The beginnings of the Mary Grimes alternative education program lie back in the 1973-74 school year, when the CFB-ISD Special Education department entered into a cooperative alternative program with Richardson and Plano school districts. For two years, housed in Addison and then Richardson, the CFB school district contributed one teacher to a continuous enrollment of nine students. The students who needed such a program were attending and achieving better than in the larger, traditional school. In 1975-76, CFB ISD moved their own program into the Special Education office complex, and with two teachers assigned to the program, enrollment was increased to twenty students. The success of this program increased concern that a number of students who could not qualify for these special education services were failing or dropping out of school.

     A study of CFB high school dropouts was conducted, and in the fall of 1975, a proposal was submitted to the school board documenting the dropout problem, reporting the success of the special ed alternative program, and requesting an alternative school as one solution to the dropout problem. Thus was established, in Fall 1976, the Valley View Learning Center, an alternative school providing individualized education for students who were identified dropouts or potential dropouts.

     The Valley View Learning Center began the 1976-77 school year with a Program Coordinator, Mr. Brice Jackson, and four teachers to serve 100 students. Of the 170 students served the first year of the program, half the students improved their attendance and earned more credits than in their previous year at the traditional high school. A total of 494 quarter-credits were issued during the school year, and ten students graduated as a result of earning credits at Valley View. 

     The 1977-78 school year added a CVAE Coop teacher to supervise on-the-job training of working students, so enrollment increased to 125 students. That year a total of 155 students were served with 11 graduates. The following four years saw enrollments ranging from 154 to 175 students, and the number of graduates nearly tripling, with a high of 30 during 80-81. During its first 6 years, 1976-1982 the Valley View Learning Center produced a total of 128 graduates and 21 GED certifications.

     In 1989 the program was moved to a new facility on Hutton Drive and renamed Mary Grimes Education Center. With added classroom space, enrollment increased to 250-300 students and through the 90s, the number of graduates has continued to rise.