Providence SB

Kickoff week starts Monday. We celebrate the families who thrive here, the students who learn here, and the teachers who mentor students (from Preschool through Grade 12) along the path God has designed for them.

An excellent education isn't just about test scores–though Providence students are well equipped to succeed academically in college and beyond! Students are best served when they learn to manage their time, to steward their resources and their gifts, and to seek the purpose-filled path that stretches before them.

At Providence, we believe every student is here on purpose, and for a purpose. We Count it All Joy to nurture, inspire, encourage, challenge, and eventually graduate these Christ Followers, Truth Seekers, and Change Makers.

This morning many of you received our first Kickoff letter as we look forward to the upcoming weeklong celebration of our sweet school. Send us a DM if you'd like to be on the mailing list of inspiring stories!

Every day of Kickoff Week celebrates the Change Makers, Truth Seekers and Christ Followers at Providence. Every day features a different activity or event as we encourage our families and friends to support the school by partnering with us in the Providence Fund.

At the end of the week, we enjoy dinner together at the All-School BBQ. Grab your tickets before Friday! The order form closes at midnight.

At the beginning of the year, 4th-6th grade takes a retreat day for camp activities in the Santa Barbara hills. They fully committed to the hand motions to their favorite worship songs, went all-out to dress up in their team colors, and challenged themselves to new heights on the rock wall and ropes course.

We are grateful for our local Christian camp that opens its campus every year for our group. This year, as we sang in the chapel, surrounded by God's creation, the wide blue sky stretched over us and made us feel a little small in this great, big world. It reminds us how big our God is, and how big His plans are for these young students.

For these upper elementary students, these are the last few years before they move into their young adult years, enter Middle School, and begin purposefully walking the path God has planned for them. We preserve retreat as a protected time, savoring these last few Lower School years.

This Wednesday, we're opening our doors to prospective Middle School families for our MS Preview Brunch.

If you're wondering what it's like to be a Providence Middle Schooler, here's a glimpse: teachers who know your kid's name by day two, a Welcome Back bash and Retreat that helped students make immediate connections, and a community that shows up for Back-to-School Night just to meet the people behind the classroom door (pictures here from this year's Middle & Upper School Back-to-School night!

Know a family who's still deciding? Send them our way. RSVP link in bio.

Three days to go!

First grade celebrated literature in one of our favorite ways - with CLIFFORD DAY! We had Clifford-themed snacks and a dog-themed obstacle course. But our favorite part of this tradition is a visit from the "real" Clifford. 😉

Don't miss our September events - Students, check St.Square and RSVP!

Last week, second graders paired oil pastel with a wash of tempera paint. The wax lines held their ground while the paint settled around them, turning ordinary paper into layered bands of color.

Save this one if you want to try the technique at home, and tag a second grade family who needs to see what their artist has been up to!

Lower School families: did you know you can follow your artist on Artsonia? All in-class work is regularly uploaded to Artsonia, so you can catch a glimpse of the new techniques they're studying, artists they're learning about, and projects they've completed! Ask Mrs. Yager how to access your student's account.

Nearly 300 Providence friends broke ground on Providence's new Middle and Upper School campus on August 13. Students dug in first.

Students from grades 4 through 12 picked up the shovels, turned over the earth, then a shoven back to a line of the supporters who helped make this day possible. We closed by singing the Doxology together: no instruments, just voices.

Sixty-eight years of Providence history led to the ground on which we are about to build. This campus is the next chapter of the Providence story, built by faithfulness first and always.

Swipe through for the day in photos. Save this post if you want to find your way back to it, and tag a Providence family who needs to see it.

Want to see the site or be part of what's next? Link in bio - look for the link to "Coming Home."

Photos by James Daly.

Sixth grade's first act of service is to raise and lower the flag for our school each week. Mrs. Torres teaches students the traditions around the care and honoring of our flag. It's a great responsibility that the sixth grade handles with respect and dignity.

Smile! This is a moment we want to remember (and these young photographers might just help us capture it!)

Good news, Providence family: we did it again.

Providence School has been re-accredited by ACS WASC for a full six-year term, through 2032. That's the result of a year of deep, honest self-study led by Mary Wilson and Susan Champion, alongside teachers and staff who opened their classrooms to real scrutiny.

Accreditation isn't just a fun stamp. It's outside experts confirming what we already know to be true: our K-12 curriculum holds together, grade to grade, division to division. It's part of why we added new Academic Dean roles this year, one for K-8 and one for 9-12, to keep that coherence strong as we grow.

Six more years to keep building Truth Seekers, Change Makers, and Christ Followers.