Displaced Montessori Families Form New School
As Santa Barbara Montessori School declared bankruptcy during the Christmas break, most of its families and all of its teachers banded together on 1/3 to launch an entirely new private school, with a new lease at the same El Rancho campus in Goleta. The hastily minted South Coast Montessori retained 52 of the former school’s 55 students, all five teachers, and five staffers, according to Head of School Brian Cogswell. Faculty and staff volunteered for two weeks before new tuition payments and fundraising efforts — including $20,000 from a jog-athon — kicked in. The public is invited to an open house on 3/18.