History

Our HISTORY

Laguna Blanca School opened its doors in 1933, and despite its acclaim within the Santa Barbara community, few are aware of the school’s humble beginnings. Laguna was born out of both passion and necessity after the Great Depression forced Montecito’s Deane School, founded in 1912, to downsize. Four Deane School faculty members, Edward Selden Spaulding, Rodney Heggie, Harrison Townsend, and Hilda Rae McIntyre decided to continue the high standards of the Deane School by launching a new campus on a few acres donated by Harold and Gertrude Chase in Hope Ranch. Those four teachers could not possibly have known the impact their bold choice would have on the Santa Barbara community. Now over 90 years later, the Laguna community includes 430 students in Grades Early Kindergarten through 12, over 100 faculty and staff members, 1,949 graduates, and all of the family members who supported them every step of the way.

Ultimately, the Deane School would close its doors for good in 1934, but Laguna’s story was just beginning. In its tenure, Laguna would grow from a small Country Day School serving 40 boys in Grades 1-12 to a community serving students, regardless of gender, EK-12, on two distinctly beautiful and engaging campuses. Nearly a century later, our faculty members are just as passionate as those founding teachers who started the school with one simple hope: to provide an outstanding education to the children in our community. No matter how our campus or programs change, that will always be our ultimate goal.