Harding University Partnership School students during their 2013 visit to the UCSB campus
The Harding University Partnership School, which since January 2010 has been partnered with UC Santa Barbara and in particular UCSB’s Gevirtz School, will bring the entire school – students, teachers, and many parents, too – to the UC Santa Barbara campus on Friday, May 9 from 9 am – 12:30 pm. This will be the fifth annual visit for Harding to UCSB – this year’s fifth graders will have been coming to college for every year of their Harding experience. Students ranging from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade will take part in activities aimed specifically for their grade levels and designed to enhance the curriculum they’ve been studying in their Westside school.
“We bring the Harding community to UCSB as a way to ensure that our children and parents feel they belong on a university campus,” Dean Jane Close Conoley of the Gevirtz School says. “In addition to the cutting edge learning opportunities they will experience during the visit, they will be welcomed by UCSB students, faculty, and staff as a way to invite them back as university students.”
The events during the day include Grade 1 students attending a session entitled “Discovering Antarctica;” Grade 2 students going on “A UCSB Treasure Hunt” led by Gevirtz School professor Michael Gerber; Grade 3 students attending “Is It Magic? No, It’s Science!” a program presented by Gevirtz School professors Danielle Harlow and Sue Johnson; Grade 4 students attending a sessions entitled “It’s a Material World,” conducted at UCSB’s Material Research Laboratory, and “Electricity and Magnetism,” conducted at the California NanoSystems Institute.; Grade 5 students taking part in the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration’s award-winning “Kids in Nature” program; and Grade 6 students exploring life and earth sciences at the Marine Science Institute’s REEF.
Numerous opportunities will be available to talk to students and get wonderful footage of youth learning in action.
The historic Harding School – whose students are nearly 95% Hispanic, more than 90% economically disadvantaged, and more than 60 % of its pupils are English Language Learners – has been involved in major changes over the past five years. These efforts were punctuated by the January 2010 announcement of an unprecedented partnership with UC Santa Barbara.
The Harding University Partnership School is a place of joy, excellence, and international focus. Of particular distinction for the neighborhood is the University School’s status as an International Baccalaureate Program, making it the only Santa Barbara elementary school currently pursuing this highly acclaimed approach that emphasizes 21st century skills and international mindedness.
The stellar teaching staff is assisted by graduate level teacher candidates from UCSB providing greater support for students at every grade level with the latest research-based practices. Faculty researchers and UCSB undergraduate tutors partner with teachers to deliver the latest evidence-based instruction.