History:

Shivela Middle School opened in September 1990 with sixth and seventh grade students. Murrieta Valley High School also opened their first freshman class on the Shivela campus in 1990, before moving to their current campus in September of 1991. Shivela was the first and only middle school in Murrieta until July of 1994. Shivela has had an exciting time since it first opened. Not only did Shivela host MVHS for a year but we also hosted Thompson Middle School for a year and a half when they first opened. We went to a multi-track year-round program in July of 1992, and stayed with that very trying and challenging program for eight years. In August of 2000 we went to our current common calendar schedule. Shivela opened with two relocatable offices, a staff lounge/workroom, relocatable restrooms, locker rooms, multi-purpose room and twenty-six classrooms, eventually expanding to fifty-one relocatable classrooms. We moved into our new, permanent Physical Education building, referred to as "The Cage" in 1996. After many years of waiting for state and local funding, Shivela's permanent campus was completed and dedicated in April of 1998. Shivela , an Indian word meaning Sycamore Tree, was chosen by the school board in recognition of the many Native American tribes that inhabited our valley. Our mascot, the Panther, was chosen by a vote of the first students who attended Shivela. You will notice that the Panther head is always facing to the right, significant of our goal to always move in the right direction. The school colors are teal, gray, black and white. The first students also chose the school colors.