Education 101

Are Santa Barbara Schools Making the Grade?

Education 101, story from Santa Barbara Magazine

Education 101, from Santa Barbara Magazine

Education 101, from Santa Barbara Magazine

For better or worse, the days when parents would simply whisk their children off to the nearest school are long gone. Discussions of “where are you sending your child?” dominate local parks, pediatrician’s offices and preschool playgrounds. While there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to education, luckily we have lots of options in Santa Barbara. In general, our schools are getting better too–a concerted effort is underway to narrow the achievement gap between middle- to upper-class and low-income students. “Our schools are improving,” according to experts including longtime local educator Gerrie Fausett, the current superintendent of the Hope School District and former principal of Santa Barbara Junior High and Washington Elementary School on the Mesa. She says that schools are “doing a better job educating our students, and have particularly improved in their work with students that are not meeting academic expectations. The improvements and the dedication to making sure that kids are learning what they need to learn are moving forward.” The public approaches consensus on the importance of closing this achievement gap (nearly 90% according to a Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll), attributes the gap to factors other than schooling (75%), believes parents and students have more to do with whether students learn than teachers (63%), but still believes that it is the responsibility of schools to close the gap (58%).

Here’s a look at what our local schools–both public and private–have to offer.

Public Elementary Schools

One big advantage of public school is obvious: it’s already paid for by your taxes. Parents also cite the system’s diverse student bodies, access to GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) programs, and the wider variety of sports and extracurricular activities that larger schools can offer. In addition, while many private schools advertise that they have credentialed teachers, they aren’t a requirement–there are no legal regulations regarding the academic qualifications of private school teachers. In public schools, however, a teaching credential is required, period.

Many parents view the state’s emphasis on standardized test scores as a negative aspect of publicly funded schools, complaining that the schools “teach to the tests” rather than to the individual students, but Fausett also sees a plus side. “I think it’s part of being accountable as a student and as a human being. You’re accountable for what you learn or what you do…. It’s important to the whole process of being educated,” she says.

Public elementary schools can basically be classified into two types: neighborhood schools and schools of choice. Living in a well-regarded school district makes the decision to attend a neighborhood school easier. In fact, realtors use high-performing districts such as Montecito Union, Hope and Goleta as aggressive selling points. However, the where-you-live/where-you-go-to-school equation isn’t so simple these days. Parents who don’t live in their preferred district can take advantage of state sanctions resulting from the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, which allows students whose schools are on probation for not meeting test performance targets for certain subgroups of students to attend the school of their choice. (Santa Barbara Junior High, La Cumbre Junior High, Isla Vista Elementary School and McKinley Elementary School are all on what is called program improvement status.) Coupled with loose transfer policies that make it relatively easy for parents to choose an alternative school, there’s a virtual open-enrollment policy throughout the Santa Barbara School District. There’s less mobility in Goleta and Montecito, which use a different funding model (Basic Aid, rather than Revenue Limit). The more common Revenue Limit funding model bases the amount of money a school gets on the average daily attendance (ADA). For example, last school year, all of the local elementary schools using the Revenue Limit model received just slightly more than $5,000 per student. The Basic Aid funding model was designed to help California schools with declining enrollment. If the amount of property taxes generated by a district is greater than the amount of money it would generate by collecting ADA, the district may change to Basic Aid funding, a scenario which has resulted in Goleta schools receiving more than $7,000 per student, Cold Spring School receiving more than $9,000 per student and Montecito Union receiving more than $10,000 per student last year. The Hope School District is also moving toward Basic Aid in order to receive more funding, and has stopped taking new transfer students to speed up its eligibility.

Neighborhood Schools

For many families, choosing a neighborhood has become more about selecting a school than a home. However, even the most well-regarded and well-funded schools require extensive parent involvement to be successful. For Denice Adams, founder of SAGE (Supporters of Advanced and GATE Education), an organization that advocates for special services for high-achieving students and whose 14-year-old son attends Santa Barbara High and 7-year-old daughter goes to Cold Spring School in Montecito, public school was the best option. Her son is an avid musician, and “Private schools don’t have the band and orchestra program. I think private schools have their place for students who need a smaller, more intimate environment, personal attention.”

