The future of healthcare education at San Marcos High School began with a few shovels of dirt Monday.
Students, educators, and community members filled rows of chairs on Monday afternoon, with others standing nearby for the groundbreaking of the Building Community Wellness Project.
For 16-year-old students Daisy Garcia and Anahi Cortez, who are both enrolled in the school’s Cottage Health Careers Academy, the new facilities represent more than additional classroom space.
“It had helped me discover new positions in healthcare that I didn’t know about before,” Garcia said.
The academy, which expanded to include freshmen for the first time this school year, is now preparing for a physical transformation: three permanent classroom buildings that will replace four aging portables and provide new opportunities for hands-on training.
Additionally, the Building Community Wellness Project looks to modernize the school’s existing Elings Wells Family Wellness Center, which will bring healthcare career preparation and student wellness together in an approximate $12 million investment.
The new facilities at the Doris B. Mithun Mini-Campus will soon include five specialized classrooms, science laboratories, a demonstration classroom equipped with patient bed learning stations and outdoor learning areas.
The project is expected to cost approximately $12 million, with half funded through Santa Barbara Unified School District bonds and the other half through private donations, according to Kristi Newton, president of the Royal Pride Foundation, which has led the fundraising effort.
Newton said that the foundation has nearly reached its fundraising goal, with only a small amount remaining to be raised. Construction is expected to be completed by fall 2027, with organizers targeting November.
For Newton, whose daughter attended San Marcos, the groundbreaking marked the culmination of years of planning.
“This has been a passion project for me personally,” Newton said.
The expansion comes as the academy undergoes some significant changes to its curriculum and enrollment.
Emily Stokes, the coordinator for the academy, said that prior to this year, the program served approximately 120 students, and this year has since added 60 freshmen. Eventually, the program is expected to have the capacity to accommodate 240 students.
The academy has also introduced a biomedical sciences curriculum designed to introduce students to a wider range of healthcare professions, from nursing and medicine to behavioral health and technical roles.
Students who plan to pursue certified nursing assistant training through Santa Barbara City College can earn up to six units of college credit. Some of the additional training offered includes basic life support, CPR, first aid and teen mental health first aid.
Stoked said that the academy is looking into additional certifications in medical assisting, phlebotomy, emergency medical services and radiology through partnerships with the City College and healthcare providers.
The program is also expanding its senior internship network, with students already gaining experience at Cottage Health and other local organizations.
Garcia and Cortez said the academy’s career-focused assignments and exposure to different patient populations have helped them explore their options. One hopes to go on to study neuroscience, while the other is still considering her path.
With the academy now open to freshmen, the students said the additional classroom space will be especially important as more students start participating in the program.
Beyond career training, the project will renovate the Elings Wells Family Wellness Center, with planned improvements to its accessibility, interior and technology.
The center is aimed at facilitating students’ physical, mental and emotional well being, with a longer-term plan to extend services to the surrounding community.
Principal Dare Holdren said the improvements were also crafted to address some of the stigma associated with seeking mental health support at school, particularly by obviating the need for students to report to the main office for access to services.
The project has received significant philanthropic contributions, including $1.5 million from Cottage Health and $1 million from Betty Elings Wells.
Cottage Health CEO Scott Wester said the hospital’s partnership with San Marcos dates back more than two decades, with former academy students not working at Cottage as caregivers, leaders and physicians.
“But what I love most about this program is that learning leads somewhere,” Wester said.
Students can gain firsthand experience through hands-on demonstrations, job shadowing and internships, he said, so that they can begin envisioning their careers in healthcare.
For Holdren, the investment represents an effort to provide students with both the resources to succeed in school and opportunities to build careers in the community in which they grew up.
“Students deserve both the opportunity to pursue a meaningful future and the support to get there,” Holdren said.
