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Appreciating teachers, including children’s first teachers: parents and guardians
This week we celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Week. During this time each year, school staff breakrooms are commonly brimming with homemade desserts; lunches for teachers are coordinated by Parent-Teacher Associations; ...
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Santa Barbara County’s Schools Respond During COVID-19 Closures
As we all grapple with the innumerable impacts that are reverberating throughout the world and in our close-knit communities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on behalf of the Santa Barbara County Education Office,...
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Wishing you health, happiness and education in the new year
For as long as I can remember, from growing up in Santa Maria to leaving home to attend UC Santa Barbara, to the present, there has been one particular holiday that my family has held close: New Year’s Day...
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Believing in our youth, fostering their promise and resilience
On any given hour in our schools throughout Santa Barbara County, a visitor would discover myriad activities occurring simultaneously...
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Arts education: ‘Feeling alive’
Immediately after an inspirational performance by the Kingdom Choir at the Santa Barbara Bowl, one 8-year-old student said to a volunteer, “I’ve never felt so alive!”...
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Welcome back to school
Starting in Guadalupe on August 8 and ending in Carpinteria on August 26, schools throughout Santa Barbara are welcoming students back into their classrooms...
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Providing nourishing meals for youth during the summer; Sharing gratitude for the Foodbank, its school partners, and volunteers
Most people who envision Santa Barbara County first think of its bounty: the beauty, architecture, and rich cultural traditions...
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Sharing the joy of graduation
This is it — the time of year when friends and families prepare for that very special graduation...
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State elevates importance of civic engagement with seal on high school diplomas
High school diplomas across California will soon reflect the importance of civic engagement with a special seal...
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High School graduations take on a new meaning after Operation Recognition
As I think ahead to high school graduations this spring, I can’t help but feel the significance and impact of what these ceremonies mean to the graduates, families, and guests, especially after experiencing graduation through the eyes of those who waited more than 65 years to take part...
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Addressing the lure of technology for youth
Many of us have a love-hate relationship with our cell phones...
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Being thankful
I’ve always loved Thanksgiving for its focus on the positive, on being thankful...
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Veterans will receive long overdue high school diplomas
As our nation draws closer to Veterans Day, the Santa Barbara County Education Office is proud to present its inaugural Operation Recognition high school diploma project, which will award high school diplomas to two deserving groups of people: U.S. veterans who were unable to continue high school due to their service in World War II, the Korean War, or the Vietnam War, and also to those who were unable to complete high school because of their internment in World War II relocation camps...
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Put ideals into action by voting Nov. 6
In just a matter of weeks, November’s election will be upon us...
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Feedback: Cultivating a mindset of continuous improvement in learners
It’s official: all public schools in Santa Barbara County are now in session, and we’re off to a dynamic start...
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Back to school advice from educators throughout Santa Barbara County
On behalf of educators countywide, I am delighted to welcome everyone to a new school year...
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Commencement indeed
It has always struck me as fitting and important that we refer to graduations as “commencements,” focusing on what is beginning rather than what is ending...
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Honoring our teachers
This week marks a very special celebration for teachers in our schools: It is Teacher Appreciation Week, and teachers all over our county and state will be recognized by parents, families, and the community for their excellent and inspirational work in our local classrooms...
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Public Schools Month: Together we make a profound difference
April is Public Schools Month, which provides a great opportunity to recognize the vital job our schools fill in local communities and the nation at large...
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Keeping schools safe
Keeping schools safe is of the utmost importance for all of us...
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Recovery and healing in our schools and community
It is heartening to see the daily progress in ways large and small in the Montecito community...
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Taking time to reflect, refresh, renew
“We do not learn from experience,” American philosopher John Dewey wrote...
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Easing children’s fears as fires rage
Once again our communities are confronted with devastating wildfires and the havoc they wreak on adults and children alike...
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Giving thanks
Thanksgiving is a particularly special holiday, due in large part to the opportunity it affords us to think of friends and families near and far...
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Enriching lives through arts education and community partnerships
The arts engage a part of the human spirit that is often beyond the reach of lessons in multiplication, grammar, or history...
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Creating space for phone-free conversations
2017 marked 10 years since Steve Jobs and Apple first introduced the iPhone...
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American Nobel winners: A legacy of teaching and learning
Eight American scientists won the Nobel Prize this year...
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The power of “Why?”
When children ask questions, they often display their innocence, curiosity, inspiration, and wonder...
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Promises of a brighter future
Thanks to the foresight and wisdom of those at Santa Barbara City College and Allan Hancock College, students countywide will have access to two respective Promise Programs, which remove financial barriers to attending college and enrich the entire community in the process...
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Girl power
More than 30 years ago, Sally Ride became the first woman astronaut to orbit the earth...
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Welcome back to school
In just a few weeks, students will be headed back to classrooms throughout the county...
