Cold Spring Elementary scores as the top school district in state

Despite the horrific year that Montecito has gone through, students at Cold Springs Elementary School is soaring in the classroom.

As students at Cold Springs Elementary School sang their hearts out during Wednesday’s Fall Sing show, the principal can’t express enough how proud she is of her students after overcoming such a tough year.

“It is a celebration for us,” said Amy Alzina, principal at Cold Springs elementary.

The school endured ongoing tragedy with the Thomas Fire and the Montecito mudslides. But despite that adversity students still excelled in the classroom. In state education assessments Cold Springs school was on top — a 92% in English Language Arts, and 90% in Math.

“To finish the top district in the state of California in English language arts, and number two in Math was just a huge celebration for us,” said Alzina. “We have had a hard year and we really strive to keep our students at the center of all decision making and just really focus on what is important for our kids, and our test scores proved it.”

Eric Schiller has two children at Cold Springs school. He says while the year has been difficult for parents, the kids are still dealing with the loss of two students in the mudslides.

“The scores were incredible,” said Schiller. “There was a lot of effort that was put into making sure the kids were able to cope with the experience, as well a the parents. We had a lot of loss at the school, both from homes but also students that died. It was really challenging, but at the same time it brought our community closer together.”

“When we had the disasters we didn’t focus on academics at all,” said Alzina. “It was really about healing our students and focusing on the relationship piece.”

Now that things are slowly moving back to normal, students have reason to sing again. Students performed a Katy Perry song during their Fall Sing performance. The local pop star lifted their spirits during a dark time. She donated a portion of her benefit concert proceeds to the Cold Springs music program

“She really helped us focus on something positive,” said Alzina. “It was a distraction for the hurt we were feeling.”