Doug Jessup and his wife, Hayley Firestone Jessup, are avid readers. He just finished Richard A. Hawley's The Headmaster's Papers and she recently completed The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman. But the real questions isn't what they're reading … it's when do they find time to read?

Doug, Laguna School's new headmaster keeps up a hectic pace, over seeing grades 5 through 12 at the Hope Ranch campus, grades K through 4 at the Montecito campus and family life in the Santa Ynez. He commutes to Santa Barbara on Sundays, too, to play in the Southern Union Soccer League. (The average age on the championship team is mid-20s and, at 44, he laughs he's "one of the old men")

Hayley is from the Firestone wine-making family and worked in the business for a decade. She's currently director of development for Dunn School and, in addition to mothering four active children, and manages to take jazz dance classes (her mother, Kate, danced with Sadler Wells Ballet Company in London) and run an alpaca breeding business. The Jessup children keep up with their parents, juggling violin and dance lessons with soccer and lacrosse games, and they too find time to be enthusiastic readers.

The Jessup parents don't have a lot of time together. "But in June," Doug promises his wife, "we'll have a reunion." That's when the whole family - 15 year old Samantha, 13 year old Molly, 9 year old Fiona, and 3 year old Ben - move into the Moody Sisters cottage that Laguna Blanca acquired as a headmaster's home. If you're unfamiliar with Moody cottages, the keyword is "small." Which raises another question: How does a family of' six fit into a Moody cottage? Ask the Jessups in June.

Unlike John Greeve, the character in The Headmaster's Papers whose life begins to crumble around him, Doug's career is on an upswing. The Boston native came west after graduating from Amherst College to be director of admissions at Dunn School, then headed back to Massachusetts where he served as dean of academic affairs at Noble and Greenough School in Dedham and earned a master's degree in education administration at Harvard. He and his first wife returned to Santa Ynez in 1990 to start an education counseling service. In 1998, Laguna Blanca tapped him to be college counselor and assistant head of the upper school. He became headmaster in June 2002.

"Right now we're looking to further build the school's human development program: the lower school's 'Keys to Citizenship Initiative'; middle school health and upper school's 'Life Skills Seminars', all of which parallel our traditionally strong academic curriculum," Doug mentions, adding excitedly, "We want to be a school where the best and brightest can't exhaust what our exceptional faculty has to offer. Not only do we want to produce excellent students, but first rate human beings."

Some of the best and the brightest, he knows, have learning differences and, under Doug's leadership, these students will find a more empathetic environment and special support. To that end, he brought in learning specialist Anita Chisholm from Ojai Valley School. "We need to recognize that the best schools in the land are becoming more attuned to the needs of students with multiple frames of intelligence."

Laguna Blanca is also attuned to the needs of students from different economic backgrounds. Doug makes it clear that the school is not an exclusive bastion for the privileged elite. "We're absolutely committed to 'need-blind' admissions because we want Laguna Blanca to be affordable for everyone." Twenty percent of Laguna's 375 students receive financial assistance and that number will grow as the school phases in more students.

Next year, when Hayley leaves her post at Dunn and becomes a member of the Laguna campus, she'll direct her efforts toward her husband's vision and have a significant role in special events planning and alumni relations. "My job will be to enhance everything Doug does because, as different as we are, we're very much on the same page." As does her husband, Hayley has a master's degree in education administration and a passion for education. "Inspiring the passion for learning or recognizing a passion in a particular child is far more important than anything else," she stresses. "That is why I wanted to be a teacher in the first place and why I wanted to he involved with young people again now after selling wine for ten years.

With a bright future ahead and so many options to explore, what are the Jessups looking forward to most in their new life? "We're excited about being able to spend more time together," says Hayley. "We've been like ships in the night. We can't wait till June!"