159 Chapel St #159
Santa Barbara, CA 93111

Parent of two students, multiple years of attendance at El Camino. The 5/10 score is misleading and is likely a hangover from about 10 years ago when test scores went into the toilet. It got put on a State Education Dept. watch list, but a new principal turned it around in a couple of years. In 2015/16 it was the only school in the County (and one of only a handful in the entire State of California) to come OFF of the probation list. For many years, my child's had a the Student to Teacher ratio of 19-1! And never more the 24-1. Additionally, some of the classes are blended grades (e.g., 4th & 5th graders in one room), which qualifies for an additional certified specialist instructor for three days a week; meaning that for some subjects there is an unbelievable S-to-T ratio of 10-1) Also, because a large number of students are working class families and English language learners, it receives a bunch of State & Federal grants. It is now thriving and growing in population; largely due the new Spanish bi-lingual program kids are coming from out of attendance zone to start Kindergarten immersion program. Some of the other schools in GUSD have great reputations and higher ratings but in talking to parents and students at these nearby 'great schools' I've come to the conclusion that they are, to use a sports analogy, "overrated".