One of the extras offered at Cold Spring is the Dolphin Center, an after-school childcare and enrichment program staffed by professionals and also run by Wesmont College students with an interest in elementary education. This is one of the many ways that children benefit from the school’s proximity to the nearby college.

While most public schools offer some sort of GATE program, Washington Elementary School on the Mesa is a cluster school for GATE students, with entire classrooms dedicated to an advanced curriculum. Dedicated GATE classrooms, as opposed to the more common pullout programs (in which students are with another teacher for specialized instruction just a few hours a week), are also offered at Adams (on Las Positas) and Franklin (near Milpas Street) elementary schools.

One of the things that distinguishes the Hope School District, which serves students from Hope Ranch and the upper State Street area comprised of Hope, Monte Vista and Vieja Valley Schools, is a high degree of parent involvement, says Fausett. “Parents have made Hope School District function like a private school by providing funds to have an art specialist, a P.E. specialist, a computer specialist….”

With its Basic Aid funding now beginning to kick in, the Goleta Union School District is able to offer better-than-average salaries to teachers as well as additional programs for students. For example, Mountain View School has a hands-on science lab and computer lab, along with specialist instructors in those subjects, as well as in art, music, computers and physical education.

Isla Vista School partners with UCSB on a number of programs, including a unique “Parents, Children and Computers Project” that gives an opportunity for parents from the community to learn how to use computers.

Aliso Elementary School in Carpinteria also has an unusual take on technology. Students participate in a virtual summer school, using their computers at home (many donated by the county’s Computers for Families program) to access their school curriculum and learning resources via the Internet, with connection services provided at a reduced rate. Parents are also given computer training if needed. Cleveland Elementary School on the upper eastside offers a year-round continuous learning program, and additional programs such as Rainbow Camp, the Junior Academy for Math and Science, an Inter-session Support Program and enrichment learning classes during the vacation periods.

Charter Schools/Schools of Choice

Charter Schools or Schools of Choice, meaning any student in the district can attend, are becoming more common, with five schools in the Santa Barbara Elementary District–Peabody, Santa Barbara Charter, Santa Barbara Community Academy, Cesar Chavez and Open Alternative School–functioning in this way. The Santa Barbara Community Academy offers a year-round academic program. The academy also has other things that distinguish it. “The founding principles were core knowledge [a sequenced, coherent program that uses a grade-by-grade core of common learning], uniforms and parent participation,” says founding principal Joan Jamieson, who recently retired.

East of Milpas Street, Cesar Estrada Chavez Dual Language Immersion Charter School offers a 50/50 balance in the use of English and Spanish each day. Primary instruction is given in the student’s native language, while second language fluency is developed through activities that focus on meaning and comprehension. With bilingual education out of favor in most of California, Cesar Chavez and its mission “to develop bi-literate, bi-cultural students whose strong academic and cultural foundation prepare them to meaningfully participate in their families, their community and their world to create a more just and equitable society,” offers a clear alternative to the typical school experience.

Another public school educational option is the Open Alternative School, serving kindergarten through eighth grade, on the campus of La Colina Junior High on Foothill Road. The school provides a cooperative learning environment, emphasizing parent participation, individual growth and cultural diversity.

Public Junior High and High Schools

Between increased academic expectations and raging hormones, it’s no wonder that private schools experience a “bump” in junior high-aged students. Parents will pay whatever they need to ensure their child’s success during the critical early teen years. But the public junior highs have much to offer students and are engaging in active efforts to reach out to families.

Parent Denice Adams certainly sounds like a satisfied Santa Barbara Junior High customer. Her son Andrew was voted most likely to succeed by his classmates and won the Ray Kroc McDonald’s Award for scholarship, leadership, sportsmanship and citizenship last spring. “Andrew had a great junior high career because everybody there was on the same team,” she says. “When I went in and said his weak suit was writing, the teachers came in before school and during lunch to work with him.”

That same kind of personalized attention is also evident in the academy programs at the high schools. Santa Barbara High offers three academies, which operate much like a “school within a school.” The Multimedia Arts and Design Academy (MAD) and the Visual Arts and Design Academy (VADA) places students with mentors in the field of graphic or visual arts during their junior and senior years. The Green, or horticulture, Academy is a program for students interested in learning about environmental stewardship and developing a deep understanding of local ecological issues. San Marcos High has a Nursing Program and Health Academy as well as Virtual Enterprise, a simulated business class designed to give the students the experience of working in a professional environment. Students conduct business transactions with other high schools and colleges in the United States and abroad.

