Dear Anacapa Community,

Welcome! Anacapa School offers each one of us a unique and exciting experience and I am honored to serve as your Head of School. A bit about me: When I graduated from college with an English degree, I found I was still enthralled with being a student and immediately enrolled in a Master’s program. A few years later, I enrolled in an MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College, and a few years after that, I embarked on a PhD program in Creative Writing and Literature at the University of Houston. With all these degrees in hand, I figured the logical next step for me would be a professorship. However, finding an English teaching position at Cate School in Carpinteria was a turning point in my career. I fell in love with secondary education, and I’ve never looked back. 

Anacapa School has been in the life-changing business since opening its doors in 1981. Located in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara, the school’s historic buildings are part of the El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park. Anacapa is a nonsectarian, not-for-profit, fully accredited coeducational school for grades 7-12 in which students of diverse talents and backgrounds are offered a high-quality education in an enriching environment. 

The Anacapa Difference is our transformational curriculum rooted in experiential and project-based teaching and learning within a tight-knit, supportive community. With a 5:1 student-to-teacher ratio, connection is key to our being able to inspire joyful learners and courageous leaders. Our motto – Be Brilliant. Chase Adventure – perfectly encapsulates our philosophy of supporting the whole student on their individual journeys of discovery and self-individuation: Chasing adventure might mean testing one’s mettle alongside trusted adults on one of our outdoors expeditions, or it might mean engaging in a lively, student-led discussion on a great work of literature in an English class. 

Our experiential education model means our courses’ learning outcomes are not just essays and exams but hands-on projects that require sustained inquiry that is interdisciplinary and collaborative in nature. Examples of these projects are: murals, stop-motion animated films, podcasts, blogs, mock trials, spoken-word performances, model bridges, garden plots, etc. Community Engagement is another pillar of experiential learning, and Anacapa’s location means we’re uniquely positioned to partner with downtown businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies. For example, our program “Museum as Muse,” in partnership with the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (a short half-mile walk from campus) and our internship program with the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (right around the corner from the school), allows students to navigate their “real-world” community, helping to build students’ self-esteem and practical know-how as well as sparking creativity. 

Direct experience, community engagement, exploration, collaboration, reflection, analysis, and experimentation – these are the pillars of the Anacapa curriculum, which is beneficial for all types of learners. Social and emotional learning is also central to our programming: Our Human Development program partners with organizations such as AHA! and YouthWell in our ongoing effort to sustain a culture of student wellness and belonging. 

As a career educator, my work centers on students. This summer, I’ve welcomed new members to Anacapa’s professional community, and later in August our team will gather to prepare for students to arrive on campus. We are eager to collaborate with you in this work that is steeped with meaning: Preparing young people not just for college but for life. 

Sincerely,

Mari Talkin

Head of School