Garden Street Academy

Brief history of locations

Garden Street Academy began in 2002 under the name San Roque School, located at 3214 Calle Cedro in the San Roque neighborhood of Santa Barbara. It began on a site where a Catholic school of that same name had existed since 1936. The original San Roque School was for families who were parishioners at the Santa Barbara Mission. When that Catholic school (known at the time as St. Anthony's Seminary) was faced with closing its doors in 2002, the founder of Garden Street Academy made an offer to continue the use of the site as a K-6 educational institution that would offer an optional Catholic education class in honor of the history of the site. An arrangement was made and Garden Street Academy operated a non-denominational, independent elementary and then middle school there for nearly a decade, until the present location on Garden Street became available for purchase.

In an interesting twist of fate, the historic site on Garden Street was the original home of San Roque Catholic School, which began there in early 1900s before its move to the site at 3214 Calle Cedro in the San Roque neighborhood. Therefore, in a sense, the school has “returned” to where it began almost a century earlier.

In 2011, Garden Street Academy moved its entire K-12 program to 2300 Garden Street, where it enjoys its own campus on Mission Creek, adjacent to the Santa Barbara Mission and Natural History Museum.

Philosophy and curriculum

In the Lower and Middle School programs, Garden Street Academy incorporates multi-age classes. Students occupy five groups divided by approximate age as follows: Kindergarten 4–6 years old, Primary 6–8 years old, Elementary 8–10 years old, Intermediate 10–12 years old, and Middle School 12–14 years old. The Upper School is for students 14–18 years old and, though progressive in its approach, operates in a more traditional manner adhering to guidelines set by the State of California for entrance into university.

Beginning in Kindergarten, it offers a one or two year program for students 4–6 years old, where older children can influence and lead the younger children and younger children can demonstrate expertise that some older children may not possess. It is a mutually beneficial relationship starting at a very young age that continues through Upper School.

At all levels, students receive a narrative assessment in addition to a “landmark” (or letter grade for Upper School). Narrative assessments are comprehensive reports specific to each student, written by the facilitator or advisor. Facilitators describe and assess the students in regard to their academic work and their social/emotional development, using strategies and processes developed over the past two decades from the founding Director’s experience with and knowledge about ethnographic practices in observing children at work and play.

In addition to daily assignments, lectures and traditional processes, the students at Garden Street Academy engage with long-term, authentic, integrated projects. This facilitates an environment of self-directed learning with facilitator guidance available when appropriate. The Upper School utilizes a system known as "Advisory" in which specific age groups are mixed and kept in the same advisory group and with the same facilitator for the year, sometimes longer. In Advisory, a group of students has one Advisory facilitator who is responsible for each students’ overall academic success and social/emotional well-being.

Garden Street encourages a collaborative learning environment where knowledge is socially constructed. While it offers honors courses, it does not have an Advanced Placement program, nor will it recognize AP credit from other institutions. Rather, Garden Street students demonstrate their cumulative learning through a 30-minute culminating presentation at the end of 8th and 12th grade. In all Lower, Middle and Upper School grades, parent/facilitator conferences are held twice a year with the student's primary facilitator or advisor and content area facilitators (in the Upper School). The conferences seek to address the student's academic and social needs, and includes planning and goals for the year.

Parental involvement is encouraged and expected at Garden Street Academy. The school hosts at minimum of five Parent Workshops throughout the year on topics of interest to families, ranging from school philosophy, curricular areas, guest speakers. The school encourages parent participation and uses various means including the latest technology and social media resources to communicate relevant information in a timely manner.

Service learning and internships

Part of the curriculum includes an internship program with local agencies, businesses and non-profits, including the University of California at Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum, the Unity Shoppe, law offices and architectural firms, among many other organizations. Upper School students are required to participate in these activities each Wednesday, for 5–6 hours during the school day. As a result, students receive dynamic, real world experiences during school hours. In conjunction with this internship program is a requirement for Upper School students to complete 200 hours of community service work during the fours years prior to graduation.

Middle and Upper School students also have an opportunity to participate in national and international Cultural and Service Learning trips during their time at Garden Street Academy. Destinations have included the Bahamas, England, France, Washington D.C and Virginia.

Garden street athletics

At Garden Street Academy, Lower, Middle and Upper School students have sports opportunities with or against other local private schools including Track and Field, Girls Volleyball, Boys/Girls Basketball and Boys/Girls Soccer. The Upper School has a collaborative relationship with another small school in the city for CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) sports including Boys Basketball, Girls Volleyball and Boys Soccer. Lower and Middle School sports teams have an inclusive policy and all students are encouraged to play.

Performing Arts

Garden Street has performed a number of plays/musicals since it opened. Every year, there is one major production for each of the groups from Lower School through Upper School. The Dramatic Arts Director ensures that the choice of plays is a collaborative process so that every student is afforded an opportunity to participate. Students work in fashion design to create their own costumes, in set design to build their own sets, in music to perform their own songs and have also written some of their own plays in the past.

Music

Garden Street's music program allows students to experiment with different instruments and to compose their own work. Every year, there is a Winter Lights Festival and Spring Into the Arts program in which students perform. Additional, smaller-scale performances are held every Friday so that students have multiple opportunities to showcase their talents. There is also a music production class for Upper School which allows the students to learn how to use software to produce, mix and edit music.

Visual Arts

Paintings, sculptures and creative pieces can be found throughout the Garden Street campus. At all levels, students have opportunities throughout the year to present their work including in the Spring Into the Arts program, in an annual I-Madonnari Chalk drawing Festival and by hosting an annual art exhibit for local schools.

Other facts

The tuition is $15,000 a year for the Lower School, $16,000 a year for the Middle School and $17,000 for the Upper School, which is approximately mid-range for private schools in Santa Barbara. To encourage a diverse group of families to join the Garden Street community, financial aid is available. All of the high school graduates have attended or are currently attending college.