Yosemite National Park Valley School began in 1875 with students sitting on a fallen log and using packing crates as slates. Next there was a cloth structure with cedar uprights. Locations to follow included one room buildings in the old village, in Stoneman Meadow and near the present day location in the neighborhood by Yosemite Creek. In 1956 the present building was built. It was renovated in 1996 to include a new hallway, bathrooms and a teacher's

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room. The school was first called Yosemite Valley School and then Yosemite Elementary School. The school was formally renamed Yosemite National Park Valley School in 2000 to join its sister schools, Yosemite National Park Wawona School and Yosemite National Park El Portal School. Yosemite Valley School is part of the Mariposa County Unified School District.

Classrooms are equipped with computers and internet access. Textbooks and classroom instruction are aligned with California’s academic standards. Over the course of the years our school population has fluctuated from 36-100 pupils in multi-graded classrooms. In 2006, Yosemite Valley School was recognized as a California Distinguished School for the second time. Our students have had international partnerships, based on environmental education projects, with schools in Japan and Scotland. To culminate a study of the origin of our park our students have visited the birthplace of John Muir, Dunbar, Scotland three times and plan another trip there next June. Our Scottish friends have also visited us in Yosemite several times. We are proud of the school's long tradition in this “crown jewel” of a national park, which is now the destination of over four million visitors a year from around the world.