Mission Viejo High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Mission Viejo, California, United States, as part of the Saddleback Valley Unified School District. The school has served the area since 1966. Students within its attendance boundaries live in western Mission Viejo, southwest Lake Forest, Trabuco Canyon, Rancho Santa Margarita, and Laguna Hills. Its mascot is Pablo the Diablo and its colors are scarlet and gold. 230 credits are required to graduate. It is the home to one of the only agricultural farms on a high school campus in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District.
Mission Viejo High School, an International Baccalaureate (IB) school since 1985, offers an IB program for academically focused students, awarding approximately 80 IB diplomas in the 2015–2016 school year. The school has been recognized with three Blue Ribbon School Awards and six California Distinguished School honors, most recently in 2024. Its performing arts programs include a marching band that won the WBA 4A division championship in 2016, a drumline that earned multiple High Percussion titles between 1997 and 2003, and four choir ensembles. Notable alumni include golfer Mark O’Meara, Olympic swimmer Brian Goodell, astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, soccer player Julie Foudy, NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez, journalist Brianna Keilar, and MLB pitcher Patrick Sandoval.
In the 2022–2023 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,646 students and 75.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 21.8. 40.9% of students were eligible for free or discounted lunch.
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Academics
International Baccalaureate
Mission Viejo has been an International Baccalaureate (IB) school since July 1985. This program, taught to 80 students, is for academically talented and highly motivated students sponsored and administered by the IB Organization. The students who meet the IB requirements are eligible for the International Baccalaureate Diploma. This school received approximately 80 diplomas in the 2015–2016 school year.
Awards and recognition
Mission Viejo High School has been awarded the Blue Ribbon School and Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education on three separate occasions, in 1988–89, 1994–96 and 2001–02, the highest award an American school can receive.
Mission Viejo High School has been recognized six times as a California Distinguished School, in 1988, 1994, 2001, 2009, 2013, and 2024.
Performing arts
Marching band
The school's marching band is part of the Western Band Association. They have competed in the 5A division every year until 2016, in which they began competing in 4A and won their division at the WBA Class Championships.
The drumline won High Percussion at WBA State Championships each year from 1997 to 2003, excluding 2000.
Choir
The school offers four different choir classes: Concert Choir, Diablo Chorus, Treble Choir and the Chamber Singers.
Sports
Mission Viejo plays in the Coast View Athletic Association for all sports except football where they play in the Alpha League.
Football
The school's football program has been highly successful with 2 CIF State Championships (2015, 2023), 8 CIF Southern Section titles, and 28 league championships.
From 1999-2017, head coach Bob Johnson led the team team to a record of 338-97-1 and he was inducted into the California High School Football Hall of Fame in 2023. Two of his sons, Bret Johnson and Rob Johnson, coached with him.
Chad Johnson (no relation) took over as head coach in 2017.
Girls Basketball
The girls basketball program won CIF Southern Section titles in 1982 and 1987.
Girls Softball
The girls softball program has been very successful over the years. They were named Cal-Hi Sports Softball State Team of the Year in 2014 and 2016. They won CIF Southern Section titles in 2014, 2016 and 2022. They were the runner-up in the CIF Southern Section Division 4 championships in 2026.