At Harding School, It Really Does Take a Village

Some say it takes a village. At Harding University Partnership School, that could not be more true. 

Santa Barbara Unified’s test scores were released just last week, and one school stood out among others: Harding. The reason? Their test scores did not follow the positive linear pattern exhibited by the other schools. It was more in the realm of exponential. English language arts increased from 32 percent of students meeting standards in 2022 to a little more than 50 percent this year, and math rose from 18 percent to 46 percent. According to Harding’s administration, such a double-digit gain is the result of communication and coordination. 

Superintendent Hilda Maldonado praised the staff. “Teachers are doing an incredible job collaborating, focusing on different ways to engage our 21st-century learners,” she said. “They’re working well with UCSB, trying different approaches, like games, to teach mathematics.”

Principal Veronica Binkley has been at Harding for 12 years and says the COVID pandemic forged the staff into something closer to a family. “The trust that has been established through daily interactions and the relationships that we’ve built have supported our shared beliefs,” she said.

That framework, she explained, comes down to alignment, action, and accountability. “We firmly believe that all students can be successful … and we meet several times to make sure that nobody falls through the cracks.” UC Santa Barbara, which has partnered with Harding since 2010, plays a key role in those efforts.

“The idea is to use school data and bring in faculty with expertise to target where that intervention is going to be,” said Lilly Garcia, UCSB’s director of outreach. Graduate students and undergraduates — known on campus as “HUGs,” for Harding undergraduate students — provide the small-group support.

Many students at UCSB studying psychology or education have the opportunity to visit Harding’s campus and gain hands-on experience. In return, Harding gains the human power needed to ensure that each child receives attention and care, so that none “fall through the cracks.”

And the web of help doesn’t end there. Harding partners with neighborhood clinics, the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, and even the library’s bookmobile. The community, its services, and even the university have all come together. Ultimately, according to Principal Binkley, it is “a lot of team building, communication, and partnerships.” The result? “High expectations for not only our own children, but for ourselves.”

If the numbers are any indication, the approach is working. Harding’s 378 students are split into “the littles [pre-K through 2nd grade] and the big side [3rd through 6th grade],” but they share one vision: A school where college feels possible. It’s taken partnerships, persistence, and a whole lot of communication — a village, in other words.