Some San Marcos High School students in the Health Careers Academy have guaranteed admission with financial aid to attend Westmont College under a new partnership.
The Santa Barbara Unified School District board approved the partnership in November between Westmont and the high school’s Health Careers Academy, which prepares students “to go into a post-secondary health care career education and the health care industry.”
San Marcos students are eligible for admission and $15,000 in financial aid if they are in good standing with the academy, have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.3, and have completed the required courses and a Westmont application.
“I get goosebumps because this is exactly the type of opportunity we want to provide for our kids,” San Marcos Principal Dare Holdren said. “This partnership with Westmont is both affirming that we are heading in the right direction and inspiring to have them working with us this way.”
Westmont College staff first came up with the idea during a meeting where Holdren shared San Marcos High School’s $11 million project focused on building community wellness.
The project has two components: building a mini campus for the academy, and reimagining the wellness center on the high school’s campus.
The partnership also demystifies the college application and admission process, said Mike McKinniss, Westmont’s senior director of admissions.
The main goal of the program is to make it easier for students to attain their goals of working in the health care field.
“Everybody in Santa Barbara understands the need for health care workers and understands the need for avenues for our kids to get careers here in town that allows them to live here,” he said.
San Marcos senior Brianna Torres said the partnership is the only way she can attend Westmont College.
“My mom actually cried,” she said. “No one has ever done this before in any part of my family.”
Torres said she loved Westmont College’s campus when she visited in the past, but that she always saw actually attending as unattainable. Now, she said there’s a 100% chance she attends the college next fall.
She hopes to pursue a nurse practitioner career and possibly major in biology and kinesiology.
“When I heard about this partnership, it made it even more exciting because it made it real,” Torres said.
She is one of the current 160 students in the academy who have access to the opportunity.
Emily Stokes, the Health Careers Academy coordinator, said she’s heard from at least five current academy students who also will be joining Torres next fall.
“This is something that is life-changing for them,” Stokes said.
The partnership’s current agreement extends until the spring of 2029.
New Building for Health Academy
Aside from attaining this partnership, the high school is also fundraising for a new facility for the academy. The buildings will replace a cluster of portable classrooms near the back of campus, near the track and field area.
Along with building a new facility, the program’s education offerings will also expand, according to Stokes.
The program will not just focus on nursing, which it has historically, but will also include other health care careers by turning the program into a dual career technical education pathway, she added.
Additionally, the program has expanded to include ninth-graders. Before, only students in 10th through 12th grades could apply.
Construction is expected to start in the summer.
The high school is fundraising $5.5 million, and the Santa Barbara Unified School District already put aside $5.5 million in bond money to reach the project’s $11 million goal.
“After we started raising money, we also realized that we’ve got to build partnerships with the community for things like internships,” Holdren said.
Cottage Health donated over $1.5 million to the project and the academy will be renamed the Cottage Health Careers Academy for the next 20 years, according to the school district.
As of January, the project has fundraised $10,360,000, including the bond and donations.