Tag archives: schools
It’s autumn in Santa Barbara and the landscape is painted with a golden glow as falling sycamore leaves carpet the ground. Halloween is just around the corner. And, at long last our kids are settled back in school and ready to celebrate the season. During these uncertain times, “back in school” has become an event […]
Montecito Union School is moving forward with some much-needed – and long anticipated – improvements to campus next summer, which will take over a year to complete. “This project has been fifteen years in the making, and has gone through a huge number of changes,” said Superintendent Anthony Ranii, who sat down with us earlier […]
Don’t you wish there was a cute, little dog like Toto who could just pull back a curtain and reveal the secret to how this confusing, murky college admissions process works? So you could see that the smoke and mirrors and prestidigitations involved weren’t so scary and intimidating after all. That lurking behind the collegiate […]
It’s open – and it’s beautiful. On Monday, September 27, there was a ribbon cutting and VIP guest reception for the new 5,500-square-foot Center for Science and Innovation at Laguna Blanca School’s Hope Ranch campus, which houses the Nakamura STEM Research and Innovation Lab, the updated Jackson Physics Labs, the Mosher Foundation Outdoor classroom, Gainey […]
By Laura Capps and Kate Ford, Santa Barbara Unified School District Board of Education Our world is not the same, and we’ve learned so much since COVID-19 struck nearly 20 months ago. Above all, we must do everything possible to keep students and staff in school, safely. We are 150% committed to doing so, as […]
When I arrived at the Montecito Journal, I received some push back for writing about affairs outside of Montecito. But I felt strongly then, and still do, that many aspects of life in greater Santa Barbara are integral to the lives of Montecitans. That goes for healthcare, social impact work, the development of downtown, the […]
About 410 new students, who include 58 new transfers, begin their journey at Westmont Thursday, August 26, moving into residence halls and enjoying several days of welcoming activities during Orientation. “This class has persisted through the pandemic and arrives with high energy and optimism to live and learn in person in real community,” says Irene […]
Westmont College and Young Life Southwestern Division have awarded full scholarships to Arath Gomez of Santa Barbara, Destiny Mitchell of Victorville, and Serena Nohmeh of Reseda. Young Life Urban Leadership Scholarships provide funding for each student to attend Westmont for four years. This joint effort encourages students who have benefited from Young Life to remain […]
Years ago, after graduating from college, I went through a six-month period where I suffered from blood-curdling, ghastly nightmares — where I dreamed that I hadn’t really gotten my diploma after all. I’d wake up in a cold sweat, covers tangled on the floor, breathing heavy at 2 am, convinced I’d forgotten to do something […]
On Tuesday, the bulk of Santa Barbara County snapped “first day” photos for Facebook and returned to the gnarly drop-off lines at area schools — but the cloud of uncertainty surrounding the longevity of in-person instruction remains. With the COVID-19 Delta variant creating disruption at hospitals around the state, local school districts are having to […]
As members of the Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD) board, we understand that our paramount responsibility is to ensure the health and well-being of our students. Incorporating all we’ve learned about COVID-19, we are determined to open schools safely for all staff and students on August 17. Sadly, our community is still in a […]
The following is an open letter to the Coast Village Association and the property owners of the Country Mart and Starbucks strip: We need you to step up now and help your businesses and customers stop enabling homelessness. Help us solve it instead. We are writing to you as Montecito residents and founding members of […]
With the school year less than two weeks from starting, a pair of Santa Barbara Unified School District board members are calling for all district staff and teachers to be vaccinated or be tested for COVID at least once per week. The proposal from Board President Kate Ford and Board Member Laura Capps will be […]
Wendy Ward Hoffer kept her secret for nearly 35 years, recently revealing she was sexually abused by a faculty member during her sophomore and junior years at Carpinteria’s Cate School (1984-86), describing herself as a 15-year-old torn between trying to win the support of her teacher and the ongoing fear of what would happen if […]
It was a case of kids helping kids when youngsters from Mountain View Elementary School donated $1,600 – 20 percent of their tickets sales from their annual school fundraiser – to Cold Spring School, which lost two pupils in the January mudslides and is currently trying to raise $485,000 after property tax revenues were impacted […]
Our community of schools held their 2021 graduation ceremonies through a mix of family-only, in-person bubbles at the school’s open-field areas and via live virtual for all attendees. The total number of local student graduates for this week was 126 students, including 24 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, 13 at Montecito YMCA Preschool, […]
Kalyan Balaven isn’t slated to start his job as Head of School at Dunn until July 1 — but it feels like he has been around for months. That’s because he has. He’s not only utilizing this time to acclimate his wife and two children to the area, but also establish a rapport with the […]
They say the most important quality a student can have is “grit.” You want grit? I’ll show you grit — the class of 2021 began its freshman year with the onset of the Thomas Fire, which turned into the subsequent Montecito debris flow causing hundreds of students and their families to evacuate their homes — […]
The most recent meeting of the Cold Spring School District’s Governing Board took place at the school campus at 6 pm on May 10 and, despite lingering COVID-19 concerns, drew a standing-room only crowd. Participants included all five board members, school officials including Superintendent and Principal Amy Alzina, Chief Operating Officer Yuri Calderon, and about […]
Saturday, May 22 will be a very exciting evening for Montecito Union kids, parents, and the greater community, as Montecito Union School hosts a virtual gala featuring professionally produced musical performances from MUS students. Dubbed “Montecito Star,” the event is in lieu of the Montecito Union School Foundation’s annual gala, which raises money for various […]
