[3] According to the United States Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, enrollment characteristics for the 2014-2015 school year were as follows: Golden Valley's Advanced Placement program has earned the praise of Newsweek magazine, which named it a "Top 1300" school in the United States, three years running.

[4] Golden Valley has also garnered a Silver Award from U.S. News & World Report, which named it one of the top 1,800 schools in the United States.

[5] The cross-town Bears of Merced High School have been the Cougars' rivals since Golden Valley opened in 1994.

Merced has a deep and long-standing animosity with the Atwater High School Falcons, both in sports and in academics.

Until the new school's opening, the main rival for the Merced Bears was the Atwater Falcons.