Dos Pueblos High (DP) is lauded for its International Baccalaureate Program, where students pursue a rigorous liberal arts curriculum that is recognized by the best colleges and universities. DP also offers an Engineering Academy, which draws upon professional engineers from Raytheon to work as instructors.

Private/Independent Schools

The independent school offerings are as varied as those of the public schools, but one of the things they all have in common is smaller class sizes, which means more individualized attention for students and a closer relationship with faculty. Private schools are also generally able to provide students with a wide variety of classes and travel experiences. While not every private school fits easily into an academic “box,” for discussion purposes it’s useful to categorize them as college preparatory schools, parochial or religious schools, or progressive or alternative schools.

College Preparatory Schools

Laguna Blanca, with campuses in Hope Ranch and Montecito, is the only fully accredited college preparatory school in the greater Santa Barbara region that serves the entire kindergarten through 12th grade continuum. “We like to refer to ourselves as providing one-stop shopping for every family’s full educational needs,” says headmaster Douglas Jessup. “The academic demands are rigorous, so students must possess both above-average ability and the motivation to advance themselves to be able to handle Laguna’s challenging workload.”

Founded in 1910 by Curtis Wolsey Cate, as a boarding school that combines the academic excellence of the best East Coast prep schools with the can-do, adventurous spirit of the West, Carpinteria’s Cate School has a long and rich history. Local author, artist, and founder of the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference Barnaby Conrad is an alumni, along with his son, two stepsons, and two grandchildren. “When I was there, we all had to have horses and everything was very horsy. You had to get up at 6 o’clock in the morning and groom your horse, Mr. Cate was a Spartan headmaster, and he didn’t believe in warm water. You had to take a cold shower at 6:30 in the morning after you’d groomed your horse,” said Conrad, who also taught at the school and has painted portraits of all of the headmasters. “It’s a wonderful school now, I think, much tougher than when I was there,” offers Conrad. Indeed, not only are women now admitted, but students from all over the world compete to partake in one of the 265 spots in Cate’s rigorous scholastic program. In addition to excellent academics and college placement opportunities, Cate also provides students with the opportunity to continue their education with faculty-led trips to China, Japan and Spain.

The Anacapa School serves 7th- to 12th-grade students who want a challenging college preparatory experience in a personal, small school setting. Located downtown, the school seeks to educate students in three specific areas: technical, personal/social and critical knowledge. Asking questions and encouraging open dialogue are fundamental principles.

Parochial/Religious Schools

After 70-plus years as a Catholic Church-run school, in 2005 Bishop Garcia Diego High School became an independent Catholic high school serving the needs of the broader community. The school, located near where Highway 101 and Highway 154 meet, welcomes students of all faiths, and provides them with what parent Ralph Ianelli describes as, “value-based education, as opposed to strict doctrine.… Basically they’re teaching kids to be good kids.”

The kindergarten through 8th grade Marymount of Santa Barbara, located on the Riviera, is “an independent school with a Catholic tradition,” according to its literature, yet welcomes families of all faiths. Students may pursue the traditional Catholic courses or a track that explores all the major world religions, emphasizing the commonalities that unite them. Both learning tracks emphasize the greater issues of values, ethics and service to others.

The teaching of values also plays a primary role at the preschool through 8th grade El Montecito School. “Because we’re a Christian school, we can build character and do things other people can’t do. … Our motto is: ‘Where Character Meets Wisdom,’ and we have the privilege of being able to do it in a unique way because we can respond to absolutes—what’s right and what’s wrong,” says headmaster Jeannine Morgan.

The neighboring Our Lady of Mount Carmel Elementary School (kindergarten through 8th grade) is a Catholic parochial school working under church auspices. The curriculum is aligned with state Standards and Archdiocesan Guidelines, with the teaching and integration of the Catholic faith and Christian values at the core of the curriculum.

