San Tan Foothills opened in 2009, around the time of the housing market crash and financial crisis.

The Coolidge district had overbuilt in San Tan Valley; it built Mountain Vista Middle School and San Tan Heights Elementary School.

In 2014, the Coolidge district closed Mountain Vista and moved its students and teachers to the San Tan Foothills campus.

In order to save significant costs for Coolidge, and make a third high school in the district (second in San Tan Valley) unnecessary, the Florence Unified School District voted to acquire CUSD's three San Tan Valley schools in 2015.

The move was approved by voters in both districts in overwhelming margins that November.