Anonymous
Source: Santa Barbara Unified School District
Santa Barbara Unified School District Board of Education named Bradley Brock as principal of La Cumbre Junior High School. Brock, an administrator at Irving STEAM Magnet Middle School, will begin his service at La Cumbre Junior High on July 1, 2019. He succeeds principal Jo Ann Caines who passed away in June 2018.
Brock, a 18-year teacher and administrator, served urban middle schools characterized by diverse communities in Los Angeles Unified School District. He is recognized for his leadership in implementing a public school STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) 6th through 8th grade program.
“Although faced with the heavy loss of Jo Ann Caines nearly one-year ago, the selection of a leader for La Cumbre Junior High marked a pivotal moment for the school community,” said Cary Matsuoka, Superintendent of Santa Barbara Unified School District. “We are pleased to welcome Bradley Brock to Santa Barbara Unified School District. Brock distinguished himself as a visionary, energetic, and thoughtful listener to set the course ahead for La Cumbre Junior High.”
Brock has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Southern California, Master of Arts in Educational Administration from Los Angeles Principal Residency Network/California State University Los Angeles, and is completing his doctorate of education at Johns Hopkins University.
“I am honored to join the La Cumbre Junior High School community,” said Bradley Brock. “I believe education is on the frontline of making successful futures not only possible but attainable for all students. I look forward to listening and engaging with students, families, and staff to build effective learning opportunities at La Cumbre.”
The selection of Bradley Brock as principal of La Cumbre Junior High was competitive and followed the district’s collaborative performance based interview process. The interview panel was comprised of 25 individuals including teachers, staff, district officials and community partners.
La Cumbre Junior High School is Santa Barbara’s oldest junior high school. The school serves approximately 530 students in grades 7th and 8th and the campus spans nearly 22 acres located on Santa Barbara’s westside.
If what you say is true, and if some subset of parents are currently not able to guide their kids appropriately, do you have a solution for this? Or are you willing to abandon a bunch of kids without even trying to help them? Schools have become our social workers of last resort, unfortunately. Kids who are abandoned are likely to end up costing us a bunch in other ways, right?
There are numerous parent-education programs and free ESL classes available with emphasis on helping children in their schools, already available and paid for by taxpayers. Why is there an immediate assumption “we are not doing enough”, when in fact it is those complaining who are not doing enough to respond and take advantage of the multiple resources already on the table.
Will have big shoes to fill. Ms. Caines did an amazing job for a student population that is mostly low income and under-achieving on their test scores. She did outreach to the surrounding community during neighborhood meetings and wanted to know if there were any issues with the kids skipping school or on their way home. Best of luck to the new principal.
Schools can only a finite amount with regard to a students success- The “parents” have a larger part in their overall success as functioning humans in our society.