served for 56 years as a unified school district. Our schools continue to serve their communities well as we consistently move forward with modernizations. We have recently finished modernizing Golden West, Lathrop, Lincoln, Shasta and Sequoia schools. Now in Measure G Phase 2, we are moving on to modernize Manteca High School, East Union High School, Nile Garden, Neil Hafley, New Haven, George McParland and French Camps Schools. To learn more about our ongoing facilities plan, visit our special project website for the 5-10 year facilities plan.

Under the leadership of our new superintendent, Dr. Clark Burke, we continually strive to maintain close ties to the community to ensure that educational needs are met. From our Budget Advisory Committee, to our ongoing efforts with LCAP, and working with our employee groups, we are truly Proud to be MUSD.