Contacts & Directions

Nissa Hales is a fourth-generation Santa Barbaran and third generation graduate of Santa Barbara High School. Throughout her fifteen-year tenure as lead sixth grade instructor at Laguna, Nissa assisted the Director of Technology and served on the Technology Committee to design and implement the one-to-one Laptops for Learning program in the Middle School. During that time, Nissa served as fifth and sixth grade technology instructor as well as adjunct Educational Technology instructor at Antioch University. In the fall of 2015, Nissa transitioned out of the classroom to become Laguna’s Instructional Integration Coordinator, responsible for helping students and teachers integrate technology into their curricula.

Francisco was born in Durango, Mexico and moved to Santa Barbara when he was five years old. He is a graduate of Santa Barbara High School and studied environmental horticulture at SBCC. He has previously worked at SB Botanic Gardens, Lotusland in Montecito, and various landscape companies around Santa Barbara.

Prior to joining LBS in 2002, Ms. Hill taught English at Santa Barbara City College and Allan Hancock College. She has a Masters in Comparative Literature from UCSB, where she also worked as a Teaching Assistant and a Reader. While teaching at Laguna, Ms. Hill earned her Master's in Clinical Psychology and also works as a intern therapist at Santa Barbara Community Counseling Center. Ms. Hill speaks Serbian and Italian fluently, and she won an award at a National Latin Language Competition in (former) Yugoslavia.


Ms. Hill is a passionate teacher of literature and writing and is dedicated to helping students succeed. Her interests include music, theater, fitness, dance, yoga, and meditation. She studied violin and piano and was a member of the Santa Maria Symphony. Ms. Hill's favorite theater experience was playing the role of Rosalind in the SBCC's English Department performance of Shakespeare's "As You Like It." She also wrote theater reviews for the SB Independent. Ms. Hill is the proud mother of son Brandt and daughter Alexandra.

Brianne was raised in Southern Oregon and first moved to California to attend UCSD, where she studied Vocal Performance and History. She earned a master’s degree in History from Central European University in Budapest, Hungary and then began her teaching career as a Teach For America corps member, teaching choir in rural Louisiana. After teaching in Los Angeles for several years, she embarked on a two-year-long surf trip that ended abruptly along with everything else in 2020. She is thrilled to be settling in Santa Barbara as part of the Laguna Blanca faculty and can't wait to make music with her students!