For the majority of urban students, drugs, gangs and violence are part of everyday life. Entire contents copyright 2023 Maharishi Foundation USA, a non-profit educational organization. 643 Campbell Ave, San Francisco, CA 94134 | MLS# 40925832 | Redfin We needed to go deeper than our previous conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Students are encouraged to use the time to meditate, but Dierke says students can simply clear their mind, think about schoolwork, or even sleep. Your health questions answered by Times journalists andexperts. The student population of Visitacion Valley Middle is 358 and the school serves. But this messy middle is precisely when we need to stay curious, be vulnerable, and innovative. 83 Ervine St, San Francisco, CA 94134 | MLS# 422711357 | Redfin The school has something to offer everyone, from new programs of study and a variety of clubs to join. Discussing WSC gave us more impetus to make changes, because we now knew what was happening if we refused: microaggressions, dehumanization, widening the opportunity gap, and producing disproportionate outcomes. I was very reluctant when it first started, he said. Now, This might include wanting to win an argument, not making space for others to talk, and rushing through meetings. Consequently, this allows for us to align our purpose with our pedagogy, curricula, policies, decisionmaking processes, and adult structures. Dismantling WSC unites staff to work toward being anti-racist. What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is It Under Attack? One seventh grader at Visitacion Valley said, I used to be really fidgety, couldnt stay in my seat for very long. This presentation was made as part of a National Education Summit on Quiet Time in the Classroom Linda Esposito - What One Urban School District Can Teach the Country About Stress Relief Huffington Post, Nov 2020 - Present2 years 4 months. PDF Visitacion Valley Middle School - archive.sfusd.edu The first pitfall is failing to scaffold for white privilege and white fragility. During those times, students could either practice Transcendental Principals Page / Principal Bio - Seneca Valley School District Visitacion Valley Middle School - Public School Review For a more complete list, see the 15 WSC characteristics from Tema Okun and Kenneth Jones in the 2001 Dismantling Racism Workbook. Callers can still leave a voicemail or send an email or request form at all hours. That kind of stuff makes it hard to focus on algebra, he said. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff. Call Us. A pioneering programme has reduced stress and improved grades at Visitacion Valley middle school with lessons other schools can learn from. 1500 Visitacion Ave, San Francisco, CA is a single family home that contains 1,068 sq ft and was built in 1944. This leads to resistance or failure to follow through, maintaining a status quo of disproportionate outcomes for students based on race. Please refer to legal details concerning copyright and trademark protection. 266 Curtis St, San Francisco, CA 94112 | MLS #423718391 | Zillow In the first year of Quiet Time meditation, suspensions at Visitacion Valley were reduced by 45%. Welcome to our new incoming 6th grade students! Its very peaceful here now.. According to state test scores, 12% of students are at least proficient in math and 26% in reading. By 2009-10, attendance rates were over 98% (some of the highest in the city), and today 20% of graduates are admitted to the highly academic Lowell high school before it was rare for even one student to be accepted. We focus on equitable teaching practices and encourage student participation. Having served the past two years as Assistant Principal, VVMS is a community that I love and care for. I am privileged to be able to continue to work with our dedicated staff, AMAZING students, and supportive parents. Our GPA has trended up significantly since the start of Quiet Time., All of this indicates that we are winning the battle against the predictor power of demographics. Visitacion Valley Middle School basks in principal-of-year award - SFGATE "Instead, the parents demonstrated their faith in Dierke's leadership by not withdrawing any children from the school.". Property Taxes. students who meditated showed a significant decrease in anxiety and a significant increase in resilience compared to nonmeditating students. 379 Winding Way, San Francisco, CA 94112 is a single family home listed for sale at $1,280,000. 375. Visitacion Valley Middle School. San Francisco Unified School District - Wikipedia Otherwise, white fragility will shut the anti-racist party down; it's an equity consciousness buzz kill, for real. provides quality after-school programming to children in the area. Select Week, Month, or Agenda to see different views of the calendar. Visitacion Valley Middle Public 6-8 1971 Visitacion Ave. San Francisco, CA 94134-2700 (415) 469-4590 District: San Francisco Unified SchoolDigger Rank: 2320th of 2,740 California Middle Schools Per Pupil Expenditures: $6,103 Students who attend Visitacion Valley Middle usually attend: Feeder schools for Visitacion Valley Middle: Jill Tucker has covered education in California for 22 years, writing stories that range from issues facing Bay Area school districts to broader national policy debates. Student-centered learning advances equity when it values social and emotional growth alongside academic achievement, takes a cultural lens on strengths and competencies, and equips students with the power and skills to address injustice in their schools and communities. This 3-bedroom 3 bath Tri level home has a lot of character and with the right owner can be brought up to date. Visitacion Valley Middle School in San Francisco CA - SchoolDigger Therefore, unexamined behaviors of White Supremacy Culture are preventing students from being comfortable or supported enough to learn and flourish. But no one touched on the real problem stress.. James Dierke, Principal of Visitacion Valley Middle School in San Francisco, like so many thousands of principals and teachers who are working in inner-city schools throughout the US, knows how frustrating it can be trying to provide an education in Americas low income, high stress localities. *The name of one student has been changed. We can have equity missions plastered on walls and front that we are about closing the opportunity gap, but we don't go deeper than diversity trainings. Get Well's Running email for practical tips, expert advice, exclusive content and a bit of motivation delivered to your inbox every week to help you on your running journey. Staff watch a clip about white fragility during a staff meeting (Courtesy of Joe Truss). Closing the so-called achievement gap between poor inner-city children and their more affluent suburban counterparts is among the biggest challenges for education reformers. 