The school opened in 1997 with a class of freshmen and sophomores, and added juniors the following year and seniors after that, graduating its first class in 2000. It was the second comprehensive high school built in the Temecula Valley Unified School District, after Temecula Valley, and was constructed at a cost of $36 million. The puma was chosen over the cougar for the school mascot, and platinum was chosen for a school color instead of flat silver. It was also named a California Gold Ribbon School in 2017.
