Adams Elementary School

2701 Las Positas Road

School District

Santa Barbara Unified
Grade

K-6
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:18
Type

public

School Map for Santa Barbara Unified School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on February 19, 2024

My son has been going to Adams for 5 years now. We have had the best experience at this school. Mrs. Fresch is a great principal and we have had phenomenal teachers throughout the years. I stay involved with the school. PTA volunteers are hardworking individuals and make the students experience even better.
Submitted by parent on September 30, 2021

Good school my kid goes just such a good school
Submitted by parent on March 09, 2021

we are considering this neighborhood ..and am doing some research ahead of potential purchase
Submitted by parent on August 07, 2019

We couldn't be happier with Adams Elementary School. We live in the neighborhood and our child walks to school every day. She gets an AMAZING education surrounded by diversity. Adams Elementary was recently recognized as the only elementary school in Santa Barbara Unified School District as a California Distinguished School. Only approx. 220 elementary schools in CA received this recognition and Adams was one of them. Adams Elementary was also one of only two (2) elementary schools in the entire State of California that received national recognition for the work with a wide diversity of students and increasing all students test scores. The Great Schools website is pretty outdated when it comes to school data and rankings.
Submitted by parent on February 11, 2018

Adams Elementary is on a roll. This gem of a school has exceptional teachers, engaged and caring parent volunteers, well behaved and nice students, and an experienced new principal, supported by a strong PTA, who is committed to continuing the progress and innovation achieved in recent years.For parents interested in test scores and quantitative performance measures, in 2017 Adams outperformed all SBUSD elementary schools in math in 2017 and outperformed all but one school in English Language Arts. More notable perhaps is the District-leading year-over-year growth spanning multiple years. Furthermore in 2017 all second grade students were reading at least at grade level despite a sizable proportion of students coming from families where English is not the first language. The Great Schools website doesn’t appear to have recent test data posted yet.The numbers only tell part of the Adams Elementary success story, though. Our child has been at Adams for only 2.5 years, but this time has been transformative for our family; our son arrived not knowing how to read and is now reading well above grade level. We read with him at home but attribute his learning to the deliberate and magical work of his teachers and the culture of reading established by the principal. His teachers are skilled and caring and work long hours.Adams Elementary Design Center is one-of-a-kind Science and Technology work space and program for students established in partnership with the Dos Pueblos High School Engineering Academy and is the model that other public and private schools in Santa Barbara County are seeking to replicate. Adams is the only school with a yearly Maker Fair, and its annual Science Night is also memorable hands-on experience. Adams’ library was built three years ago and is a beautiful and welcoming space for the kids. Adams Elementary also has great offerings beyond the core disciplines. Adams’ music teacher was named 2017 Performing Arts Teacher of the Year for all of Santa Barbara County schools. After school on-campus enrichment programs include Chinese language, chess, soccer, dance, cooking, yoga, karate, tennis, chorus, legos, and art. New free enrichment programs in robotics, programming, math, and poetry are coming in spring 2018. These programs have been a great convenience for us working parents.
Submitted by parent on May 15, 2017

We live in the Samarkand neighborhood and have been attending Adams Elementary School since our daughter started kindergarten three years ago. We couldn't be happier with the leadership, teachers and the supportive community. Our daughter has benefitted from the Montessori within Adams Elementary, as well as music, art, physical education and the new design center that is a Maker space focused on science, technology, engineering, art and math. We had the option for our child to go to Washington's GATE program and opted to stay at Adams Elementary.
Submitted by parent on February 22, 2017

We cut short our journey with this school. Our family did not fit their picture.
Submitted by other on August 03, 2016

My family has had a great experience at Adams. At first I was skeptical as I heard about the school's past struggles with creating community but I've been impressed with the school, the teachers and the staff. The principal is amazing and has really worked to turn the school around, with the support of a committed PTA that does a lot of community events. My children have had great teachers every year and they've made friends. As more neighborhood families come back to this school, the community just keeps getting stronger.
Submitted by parent on September 14, 2015

Our journey at Adams began just last year when our son was to enter Kindergarten. I phoned for a school tour and never looked back. Kinder tours were scheduled monthly and personally led by the principal. Following the tour there were numerous engagement opportunities for parent and student involvement - a true sense of community. We now have a 1st grader and kindergartener and couldn't be happier. The school is led by a strong leader, amazing, passionate and committed teachers and a very active Parent Teacher Association. Adams is not pretentious rather focused on strengthening sense of community, student success and parent involvement. Fortunately, we are in a position to choose any school for our children - private or public. We choose Adams.
Submitted by parent on September 14, 2015

Adams school is a terrific neighborhood school. We could not ask for a better experience. The teachers are committed and the families are wonderful. Adams is diverse, culturally and economically. There are families with tons of money and families with not a lot of money. There are whites, blacks, Asians and Latinos. I feel like Adams is preparing our kids for what the real world is like and how to get along with everybody.
Submitted by parent on May 02, 2014

My 2 children had an awful experience at Adams. One has a great teacher but has been bored and unchallenged. My 2nd child has an AWFUL teacher! I'm fairly certain that the 1 year that my kids spent at Adams has set their educational goals back unacceptably. I tried contacting the principal, several times, and never heard from her. There's also one teacher that I know of who speaks about god in the classroom. I guess I shouldn't be surprised considering the principal is "born-again". I could easily over-look the whole religion thing if the academics were worth it though.
Submitted by parent on May 16, 2013

Three of my children have gone through Adam, and they have done very well. If you want your child to be invited to a weekly birthday party, this may not be the school for you. If you want your child to get a good education with diversity, then this is the school. Most of the teachers are excellent and will go above and beyond to help your child. If your child is advance they will challenge them! It's sad that many neighborhood kids stay clear of this school only due to discrimination reason, not the quality.
Submitted by parent on September 20, 2012

We just started at Adams after 4 years of private school and are VERY impressed! The staff are very hard-working, professional, and engaged. The principal is 110% dedicated. The children are welcoming and friendly. The scores are jumping up by leaps and bounds. And the programs are unbelievable. Art, computer, running club, library, reading - and that is just what is available for free BEFORE school!!