Carmel Valley

Carmel Valley, CA

Carmel Valley is one of the newer neighborhoods of the City of San Diego, California. It is a master planned community that was formed by the City of San Diego on February 1, 1975, but construction did not start until 1983. The name Carmel Valley comes from the Carmelite Sisters of Mercy, who established a dairy farm and monastery in the area circa 1905.  Although the area was known locally as Carmel Valley, in 1974 the area was given the institutional name North City West in the master plan. The name Carmel Valley was readopted in the early 1990s.

Carmel Valley is bordered to the north by the North City Future Urbanizing Area (NCFUA) and Pacific Highlands Ranch; to the south by Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve and Torrey Hills; to the east by Pacific Highlands Ranch and Del Mar Mesa; and to the west by Interstate 5 and Torrey Pines. Nearby is the Torrey Pines State Preserve, where one of two stands of the endangered Torrey Pine is found to occur.

While many people in the area are now referring to the entire 92130 zip code as Carmel Valley, the actual boundaries of the community remain unchanged from the original community plan. The remainder of the 92130 zip code is filled by the surrounding communities of Del Mar Mesa, Pacific Highlands Ranch, and Torrey Hills.

Education

Carmel Valley has an overlay of various school districts. For the elementary schools, the northern section is part of the Solana Beach School District (K-6). The southern section is managed by the Del Mar Union School District (K-6). Overlaying the entire community, the San Dieguito Union High School District manages the middle schools and high schools. Some Carmel Valley residents attend schools in the bordering communities of Pacific Highlands Ranch, Torrey Hills, and Torrey Pines.

Elementary schools

• Ashley Falls (Del Mar Union School District)
• Carmel Creek (Solana Beach School District)
• Carmel Del Mar (Del Mar Union School District)
• Del Mar Pines (private, nonsectarian)
• Ocean Air (Del Mar Union School District)
• Sage Canyon (Del Mar Union School District)
• Solana Highlands (Solana Beach School District)
• Solana Pacific (Solana Beach School District)
• Sycamore Ridge (Del Mar Union School District); actually in Pacific Highlands Ranch
• Torrey Hills (Del Mar Union School District); actually in Torrey Hills

Middle schools and junior high schools

• Carmel Valley Middle School (San Dieguito Union High School District)

K through 8

• Notre Dame Academy (Roman Catholic)

High schools

• Torrey Pines High School (San Dieguito Union High School District)
• Canyon Crest Academy (San Dieguito Union High School District)
• Cathedral Catholic High School (Catholic)

K through 12

• San Diego Jewish Academy (Jewish)

Colleges and universities

• University of Phoenix