Friends of VADA – Helping Students Achieve Their Highest Potential

Who are we?

The Visual Arts and Design Academy (VADA) at Santa Barbara High School is a unique “school within a school” of about 225 students that has an oversized impact on the students and community. Through an immersive program that integrates rigorous academic coursework with project-based, career-focused art and design instruction in a supportive and creative environment, VADA fills a major gap in modern education.

What do we offer?

VADA is an influential beacon in the educational landscape. The program enables students to achieve their highest potential and professional readiness by teaching them the most sought-after 21st century job skills: complex problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration, emotional intelligence, and cognitive flexibility.

“Our students are able to use what they’ve learned about creativity in any domain or field and employ creative processes they developed in classes as a template for problem solving in any area of their lives,” says Daniel Barnett, VADA program director since 2007.

A symbol of equity and opportunity.

The program also addresses other values beyond academic achievement and workforce skills. With inclusivity as a foundational pillar, the program attracts students who reflect the diversity in Santa Barbara, closing educational and opportunity gaps; nearly half of the VADA students are socio-economically disadvantaged and/or have special needs. Indeed, VADA’s collaborative, supportive, interactive environment attracts youth from all areas of the high school, from aspiring artists and math wizards to football players and musicians. Parents and family also are deeply involved and passionate because they witness the power of the program.

“VADA really proves the truth of the Horace Mann quote about public education as the great equalizer,” says Kate Ford, the former president of the Santa Barbara Unified School District Board of Education and Peabody Charter School principal who now serves on the Friends of VADA Board. “These are public school kids who have access to the amazing opportunities offered at VADA, which provide them with both a powerful toolbox and a sense of self and community that they might not get anywhere else.”