Education
The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District (SMJUHSD) is the oldest high school district in the State of California and runs the 3 primary public high schools in the area, including Santa Maria High School, Pioneer Valley High School, and Ernest Righetti High School. There are also three notable private schools in the valley, St. Joseph High School, a private Catholic high school, Valley Christian Academy, and Pacific Christian School Grades K-8th. The Santa Maria-Bonita School District is home to 13,700 students in 15 elementary schools (K-6th grade) and four junior high schools (7th-8th grade). The schools in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District serve students who live within the city limits of Santa Maria, the county area of Tanglewood and the county area just outside of Santa Maria heading toward Guadalupe. The SMBSD schools are on a traditional calendar schedule and offer a quality, comprehensive education. The Orcutt Union School District serves students who live in the unincporporated community of Orcutt. The Orcutt Union School District recently added a new school known as Orcutt Academy High School in the 2008-2009 school year. It is located next to Orcutt Junior High School's campus on the old May Grisham campus.
Also included in the city is Allan Hancock College, a two year community college known for its distinguished athletic programs which have included former head football coaches John Madden and Ernie Zampese, as well as Gunther Cunningham. The college is also home to the PCPA, one of the state's finest theatre programs. The Orcutt Union School District operates six elementary schools and two junior high schools: Lakeview Junior High School and Orcutt Junior High School. In August 2008, Orcutt Academy Charter School will open with two campuses; a K-8 grade school located in Casmalia and a high school in Old Orcutt. Santa Maria is also home to Santa Barbara Business College, which has been serving the community since 1982.
11,882 people attend Allan Hancock College.
Read more about this topic: Santa Maria, California
Famous quotes containing the word education:
“One of the benefits of a college education is, to show the boy its little avail.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“A woman might claim to retain some of the child’s faculties, although very limited and defused, simply because she has not been encouraged to learn methods of thought and develop a disciplined mind. As long as education remains largely induction ignorance will retain these advantages over learning and it is time that women impudently put them to work.”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)