Progressive/Alternative Schools

Beginning its fifth year as an independent school, the preschool-11th grade San Roque School, with campuses in San Roque and near the Mission, offers one of Santa Barbara’s most unique approaches to education.

A holistic approach to learning allows for much of the curriculum to be student-directed, and core subjects such as math and English are integrated into each study unit, rather than taught as stand alone classes. San Roque brings in specialists on an as-needed basis. Among the recent areas studied: video production, sound engineering, graphic design, fashion design, culinary arts, outdoor education, sailing, surfing, architecture and computer animation. “When kids have a specific interest, we figure out a way for them to participate in that either at the school or in the community,” says headmaster Mike Hagen.

Crane Country Day School in Montecito has innovative approaches to a traditional curriculum. One of the many original programs that impressed Crane parent Melissa Marsted is the school’s concept of families. A Crane “family” has members from each grade team together to do activities together, promote a strong sense of community, and to allow 8th-grade students to take leadership roles in the “family.” “It’s an overall positive learning environment,” Marsted says. “As the students progress through the grades, as their families change, their web of knowing the Crane community strengthens and brings in more acquaintances into their growing circle of friends.”

A nationally recognized Outdoor Education Program that stretches limits and builds self-confidence as children travel by bike on several weeklong trips per year is but one of the many components that distinguish Santa Barbara Middle School, near the Mission. “What we really love is the focus on the whole child,” says Bruce Klobucher, whose daughter Nikki graduated in June. “Middle School does a super job of focusing from academics to the arts, to community service, and of course the Outdoor Education Program—all four of those things are mixed in wonderfully by the staff and teachers there, and really creates kind of a magical environment for kids to learn in,” he says.

SBMS is the only independent, accredited, stand-alone middle school in California, serving grades 6 through 9. Its faculty members are specialists in the developmental stages of adolescence. That particular expertise with the early teens years is what draws many families—like the Klobucher’s, who plan to send their younger daughter Riley to SBMS in a year—to put their children in private school for just those junior high years. “Their bodies are changing and their minds and emotions are changing…there is a chance for tremendous impact at that age, and we view the school as an opportunity to help to foster that development in a way that the school has been dramatically successful at,” says Klobucher, who is vice president and chair of fundraising for the Board of Trustees.

The preschool through 8th grade Santa Barbara Montessori School in Goleta also focuses on the development of the whole child. According to the school’s literature, in addition to a solid academic foundation, the children develop important attributes such as a love of learning, independence and responsibility, collaborative skills, grace and courtesy, confidence, and the knowledge that they can contribute meaningfully to society.

Report Card

Regardless of whether children attend a public or a private school, adult support of their education is the biggest key to success. “Decades of research shows that when children know that their parents and their community are behind them, they perform significantly better in school,” says Bill Cirone, Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schools. “When parents spend time talking and reading with their children, demonstrating through their involvement that learning is important, their children excel.” And when children excel, ultimately we’re all the beneficiaries.

For more information on all schools listed, contact the Santa Barbara County Education Office, 440 Cathedral Oaks Rd., Santa Barbara, 805-964-4711, www.sbceo.k12.ca.us.

COLLEGE BOUND

Giving children an advantage in college admissions is one of the primary reasons parents justify sending them to private schools. There’s no doubt that independent schools are much better equipped than public schools to counsel high school students and guide them through the admissions process. The ratio of students per academic counselor at Santa Barbara High is 475 to 1; at San Marcos High it is 553 to 1; and at Dos Pueblos it is 457 to 1, while private school counselors typically have caseloads of about 20 to 30 students.

Nonetheless, Dos Pueblos High had the highest combined SAT scores this year, the highest combined percentage of students taking the SAT’s, the highest AP [advanced placement] scores and the highest number of National Merit Scholarship finalists of all schools in the county—public or private—according to a statement from Bill Cirone, Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schools. Of the 1,355 kids who graduated from Santa Barbara School District High Schools in 2005, 905 (or 68.8%) passed all of the University of California/Cal State University-required courses, according to the Department of Education. This is an impressive figure, especially given that countywide, only 41.6% of students passed the required courses for college admission and statewide that figure is 35.2%.

