Upper State

Laguna Blanca Lower School presents itself as warm, special and child focused. It is a beautiful, landscaped campus, polished and well dressed administrators, elaborate art projects and a very curated community. But our experience during a disagreement revealed a side of the school that felt very transactional and cold. We had positive experiences with some individual teachers and families, but the way the administration handled conflict changed our view of the institution. The school is also extremely small, which can feel sweet and almost preschool like for very young children, but it comes with downsides. There is very little privacy for children or families, and the culture is parent heavy with few boundaries, with parents very involved in the social life and daily ongoings of the school. That may appeal to some, but others may find it extremely claustrophobic and inappropriate. Prospective families should look beyond the curated Instagram images, read the enrollment contract carefully, and ask around about how the school treats families when things are not going smoothly either academically or financially. Please!!….do your research.I would also encourage Santa Barbara families to seriously consider the public schools before assuming Laguna, or any private school for that matter, is automatically better because it costs money. Our experience has been that the local public schools can offer excellent teachers, strong academics and solid, evidence based curriculum in a more diverse environment. Private schools are still businesses, and that becomes much more obvious when a dispute arises.

We have two children at Riviera Ridge, and we are now in our sixth year at the school. It has been a wonderful experience for our children and our family. Our children have both developed a deep love of learning, and this stems from the incredibly supportive environment at Riviera Ridge. Our children have both been consistently seen as the individuals that they are, and the school has done an amazing job of embracing the "whole child." The faculty are terrific throughout the entire school, the school leadership is exceptional, and all the enrichment opportunities are very special. It really is a great school!

We are new to the school and have been so happy we made the jump. It was a bit of a gamble, but at the end of the day Knox seemed like the perfect fit for our child and I was really worried his amazing curious spark was being dimmed at a highly regarded local public school. Within a month at Knox, there's a huge positive shift in him. I asked my child how Knox is different from his previous school. His response: 1. It's peaceful. 2. Nicer kids. 3. Nicer teachers. 4. Better projects. 5. Better approach to learning. Another reviewer mentioned the "'loosy-goosy' nature of the education." Knox was absolutely not the right fit for that family. To me, this is exactly the beauty of Knox. What that person sees as "loosy goosy," I see as responsive, adaptive, and flexible in the best way. Our insanely curious crazy smart kid went from disliking math to math being his favorite subject again and asking for us to challenge him with hard math in the evenings. If he continues to fly ahead in math, he will be able to do level-appropriate math easily at Knox. I gambled that our child would thrive in an environment that was peaceful, supportive, and fostered a love of learning, critical thinking and problem-solving over rigid standards and rote memorization, and Knox is delivering on that 100% with amazing results. I have stopped by a few times to tuck something into his backpack and the environment is always calm, peaceful and focused. I feel great community with the other parents. 5 star experience.