During lunch hour, the campus fills with movement as teenagers and college students weave through the same walkways, gather in the Johnson Center (JSC) and crowd shared study spaces. Security officers stand near entrances while students from three different schools gather in one place.
Middle College High School students wear lanyards to identify themselves, students from Vista Meridian wear uniforms and college students from Santa Ana College blend in with casual attire. While this shared campus offers unique academic opportunities, it also raises questions about safety, supervision and how clearly students can be identified in such a mixed environment.
Sanchez Jenner, a student from Vista Meridian, said the shared space generally feels safe.
“It honestly feels normal walking with other students, walking to our next period. It’s spacious and comfortable walking on campus.” Jenner added, “I do feel safe being on campus walking with two other schools because some of us work towards the same goal which is getting an education.”
Zahid Rojas, junior at Vista Meridian, shared a similar view. He also mentioned that staff helps maintain order and safety across campus.
“Sí, me siento relativamente seguro…porque la mayoría está enfocado en sus clases y realmente no interactúan mucho con nosotros,[“Yes, I feel relatively safe…because most students are focused on their classes and don’t really interact with us.”] Rojas said.
At Middle College High School, students described feeling safe but noted areas for improvement. Freshman Kierra Lowden said that the college students that have approached her seem nice.
“I do feel safe, although I do not talk or interact with the college students. The ones that have approached me, they seem very kind and very outgoing,” Lowden said.
While Lowden said she feels safe, she also remarked how the security could be improved.
“In terms of watching the students, I would say yes, but in terms of security around the campus, I would say no, because there isn’t really a lot of security,” Lowden said.
MCHS freshman class president Angel Nguyen, agreed that campus feels safe, but suggests improving supervision.
“I feel safe because everyone is doing their own respective things,” Nguyen said. “A partial lack of supervision, just like maybe a few more supervisors walking around instead of just two or three.”
College students shared different perspectives. College freshman, Jafet Vargas explains he is not bothered by the two high schools.
“Sharing the campus with younger students doesn’t affect me in any way,” Vargas said.
However, he noted concerns about outsiders.
“Sometimes there are homeless people or other people that don’t go to college and students have no idea if that person has a dangerous or armed weapon on them and it may put students in danger,” Vargas said
Vargas believes that SAC, MCHS and Vista need more security supervision.
“We could use more security presence around the campus so they can keep an eye on the students inside and out of the buildings because you’ll never know what could happen.”
