Located just south of the historic Florence area in northeast Omaha, McMillan Junior High opened in the fall of 1958. The students chose a Monarch as the school nickname, representing the royal nature of the lion - the king of the jungle.

McMillan Junior High School was named for Edward E. McMillan (1875-1943), the first principal of North High School. Mr. McMillan served as North High School principal from 1924, when it opened, until he retired in 1942. 

In the mid-1980's, McMillan became the Omaha Public Schools first magnet junior high school featuring special courses in computers and mathematics. Ninth graders were moved up to high schools in the late 1980's. Since that transition, McMillan has been a middle school for 7th and 8th graders. Communication Arts was added as a magnet theme in the early 1990's, and the name of the school was changed to McMillan Magnet Center.

In 2003, a $13 million on-site renovation project was completed to update the facility. McMillan is now the home of a new library/media center, state-of-the-art technology and living laboratories, computer labs, and an outstanding indoor and outdoor athletic complex.