Shivela Middle School opened in 1990 as the Murrieta Valley Unified School District's first middle school. In Native American, Shivela means Sycamore tree, which according to the school's website was to pay tribute to the many Native American groups who orignally inhabited the area.
Shivela was named a Califronia Distinguished School in 2001, and continues to push its students to think ahead to college by providing them a standards-based curriculum in core subject areas.
Exploratory courses offered at Shivela include band, drama, choir, technology, art, computer lab, music appreciation and AVID.
Elementary schools that feed into Shivela are Rail Ranch, Avaxat, E. Hale Curran and Antelope Hills. Shivela students go onto high school at Murrieta Mesa and Vista Murrieta.