
About Us

Located less than three miles from the Pacific Ocean and three miles from the border Mexico, SOH offers a unique setting as it is situation in the transnational community of Nestor, San Diego. Situated in a narrow corridor from central San Diego, Nestor is part of the city of San Diego, the fifth largest city in California; however, the area is so rural that within a mile of the school, sign warning of horse crossing streets are visible, and roosters can be heard crowing from across the street. This is an established community in which Southwest High School serves the cornerstone of the area where many families have attended the school for many generations. Southwest High offers a rigorous curriculum that features many established programs such as the Eco-Engineering Pathway and the Biomedical Pathway. It also offers the most diverse elective programs in the district, which include CTE Pathways in Culinary, Transportation, Dance, Digital Multimedia, Photography and Mariachi. Furthermore, SOH offers a multitude of Advanced Placement (AP) classes including the AP Capstone Certificate for students who qualify. It is our goal that when students graduate from high school, they have multiple opportunities to pursue post-secondary opportunities, including but not limited to, baccalaureate degrees, associate degrees, trade certifications and/or military careers. For extracurricular activities, Southwest High has a robust athletics program for both male and female athletes. There is also a plethora of other programs such as ASSETS and ASB where students can belong to clubs on campus, learning leadership skills, and/or participate in non-academic activities such as Financial Workshops, Campus Crawls, Drivers’ Ed, and many more. This year, Southwest High will be celebrating its 50th anniversary. We look forward to seeing many alumni at the October 24, 2025 homecoming game.

Southwest High School is a community of learners that build relationships to educate and empower students to become productive members of society by living The RAIDER WAY.

The RAIDER WAY contributes to an equitable environment that provides a rigorous, relevant, and restorative campus where all the Southwest High School stakeholders: students, staff, and parents share the collective responsibility for ensuring that each student is equipped with 21st Century skills to achieve college and career readiness at grade level literacy.

As a Raider Student, I will:
- Embrace a college-career going culture.
- Take advantage of rigorous classes.
- Participate in college and job fairs.
- Strive to succeed at the highest level to be at grade level or above in literacy and numeracy.
- Bring materials to school every day.
- Be prepared for rigorous daily learning and study.
- Seek academic assistance and emotional support when needed.
- Focus on learning and apply it to your life.
- Arrive on time and ready to learn.
- Complete meaningful community service.
- Contribute to a safe, restorative, and welcoming school environment.
- Be an active member in a restorative school where all are valued.
- Participate in extracurricular activities.
- Celebrate success.
As a Raider Staff, I will strive to build relationships to:
- Embrace a college-career going culture for each student.
- Commit to the work of the Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)with a growth-mindset approach to learning.
- Become facilitators in the teaching and the learning for each student to be at grade-level or above in literacy and numeracy.
- Focus on teaching, learning, assessing, and providing feedback.
- Provide a safe, restorative, and trauma-informed classroom environment.
- Foster high expectations for our students, our colleagues, and ourselves.
- Celebrate success.
As a Raider Parent, I will:
- Embrace a college-career going culture.
- Support your student academically and emotionally to be literate at grade level or above.
- Seek academic assistance and emotional support for your student when needed.
- Attend school events.
- Contribute to a safe, restorative, and welcoming school environment.
- Monitor grades, communicate with teachers and support staff.
- Celebrate success.

O’er the horizon of victory.
Our Southwest sun,
Shines through with spirit free.
The Red the Gold we will truly see,
Beyond the Raider dawn
We hail the Red, the Gold, the White
In our faithful song
With loyal courage we raise our hands,
Eternal glory we command,
Southwest High forever, ever stand.