During its first year of operation (2004-2005 school year), the school was located on the campus of Rancho Pico Junior High School, housing only 9th grade students and faculty. Since the high school did not have a mascot at the time, the class of 2008 chose the wildcat to represent the school and because the movie High School Musical, which had come out 2 years prior to West Ranch’s first graduating class. It has since moved to its own campus, housing students 9th through 12th grade. The class of 2008 was the first graduating class in the history of the high school.
West Ranch High School has been the filming site for several television shows and movies, including The Unit and the movie Stay Cool.[5]
As of the 2021-22 academic year, 2,209 students were enrolled at West Ranch High School. 40.7% of students were non-Hispanic white, 26.1% were Asian American, 22.6% were Hispanic, and 3.9% were African American.[2] As of 2020-21, 344 students (15.5%) were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.[6]
