SB County Superintendent of Schools

Starting in Guadalupe on Aug. 8 and ending in Carpinteria on Aug. 26, schools throughout Santa Barbara County have welcomed students back into their classrooms for another year. The beginning of the school year can signal optimism, wonder, and a fresh start for students, families, and the entire education community.

This year, the start of school may even bring needed comfort as it reminds us that despite tumultuous and challenging events in our nation, there is a rhythm to the year upon which we can rely. The beginning of the academic year arrives just like clockwork and provides continuity and sense of promise for all of us.

Classroom walls get redecorated to feature new student artwork, cafeterias are stocked with nutritious food for our children’s meals, and boxes that are piled in offices during the summer months are emptied and put away to signal that students are arriving.

Our children are greeted by principals, teachers, school secretaries, custodians, bus drivers, crossing guards, support staff, parent volunteers and fellow students, all crackling with the almost electric first-day-of-school excitement. It is a tribute to our professionalism, our resilience, and the optimistic human spirit.

Educators and school staff make these openings appear seamless and effortless but, of course, they are not. Starting a new school year requires a great deal of preparation, elbow grease and skill.

While the summer break offers a time of renewal and refreshment, we also know that the vast majority of administrators, teachers and staff members spent time planning for and working on the coming school year so that all will go as smoothly as possible for students and parents.

This summer, in fact, many educators throughout our county attended conferences, studied, refined, planned and deepened their knowledge about content and instructional approaches, and connected with professionals about impactful ways to support students.

For the students who will reap the benefits of these efforts, excitement is no doubt building for the new school year, but it is also quite normal for them to have some trepidation.

Michele Frantz, the 2020 Santa Barbara County Teacher of the Year, from Joe Nightingale School in Orcutt, has this advice for students: “Know that it is normal to feel both excited and nervous about returning to school. Remember that you are one of a kind and have special gifts and qualities that only you can bring to your classroom, so just be you!”

That’s great advice for parents to share with their children as the school year gets into full swing. Here are some other tips from experts that have proven helpful:

• Make extra time for your children, especially as they go through the transition to a new year with new teachers and new friends. Listen to their questions and concerns. Stress your love and support to help ease their worries. Talking together about school can strengthen your family bonds and ease any anxiety your children may be feeling.
• Try to structure time so that the morning is calm. You can work backward from the time your children need to be at school, figuring out how long it will take to get dressed, eat breakfast, and travel to school. Build in time for unexpected delays.
• Make an after-school game plan. How will your children get home? Will there be after-school programs, sports practices, or music lessons? Where and when will your children do their homework?

Parents can be assured that all our dedicated and skilled school professionals have a common goal of supporting their children. Going back to school is a ritual that we’ve all gone through in our own childhoods, and it will continue for generations to come.

I hope the new school year will be productive, fun, full of joy, wonder and new learning for your children and for every member of our school community.

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July 1 marked new additions and new roles for the Partners in Education board of directors, including Dr. Susan Salcido, Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schools, taking the helm as board president.

Longtime board member and founder of D.D. Ford Construction, Doug Ford, will serve as the board’s vice president.

Salcido attended UCSB, where she majored in English and later earned her master’s degree in education. She began teaching at Dos Pueblos High School and subsequently served as assistant principal of San Marcos High School and principal of Santa Barbara Junior High School, before joining the Santa Barbara County Education Office.

 She completed the USC doctoral program at the Rossier School of Education, where she focused on organizational change, leadership, and student equity. Salcido joined the Partners’ board in 2017.

“Partners in Education is a vital part of our community, providing volunteers and career readiness training for our youth. I am honored to serve as this year’s board president as we continue to guide the programs and services Partners offers in Santa Barbara County,” Salcido said.

Doug Ford
Santa Barbara County Education Office

Ford majored in industrial arts with an emphasis in fine woodworking at Cal State Long Beach before starting one of Santa Barbara’s premier construction companies. He began participating in Partners’ Career Days nearly 10 years ago and is also the vice president of the TRADART Foundation, which is committed to job preparation programs for youth and the advancement of craftmanship training.

Jesus Terrazas is a brand new member of the board and an alum of Partners’ Internship Program. His internship took place at D.D. Ford Construction. Terrazas and his family also received a computer through Partners in Education’s Computer for Families program nearly 15 years ago.

Jesus Terrazas
Santa Barbara County Education Office

“Partners in Education is a wonderful organization that offers incredible support and opportunities to local students and their families. Being a recipient of its programs’ benefits, I am now thrilled to be involved as a member of the board,” Terrazas said.

He works as a manager at Merryl Brown Events and has a bachelor of arts degree in communication from UCSB.

Also new to the board, Dr. Jeffrey Milem is dean and professor at UCSB’s Gevirtz School of Education.

Jeffrey Milem
Santa Barbara County Education Office

Each year, Partners in Education coordinates thousands of volunteers —mostly professionals from local businesses — to participate in guest speaking, career days, mock job interviews, résumé coaching, and even classroom or afterschool tutoring.

The organization was formed by local business and education leaders in 1977 and is administered by the Santa Barbara County Education Office. More than 276,000 volunteer hours have been contributed at K-12 campuses and youth-serving nonprofits across Santa Barbara County; more than 12,300 computers have been delivered to families in need; and more than 660 high school students have received paid job-readiness training and internship experience in the workplace.

For more information, visit partners.sbceo.org.

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For the 48th year, upper elementary and junior high school students from the Santa Ynez Valley and throughout the county had the chance to meet and talk with authors and illustrators of books for young people at the annual Author-Go-Round at the Santa Barbara County Education Office from Jan. 22-26.

Each day, approximately 130 students listened to four presentations and then spent 15 minutes asking questions and interacting with the authors while seated on carpets in small groups. At a music signal, they rotated on to the next author.

Participating authors and illustrators included Bruce Hale, Amy Goldman Koss, Patricia Newman, and Frans Vischer.

Students who participated met authors of books written specifically for young people, explored avenues of creative writing and illustrating with successful people in literature, and read and discussed in-depth literary works by well-known authors.

Participating districts included Ballard, Buellton, College, Los Olivos, Solvang and Vista del Mar, as well as Blochman, Carpinteria, Cuyama, Goleta, Guadalupe, Hope, Lompoc, Montecito, Orcutt, Santa Barbara and Santa Maria-Bonita.

“This annual event pays tribute to the reading and writing of children’s literature,” said County Superintendent of Schools Susan C. Salcido, whose office coordinates the annual event. “The students come away with a sense that they have been involved with a real ‘literary happening.’”

More information is available from Rose Koller, educational technology services, at 964-4710, ext. 5222.

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