Welcome Los Olivos Families!

Welcome to the new Los Olivos website. We are more excited than ever to welcome you and our students back to school. As you know, providing your child with the opportunity to receive a quality education is one of the greatest and most significant gifts a parent can give their child, and here at Los Olivos School we offer a safe, nurturing, and rigorous environment where children are seen as individuals and can grow at their own pace.

The 2023-2024 school year planning is in full effect. This will be my fourth year as Los Olivos Superintendent/Principal. We had an amazing school year last year and despite some residual effects of the Pandemic, Los Olivos reached great heights in educational excellence.

I was born and raised in Santa Barbara. I am the youngest of 5 children. My wife Paige and I moved to the valley in 2005 and have raised our two children here. I feel very fortunate  to serve and lead our amazing neighborhood school. I know Los Olivos School is a place where strong connections are made between home and school, and staff members are committed to developing the whole child. Working together as a team with all constituents, I am committed to helping each student achieve their very best. 

I have over 20 years of experience in education. I received my bachelor’s degree in communications from California State University Sacramento, my Master of Education degree from Laverne University, and my Administrative Service Credential from Brandman University.  I started my career as an elementary classroom teacher in Santa Barbara California at Notre Dame School. I taught Science, Math and PE before becoming the 7^th grade teacher. After Notre Dame, I was offered the Dean of Students position at Bishop Garcia Diego a position I held for nine years, Interestingly, both Notre Dame and Bishop were my alma maters. My next stint was as the Assistant Principal at St. Joseph High School in Orcutt, California where I remained in that position for two years. At about that time, I had finished up my administrative credential which would allow me to make the jump into public schools. I was offered a Learning Director position in Visalia Unified, and I moved my family to Visalia. My wife Paige have always said, “we can do anything for a year.” Fortunately for my family I applied for an Assistant Principal position in Carpinteria which I received and after 11 long months in Visalia, I was able to move my family back home to the Santa Ynez valley. After 5 years as the Assistant Principal at Carpinteria High School, I interviewed and was offered the Los Olivos Principal/Interim Superintendent position in July of 2020, smack dab in the middle of a world-wide Pandemic. It was during those early moments of the Pandemic that I realized this was a very special place. Our teachers, regardless of all the unknowns and safety concerns realized that in-school learning was the most effective approach for our students and in the summer of 2020, we started preparing our campus for our students to return. With parent support, Los Olivos School was one of the first schools in California to return to in-person schooling, grades TK-5 in October 2020, and grades 6-8 in November 2020.  

One of the most important aspects of my work here will be to continue building strong relationships with students, teachers, and families. You’ll find me out front at drop-off and pick-up, in the hallways, classrooms, on the playground getting to know your child(ren).  My passion has been and always will be educating students. With that in mind, you can expect that I will work diligently with teachers to make sure our students receive high quality curriculum and instruction that is both engaging and challenging. Working together as a team with our staff, parents, and community, I am committed to helping each student achieve their very best.

I look forward to our work together and to a fantastic school year!

Ray Vazquez

Superintendent/Principal

Los Olivos School