Terra Nova High School was established in 1961 to serve the growing population in the Linda Mar district of southern Pacifica. Students attended from Vallemar, Rockaway Beach, Mori Point, Fairway, Sharp Park and Pacific Manor districts until Oceana High School was completed the following year.
Campus
The original buildings and campus were designed by Mark Falk & Corwin Booth. The main building originally had only two stories when the school opened in 1961. Portables were added to the rear of the school campus to accommodate the increase in students and need for more classrooms. A major facilities remodel was completed in 1998, and construction of a 400+ seat theater and a new science building began in early 2010 and was completed in 2012.
In 2011, Terra Nova scored an API of 801, the sixth highest in San Mateo County. By 2013, the last year on record, the school had scored 792, the second highest in the Jefferson Union school district. The state of California replaced the API system with the California School Dashboard system in 2017, in order to provide "a fuller picture of how districts and schools are addressing the needs of their students while also identifying the specific strengths and areas in need of improvement." For the school year 2018-2019, Terra Nova scored 6.3 points above the state average in English Language Arts, but 40.4 points below standard in Math. It ranked above average for both Campus Climate - with an annual suspension rate of 5.6% - and Academic Engagement - with a graduation rate of 94.7%.
Extracurricular activities
Terra Nova has an award-winning marching band, which won first place in their division at the Foothill Band Review in 2007 and 2009. The marching band received the Sweepstakes award at the 2008 and 2009 Fog Fests. Most recently the marching band won 2nd place at championships 2016 in Napa The Terra Nova drama department performs spring and fall productions, often produced in conjunction with directors from the local theatre company, the Pacifica Spindrift Players. The school's student-run newspaper is the Terra Nova Times and has won awards from the Peninsula Press Club. Terra Nova has had a team on the Bay Area's Quiz Kids show since the show's debut. Terra Nova also offers a wide variety of sports, including football, baseball, cheer leading, badminton, cross country, tennis, track and field, water polo, swimming, soccer, basketball, volleyball, and wrestling. Numerous teams go to CCS and PAL championships yearly. The 1982 football team had a final ranking of third in the state of California for Division 3 football. The team ended with an 11-1 record. Baseball has sent several players to the Majors, including Greg Reynolds, Bob McClure, and Keith Hernandez.
