New enhancements: High school students in the Lucia Mar school district can expect some fun new classes this upcoming school year 

The Lucia Mar Unified School District is starting some exciting new programs that will be available to both students and parents this upcoming school year.

With school starting Aug. 17, Marketing and Communications Director Amy Jacobs told New Times that both Arroyo Grande High School and Lopez High School will begin a cosmetology program for their students.

"We have an entire salon set up at Arroyo Grande High School, and we make appointments for the public to come and get their hair done by students," she said. "If the kids go through our cosmetology program, they can be able to get a license when they graduate."

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• Photo Courtesy Of Amy Jacobs
• LOOKING GOOD Students at Arroyo Grande High School and Lopez High School can sign up to take cosmetology classes where they will learn to cut and dye hair, wax, give facials, and how to give manicures and pedicures.

Lucia Mar has also expanded the classes to allow for adults within the community to sign up and prepare for their licensing examinations for free Monday to Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m.

But community members interested need to show that they have some prerequisites under their belt first.

Students must turn 18 before they complete of the program; possess a high school diploma or equivalent or be concurrently enrolled in Lucia Mar Adult Education's high school diploma program; have a valid form of identification and a Social Security card; and be able to speak, read, and write in English at a 10th-grade reading level.

More information can be found at luciamarschools.org/apps/pages/thesalon.

Jacobs said that along with learning how to cut and dye hair, students will also learn how to give manicures, pedicures, and facials and do waxing.

"Tell me now, isn't that amazing?" she said.

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• Photo Courtesy Of Amy Jacobs
• NEW DO Community members can schedule appointments to receive makeovers at the Arroyo Grande High School Cosmetology center for low prices.

A salon isn't the only new building at Arroyo Grande High School, as the school recently opened a new culinary arts building.

"This will be the first year kids get to go through that building all year long," Jacobs said. "It's a real kitchen, like a restaurant kitchen, so the students are getting real-life experience.

Lucia Mar's Executive Director of Facilities, Maintenance, and Operations Andy Stenson told New Times that the culinary facility will have 12 student stations which will come equipped with an oven and prep table where students will work in pairs. The facility also has three fridges and one freezer, two ovens and warming cabinets, charbroilers, and an outdoor eating area with shade sails.

Stenson said the center is 3,500 square feet and cost $4.8 million to build. To help fund this project, the district applied for and won a $1.7 million grant through the state, and the district paid $3 million of the remaining cost.

Jacobs said the last thing parents can expect to see this school year is an expansion of the transitional kindergarten (TK)program, as it will be available at all Lucia Mar elementary schools.

"Transitional kindergarten is a program for kids who are not old enough for kindergarten, so the goal is to have any child who's 4 years old to be in school by 2026," she said. "It's super exciting and great for parents who are probably paying for preschool somewhere."

This increased TK availability is a result of the Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010, which was designed for students who were born between September and December, which is past the kindergarten enrollment cutoff, so that all children would enter kindergarten by the age of 5, according to the California Department of Education.

It resulted in more than 120,000 children having access to an additional year of learning.

Due to promising results, in 2021, the California Legislature passed requirements that any school district operating a kindergarten also has to provide a transitional kindergarten program for all students who turn 4 years old by Sept. 1.

Since transitional kindergarten uses a modified curriculum that is age- and developmentally appropriate, Jacobs said the district is working on new classrooms and playgrounds that will fit the needs of those young students.

"You can't put a TK child in a fifth-grade classroom; their needs are different," she said. "It's a good thing for parents, too, that they can send their kids to public education for free. It's a huge benefit." Δ

Reach Staff Writer Samantha Herrera at [email protected].