Tag archives: Montecito Union School

The Montecito Union School Foundation (MUSF) annual gala fundraiser was held on Friday, April 12 at the Rosewood Miramar Beach Montecito. This year’s formal affair – Côte d’Azur: A night in the French Riviera. The important fundraising gala assures that the resources of MUS will continue and be added to. It awards grants towards the […]

This week I met up with Emily Stone, an MUS alumna and current graduate student at the University of Oxford. After earning her bachelor’s degree at Barnard College, Columbia University studying Environment Sustainability and Human Rights, Emily made the move to the U.K. to pursue her passion for conservation science. In our conversation, Emily introduced […]

The Montecito Association held its monthly Board meeting March 12th in person at the Montecito Library and via zoom.  Community Reports began with Police Chief Lt. Ugo Peter “Butch” Arnoldi on the resolution of investigations and reported crime in the area. Montecito Fire Chief David Neels reported on the last storm, stating the area did […]

In last week’s edition we briefly reported on the proposed plans by the Rosewood Miramar Resort to expand its offerings. Reps of the property, owned by Rick Caruso, were due to be in front of the Montecito Association Board of Directors earlier this week, but had to cancel due to illness.  A brief conversation was […]

As MUS superintendent Anthony Ranii mentioned to the Montecito Association earlier this month, AHA!, a local nonprofit serving teens, families, and educators in Santa Barbara County, is now utilizing MUS’s Nature Lab for its Littlest Little Farm.  The Littlest Little Farm, launched in fall 2019, is one of the nonprofit’s afterschool programs, teaching participants about […]

This graduation issue has, in order of occurrence: the YMCA Preschool, Cold Spring School, Laguna Blanca Lower School, Montecito Union School, the El Montecito Early School, and Crane Country Day School. The Montecito Journal wishes much success and congratulations to our graduates, school faculty, staff, and parents! YMCA Preschool 2023 Graduation The YMCA Preschool 2023 […]

The Montecito Union School Foundation (MUSF) held its annual fundraiser gala on Saturday, May 20 at the Montecito estate of Blaine and Valerie Lando. The event was sold out at over 200 guests, with sponsors also donating tables to MUS staff and teachers to attend the gala. Everyone was upbeat in their more-than-Sunday-best, with mostly […]

Community members are invited to a meeting at Montecito Union School this Thursday, March 9, to learn about the construction staging for the San Ysidro Roundabout, which begins Monday, March 13. Here’s what you need to know.  The first phase of work will begin in the northwest corner of the intersection of North Jameson Lane […]

Project Progress Highway 101 Widening Project  The long-awaited widening project from Carpinteria to Santa Barbara was discussed at length in 2022, with countless meetings to discuss design, construction, timing, and other details related to the addition of a third lane through Montecito.  The Montecito segment of the project (called 4D) includes widening 1.4 miles of […]

At this month’s Montecito Association Board meeting earlier this week, Lieutenant Butch Arnoldi reported on two storm related issues in Montecito: a washed-up sailboat at Channel Drive and a downed oak tree on East Mountain Drive. As of press time, the storm earlier this week produced three inches of rain in the foothills and one […]

During community reports at this week’s MA meeting, Montecito Union School’s Anthony Ranii said the school’s largest fundraiser, the MUS Carnival, is slated for October 22. The fundraiser for the MUS Foundation raises funds to enhance the school’s academic, athletic, and arts programs; enrich the student experience with technology, curriculum, and improved classroom resources; and […]

Just days before school goes back in session following summer break, Montecito Union School is busy getting classrooms rearranged in order to accommodate what will ultimately be two years of construction in order to modernize campus infrastructure.  The project, which is 15 years in the making, includes improving infrastructure and accessibility in Building D (over […]

At last week’s Montecito Association (MA) meeting, the Board discussed what has become a hot topic in many communities across the country: fractional home ownership via Pacaso, a Bay Area-based company that buys homes and then sells fractional interests in them to second-home buyers. After the sale – in which the company makes a profit […]

At this month’s Montecito Association Board meeting, Montecito Water District (MWD) General Manager Nick Turner presented an overview of drought conditions and a summary of the District’s 5-year Strategic Plan, which was adopted earlier this year.  The District has been in existence for the last 100 years, and its mission statement is to provide an […]

At a quiet Montecito Association meeting earlier this week, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Lieutenant Butch Arnoldi reported on crime in Montecito over the last month.  There have been several residential burglaries including near the Polo Fields, on Romero Canyon, Tiburon Bay Lane, School House Lane, East Mountain Drive, and on Ortega Ridge. Lt. Arnoldi said […]

Justin Bruce Forrester was born in Santa Barbara, California, on July 16, 1999 and passed away in Santa Barbara on February 22, 2022 at the young age of 22. Justin was a fun-loving and good-hearted young man who had family and many friends who loved and adored him. Justin attended Montecito Union School where he […]

Last summer, just a couple of months before Montecito Journal’s 2nd annual The Giving List book was published, Clean Coalition’s work to stage a Community Microgrid in Montecito – a first step toward establishing renewables-driven energy resilience for the vulnerable area – was still largely in the planning stage. The goal to establish individual Solar […]

‘Tis the season to celebrate the plethora of annual holiday concerts at schools around Montecito, with many restricted in-person events held outside due to ongoing concerns over COVID-19. Here is Part I of our roundup from Santa and me: Cate School Cate School’s motto is “Servons” (we serve), which is noted in its holiday tradition […]

Last Wednesday evening, hundreds of Montecito Union School parents, kids, teachers, staff, and members of the Montecito community came out to celebrate the grand opening of its Nature Lab, a project which has been in the works for nearly 15 years. “I want to thank the Montecito Union School board members, past and present, for […]

Montecito Union School will host a ribbon-cutting event this week, to showcase its unique 2.5-acre Nature Lab, a facility that allows its students to grow their own crops, learn outside, and even interact with a tortoise and some chickens. The students at the enviable elementary school were a big part of the process about how […]