La Cuesta

Program Overview

La Cuesta Continuation High School (LCHS) was founded in 1966 and is the sole continuation high school in the Santa Barbara Unified School District.  La Cuesta, like other continuation programs, seeks to provide an alternative educational option to students age 16 or older, who are at risk of not graduating.  We provide credit acceleration, enabling students to recover credits, with a goal of graduating on time, or in the shortest amount of time possible for an individual student.  We provide a robust academic program in a supportive learning environment focused on whole-student well-being and post-secondary transitions for all students.

La Cuesta currently serves all of its enrolled students in a single location, with students attending a daily seat-based program with 258 academic instructional minutes daily (exceeding the minimum requirement of 180 minutes per day).  We have an average teacher to student ratio of 1:15 and are a closed campus.  Each student is paired with a mentor teacher; with whom they have a dedicated homeroom-type period daily.

In addition to our academic program, our school offers robust mental health and wellness supports for students with a focus on post-secondary success. Our team of support staff includes two full-time licensed therapists, a part-time school psychologist, an academic counselor, a college and career technician, a student liaison and a family outreach coordinator, all of whom provide direct support services to students on a daily basis.