While the public schools don’t specifically track college admission rates, the private schools certainly do—it’s a big selling point for many. For example, at Laguna Blanca, all of the students are college bound with an average of more than 20% going on to Ivy League schools. Headmaster Douglas Jessup says 100% of its seniors attend college upon graduation, 98% immediately go to four-year colleges. “In the past 10 years, 90% of our graduates have gained acceptance to one of their top three college choices, and roughly that same percentage graduate from college within four years,” he says. Anacapa School also boasts a 100% college-acceptance rate, as does Bishop Garcia Diego High School and Cate School. Dunn School in Los Olivos says that 90% of its students are accepted to schools of their choice.

HIGHER EDUCATION

College students don’t just look like they’re getting younger every year—at Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) they actually are. Between fall 2005 and summer 2006, approximately 4,500 high school students took advantage of SBCC’s offerings, taking college classes both at City College and on their own campuses. College courses are free to high school students, who may complete up to a year of college credits prior to high school graduation, a potential saving of 25% of their total college costs.

While getting a head start on college courses is a motivator for some students, that’s not the only reason they utilize SBCC. San Roque High School, which opened in 2005, doesn’t have a physics lab built yet, so students study at SBCC. Because San Marcos High offers a block schedule (three of six classes each day, alternating), many of its students attend SBCC in the summer to take foreign languages and other college requirements they can’t otherwise fit in with their schedules.

While access to City College resources is undeniably a boon for young students, some see it as a double-edged sword that enables secondary schools to skate by without providing adequate services for high-achieving students. That’s one of the reasons parent Denice Adams founded SAGE (Supporters of Advanced and GATE Education) in 2004. “My son started at SBCC at the ripe old age of 10.… Most kids that age don’t belong in that environment,” she says, sharing an anecdote about her son being invited out to coffee for a study group with his classmates, and not understanding that he didn’t have to actually drink coffee to be included.

DOLLARS + CENTS

Planning to send your child to private school? That’s 13 years at an average of about $15,000 a year… For that, you could almost put a down payment on a small condo in Goleta. However cost is not a deterrent for some. “If kids are stimulated and motivated, and parents see that, they’ll pay anything. They’ll do anything to support that child,” says Gerrie Fausett, superintendent of the Hope school district. While the price of free public schools can’t be beat, many parents are willing to fork over big bucks to educate their children privately. Here’s a look at some of the yearly tuition costs around town.

Keep in mind that many independent schools offer substantial discounts for siblings, and to some degree, all schools have need-based scholarships available. Also note that while fundraising at public schools is at an all-time high, it doesn’t reach nearly the levels it does in private schools. At most independent schools, tuition covers only approximately 80% of the cost of educating a student, and schools depend on the fundraising of students’ families and the community to cover the rest. In other words: Get out your checkbook.

Elementary Schools

Coastline Christian Academy

Kindergarten: $3,960

Grades 1-5: $4,950

Crane School

Grades K-5: $17,000

El Montecito School

Grades K-5: $6,400

Laguna Blanca School

Kindergarten: $15,900

Grades 1-6: $17,300

Marymount of Santa Barbara

Grades K-4: $13,260

Grade 5: $13,595

Santa Barbara Christian School

Kindergarten: $7,538

Grades 1-5: $8,131

Santa Barbara Montessori School

Grades K-6: $7,500

Middle Schools

Anacapa School

Grades 7-8: $17,400

Coastline Christian Academy

Grades 6-8: $4,950

Crane School

Grades 6-8: $18,000

Dunn School

Grades 7-8: $12,400 (day students)

Laguna Blanca School

Grades 7-8: $19,400

Marymount of Santa Barbara

Grade 6: $14,980

Grade 7: $15,810

Grade 8: $15,905

Santa Barbara Christian School

Grades 6-8: $8,531

Santa Barbara Middle School

Grades 6-8: $19,076

Grade 9: $19,426

Santa Barbara Montessori

Grades 7-8: $8,000

High Schools

Anacapa School

$17,400

Bishop Garcia Diego High School

$9,800

Laguna Blanca School

$19,400

Boarding High Schools

Cate School

$26,250 (day students)

$34,750

Dunn School

$34,500

Midland School

$31,500

Thatcher School

$36,750

This story originally appeared in Santa Barbara Magazine (2006)

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