Mountain View was built as a six-room school in 1958 to relieve overcrowding at Koelsch School. The farmland near Cole Road was rapidly replaced by subdivisions, as houses took over the landscape north of Fairview to Ustick Road and Mountain View Drive.

A six-room addition was completed in 1960. The area continued to grow, and in 1964 five more classrooms, a faculty room and two restrooms were added. In 1972, a relocatable was added for a special reading room.

Mountain View is one of a few Boise schools that is not on a busy thoroughfare. It is nestled in a residential area away from traffic. The school has large play areas that border a city park and neighborhood housing on all sides.

In addition to students in neighboring homes, Mountain View educates students from the area north and east of Capital High School and from Garden City west of 45th Street and east of 50th Street.