617 E Ortega St
Santa Barbara, CA 93103

Wonderful school. Great school , good teachers . This school is beyond a great school .

Not a good school for students who aren't White or Hispanic. Asian, Biracial and Black kids are seriously bullied and singled out. Not only by students but by staff as well. This school sits high on the systemic racism wagon. The principals blame the victim and not the abusers at this school. God forbid if the abuser is white. The teachers are pretty bad when it comes to teaching and explaining things to students. I have one child that has graduated and two still enrolled. I hear some of the worst stories from my children and after having conversations with the school I feel like there is no hope until they get rid of leadership.

I was a student here for both 7th and 8th grade, and in all honesty, the rating checks out. I feel a little bad for trashing on my old junior high, but as an alternative theater kid floating between the weird clique and the smart clique, it was such an intangible experience that I don't think I truly have the words to describe. I genuinely blocked most of 7th grade out because it was probably one of the worst school years of my life, and I'm not sure if that was just because of the school, or if that's just a normal junior high experience, but I feel like the atmosphere at this school was incredibly toxic and unfriendly compared to the school I'm at now. My only safe spaces were my friends and a select few teachers that pulled me out of my slump (and improved who I was as a person), but for the most part, it was an uncaring environment. Importantly, during eighth grade, my friend group had an issue with a certain person who genuinely made me and my friends feel unsafe, and we could not get him to leave us alone. After reporting him multiple times to the staff, and having many eyewitness accounts of his harassment, we were ultimately brushed off by the staff members, even though he had quite literally sent unsolicited explicit videos and images to my friends, and continued his behavior after we told him a hundred times to stop and leave us all alone. A majority of the staff members (particularly the counselors as of 2023-2024) are very biased, and have very little regard for the emotional wellbeing of their students. I pray to god for the sakes of the students currently enrolled that they have started caring more.