Sweetwater High School, Chula Vista sign lease bringing virtual academy to Millenia Library

Chula Vista and Sweetwater Union High School District officials signed a 15-year lease Tuesday bringing the district’s Launch Virtual Academy to the city-owned Millenia Library, formalizing an agreement the City Council approved unanimously May 5.

The lease grants the district roughly 8,687 square feet for the WASC-accredited program, which serves grades seven through 12. Rent is set at $10 monthly for the first five years and $5,000 monthly for years six through 10, with market-rate rent to be negotiated starting in year 11. The city will fund an estimated $4 million in tenant improvements, to be reimbursed by Sweetwater.

Mayor John McCann, a Chula Vista public school graduate, said the agreement reflects the city’s commitment to public education.

McCann said the Millenia Library “was always envisioned as more than a traditional library” and pointed to the University Innovation District vision spanning “middle school to high school to college to career training and lifelong learning.”

“We designated (the library) as a place where education, innovation and community can come together under one roof," he said. "Today that vision continues to become a reality."

Sweetwater Union High School District Superintendent Moisés Aguirre said the South Bay has “traditionally been overlooked and not invested in,” calling the region a “higher education desert.”

"This is going to be a really unique partnership," Aguirre said. "This is going to allow us to use the space to have in-person experiences, to bring students, parents and others to experience a public library, to be able to experience a public school, to be able to experience a whole new way of learning in the South Bay."

Assemblymember David Alvarez, who authored Assembly Bill 662 and secured $25 million in state funding for the Millenia Library, said Chula Vista is “doing innovation like nowhere else in the country, certainly nowhere else in the state,” and noted the Launch lease follows a separate agreement bringing San Diego State University’s nursing program to Millenia, which he said will be starting in the fall.

"It’s not just about getting a diploma, about graduating and calling it a day," Alvarez said of the education system the South Bay is building. "It’s about building infrastructure that’s long lasting into the future with the programming that is responsive to a student’s needs."

The Launch lease adds to Millenia Library’s roster of educational tenants alongside SDSU’s nursing program, approved under a separate 10-year, $1-annual lease.

Both partnerships fall under a broader push, guided by a task force formed under AB 662, to develop a multi-institution university district on a 383-acre, city-owned site in eastern Chula Vista.

Salima Namu, a former Launch student and the program’s most recent ASB president, said the academy was created during the pandemic to serve families urgently seeking educational options. She said the new Millenia location gives the program a permanent physical presence within the community it has long served.

"To the students who will walk through the doors in the years ahead, I hope you feel the same sense of belonging that Launch gave me," Namu said.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published July 8, 2026 at 5:04 PM.