Tag archives: school

Filling the Void After the Kids Leave Home: Who Are We When We Aren’t Being Parents?
By Deann Zampelli   |   September 16, 2025

Last week, a dear friend of mine drove her eldest child off to college. It is every parent’s dream – your child is healthy and strong enough to leave the nest, to embark on their own adventures, to experience independence and to become whoever it is they are supposed to be. It is a testament […]

Santa Barbara Partners Unite to Bridge Digital Divide for Students
By Montecito Journal   |   August 26, 2025

Unite to Light, the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara (HACSB), and Deckers Brands have joined forces to support low-income students through the annual Tools for School program. This year, the initiative expanded to include solar-powered Luke Lights and phone chargers for more than 200 junior high and high school students living in […]

Maude Bond Appointed Cate School Head of Admissions & College Counseling
By Montecito Journal   |   August 26, 2025

Head of Cate School Alex Lockett announced this week that Maude Bond will serve as Head of Admissions & College Counseling. Bond previously built Cate’s nationally recognized College Counseling program, known for its personalized, data-driven approach with an emphasis on highlighting each student’s distinct strengths. Bond’s experience prior to Cate School includes being Director of […]

Our Town’s Graduations: Crane Country Day Schools
By Joanne A Calitri   |   July 1, 2025

Crane Country Day School’s graduation – “Go Coyotes!” – ceremony was held on Wednesday, June 11. It was also the 25th anniversary of Joel Weiss as Head of Crane Country Day School.  In covering the graduation ceremony annually, I meet up with the school photographer to do the traditional pre-ceremony formal photograph of the graduates […]

Annual Graduation Coverage Week 2:
By Joanne A Calitri   |   June 17, 2025

Laguna Blanca  Lower School The Laguna Blanca Lower School 2025 Graduation, “Go Owls!” was held on Friday, June 6 at 9am, outside at the Lower Campus Pavilion. The graduates processed in to “Little Prelude in E minor” by Bach and took their places on bleachers in the front facing their families and friends seated in […]

SB Unified: Would Focusing On Financial Data Cure What Ails Us?
By Jeff Giordano   |   April 8, 2025

Much local ink was spilled after Santa Barbara Unified’s marathon School Board meeting, on March 11, where 85 teachers were tentatively axed. Much of the reporting touted Celeste Kafri, the Board’s newest Board Member whose focus on financial data was categorized as “a new way of thinking.” My interest was piqued, so I did a […]

Montecitan Martha Salas Balances the Books. The Textbooks.
By Jeff Wing   |   March 25, 2025

Higher education is expensive. It’s no accident that for decades academic dorm cuisine has been lovingly built around the Cup O’ Noodles® tradition, an affordable scholastic delicacy whose variants include beef, chicken, shrimp, teriyaki, and the always-worrisome “spicy” – an indefinable “flavor” commonly avoided the night before a mid-term.  Apart from higher ed’s tuition, fees, […]

Students Honored for Selfless Leadership 
By Scott Craig   |   April 30, 2024

Two Westmont juniors, Rachael Todd of Nipomo and Levi Wicks of Huntington Beach, won David K. Winter Servant Leadership Awards for showing selflessness and humility as effective leaders. Angela D’Amour, dean of student engagement, introduced the 24th annual awardees on April 10 in Westmont chapel. The award recognizes the late David K. Winter, who served […]

School Scars
By Ashleigh Brilliant   |   April 9, 2024

From the ages 13 to 18, I went to school in Hendon, a London suburb. It was just after World War II, and in the field behind the school were several surface air-raid shelters; recent wartime relics which were now being used for storage. They were not locked. Once, when during a holiday I had […]

Yuri Calderon New ED of SSDA
By Zach Rosen   |   March 19, 2024

The Small School Districts’ Association (SSDA) announced Tuesday the appointment of Yuri Calderon as its new executive director, effective June 1st. Calderon, who holds a law degree, brings over 30 years of experience serving public institutions and school districts in California and beyond. His expertise includes fiscal management, crisis and emergency management, collaboration, and team […]

Message from the Cold Spring School District Board
By Mike Marino   |   January 23, 2024

What an amazing year 2023 was for the Cold Spring School District. Cold Spring was once again the highest performing school district in California and named both a California Distinguished School and a California Exemplary Arts School. We saw the building of a new kitchen on campus and the creation of our culinary program to […]

The Memories and Masks of Sri Lanka
By Husna Balaven   |   January 23, 2024

This art piece was inspired by my trip with Dunn School’s winter term program to Sri Lanka. I experienced so many colorful sights, flavorful foods, and intoxicating smells on my two-week-long adventure overseas. I went sightseeing and on shopping trips; walked the steps of the oldest Dutch fort in Asia; saw fin whales on a […]

Santa Barbara Education Foundation
Love of Literacy Luncheon
By Steven Libowitz   |   September 26, 2023

Having books in the home has been proven to positively benefit children in many different ways. One 20-year study found that the mere presence of a home library, no matter how small, not only increases children’s vocabulary development and literacy, but also leads to increases in attention, academic success, and, eventually, job attainment.  The Santa […]

All-Grads-by-the-Sea
By Richard Mineards   |   June 20, 2023

It was all kids play when 18 children, aged four to five from the preschool at All Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal Parish School, enjoyed a “graduation” ceremony at the Summerland estate of hotel magnate Pat Nesbitt and his wife, Ursula. Students in the Bear class were all handed little diplomas by Jennifer Tucker, school director, while the […]

Our Town’s 21st Annual Graduation Issue 2 of 3
By Joanne A Calitri   |   June 13, 2023

Our town’s schools are holding their graduations from May 21 through June 9th this year. The eight local school graduations are covered in order of occurrence.  This issue has Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the YMCA Preschool. The Montecito Journal wishes much success and congratulations to our graduates, school faculty, staff and parents! Our […]

Our Town’s 21st Annual Graduation Issue 1 of 3 
By Joanne A Calitri   |   June 6, 2023

Our town’s schools are holding their graduations from May 21 through June 9th this year. The eight local school graduations are covered in order of occurrence.  This issue has Cate School leading the charge with 71 graduates. The Montecito Journal wishes much success and offers congratulations to our graduates, school faculty, staff and parents! Cate […]

Dunn School
By Steven Libowitz   |   March 14, 2023

Dunn School’s Kalyan Balaven, head of school for the private co-ed college prep boarding and day school in Los Olivos, had no idea of the floodgates that would open when he decided to find a way to help a student from the Ukraine who early last year was initially only seeking a few extra days […]

Cold Spring School Accepts Awards
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   March 7, 2023

Cold Spring School accepted both the California Distinguished School and California Exemplary Arts in Education awards from state Superintendent Tony Thurmond on Feb. 16 at the Disneyland Hotel. Cold Spring is the only school in the state to receive both honors. Five Santa Barbara County elementary schools were named 2023 California Distinguished Schools by the […]

Summerland Elementary School Re-Opens
By Joanne A Calitri   |   February 14, 2023

On Saturday January 28, the Summerland Elementary School held a community-wide reception to celebrate the re-opening of the school. After being closed since summer 2021, this re-opening signifies a complete rebuild from the soil on up to new classrooms, a multi-purpose room, a library, an office and an outdoor playground funded by Measure U at […]

Cold Spring School Latest
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   November 22, 2022

Lots of positive news is coming out of Montecito’s Cold Spring Elementary this month, including recognition for being ranked the top-performing district in the State of California in both English Language Arts and Mathematics (nearby Montecito Union School ranked #2).  In a recent article on edsource.org, data analysts report that students in California performed significantly […]