Garden Street Academy was a K-12 independent school located in Santa Barbara, California, United States. The school was founded as a K-6 school in 2002. It was created under the paradigm that "a focus on social emotional learning is critical to academic achievement." Within two years, the Middle School program was added, followed by the Upper School in 2005. The campus encompassed eleven acres (4.5 hectares). Classes ranged from 10 to 20 students, with an approximate student-teacher ratio of 8:1.
Garden Street Academy suspended its educational programs for the 2020–2021 school year and later closed due to the impact of COVID-19. The former school building was later auctioned for $16.7 million.[1][2]
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. The site had previously been used for a Catholic school of the same name that had existed since 1936. The original San Roque School was for families who were parishioners at the Santa Barbara Mission. The Catholic school was later named St. Anthony's Seminary. When St. Anthony's Seminary was faced with closure 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 location's history.[3] An arrangement was made and Garden Street Academy operated a non-denominational, independent elementary and middle school there. Operations continued for nearly a decade until the new location on Garden Street became available for purchase.
The site on Garden Street was the home of the original San Roque Catholic School, which was founded there in the early 1900s before it moved to 3214 Calle Cedro in the San Roque neighborhood.
In 2011, Garden Street Academy moved its K-12 program to 2300 Garden Street, where it had its campus on Mission Creek, adjacent to the Santa Barbara Mission and Natural History Museum.
The tuition was $15,000 a year for the Lower School, $16,000 a year for the Middle School and $17,000 for the Upper School. Financial aid was available to encourage a diverse group of families to join the community.
Part of the curriculum included 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 were required to participate in these activities each Wednesday for 5–6 hours during the school day. Upper School students were also required to complete 200 hours of community service work before graduation.
Extracurriculars
Athletics
Boys
Track and Field
Basketball
Soccer
Girls
Track and Field
Volleyball
Basketball
Soccer
The Upper School had a relationship with another small school for CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) sports including Boys' Basketball, Girls' Volleyball and Boys' Soccer. Lower and Middle School sports teams had an inclusion policy encouraging all students to play.
Performing Arts
Every year, there was one major production for each of the groups from Lower School through Upper School. Every element in the play was often collaboratively chosen among the students under the direction of the Dramatic Arts Director.
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