379 Winding, San Francisco, CA 94112 | Estately | MLS# 423725010 He partnered with the Center for Wellness and Achievement in Education to develop a Quiet Time Program for his school. 322 Bayview Cir, San Francisco, CA, 94124 is a 1,317 sq. Like most groups of educators, we had spent a few years dancing around topics of racism and struggled to make lasting change. Given that the students in the study were performing below par at baseline, these results The trouble is we don't even see it. My partner and I recently moved from San Francisco to the East Bay, and we are preparing to welcome our first child this summer! This is because we are starting with the branches of the tree instead of the roots. SFUSD: Visitacion Valley Middle School Visitacion Valley Elementary School - San Francisco, California - CA Our courageous educators got personal, thinking about how White Supremacy Culture shows up in their personal lives and between colleagues. With the help of the David Lynch Foundation and the San Francisco-based Center for Wellness and Achievement in Education (CWAE), Visitacion Valley trained teachers on how to conduct Quiet Time sessions in their class. Yes, this is built into our systems of power, structures, policies, and rules. We are the operators of some piece of the education machine, and therefore, if we change our actions, we can change the larger system. This can create power struggles, a learning opportunity gap, and as the scholar Monique Morris writes, students being pushed out of schools. But this messy middle is precisely when we need to stay curious, be vulnerable, and innovative. Additionally, kids get to participate in fun activities, including recreation, cooking, dance, technology and leadership. In recognition of the honor, Mayor Gavin Newsom declared Friday Jim Dierke Day in San Francisco. Teachers. We are the operators of some piece of the education machine, and therefore, if we change our actions, we can change the larger system. Its important to note that these responses work to maintain current consciousness and white supremacy. His school, along with other urban middle schools in low income neighborhoods, is in the midst of a battlea battle against the predictive power of demographics. This article was amended on Wednesday 25 November to clarify that Visitacion Valley middle school funds Quiet Time mostly through private donations to CWAE. . Homeowners' Insurance. Visitacion Valley Middle School 1971 Visitacion Ave. San Francisco, CA 94134 ( School attendance zone shown in map) Tel: (415) 469-4590 www.sfusd.edu SAVE SCHOOL Visitacion Valley Middle School serves 358 students in grades 6-8. Just meditate!. Imagine that. To do it properly Visitacion Valley middle school made the day 30 minutes longer. Thus, we are building a collective purpose and a commitment to learning. Visitacion Valley Middle SchoolHIGHLIGHTS 415-469-4590 Vis Valley MS 26.8 0.4 9.3 16.2 16.2 1.6 29.5 AA AI C F J K L ONW OW DS Percent of Enrollment Mr. James S. Dierke, Principal VVMS's Parent Representative/Liaison maintains an office within the main office. For instance, we might see folks making eye contact, leaning into conversations about racial identity, and asking probing questions. Dr. Bettina Love writes in her book, We Want to Do More Than Survive, To even begin to attack our destructive and punitive educational system, pedagogies that promote social justice must help educators understand and recognize America and its schools as spaces of Whiteness, White rage, and White Supremacy, all of which function to terrorize students of color. (Love, 2019) It is imperative that we examine these deeply held beliefsboth conscious and unconsciousto build on top of a new set of habits, behaviors, and systems. Muni Routes to City Schools | SFMTA Besides dealing with problems outside school, Visitacion Valley faces challenges in school, too. San Francisco Schools Transformed by the Power of Meditation - NBC News Perhaps even more remarkable, last years California Healthy Kids Survey from the states education department found that students at Visitacion Valley middle school were the happiest in the whole of San Francisco. Historically, those predictions have been accurate. Visitacion Valley also got attention from actor Russell Brand, who visited the school just before Christmas on a trip sponsored by the David Lynch Foundation. This change comes at the cost of detaching ourselves from ourselves, which also is dehumanizing. Dierke, who has been principal at the school for 13 years, said things reached a turning point about five years ago. These beliefs lead to actions that are dehumanizing to all races of people; however, they have a more drastic effect on indigenous, black, and people of color (IBPOC). This took the form of discussions, watching short video clips, annotating readings, and doing some deep personal introspection. . . In my spare time, I enjoy camping and traveling. Visitacion Valley Middle School in San Francisco Unified school district (Courtesy of Joe Truss). I saw this personally at VVMS, as situations got awkward, uncomfortable, and uncertain. San Francisco Unified School District ( SFUSD ), established in 1851, is the only public school district within the City and County of San Francisco, and the first in the state of California. White Supremacy Culture. Now that the shock of reading these words has worn off, lets explore what it is and why we need to dedicate more time to exploring its dehumanizing effect in our schools. This year, the school has had to integrate more than 100 new students onto campus after another nearby middle school was closed by the district. At Visitacion Valley Middle School (VVMS), in the San Francisco Unified school district, our brave staff spent a majority of the 2018-19 school year unpacking White Supremacy Culture (WSC). Remembering Geneva Towers - San Francisco Heritage Once white fragility is defined and debriefed amongst a team, we can begin to talk about racism, anti-racism, and White Supremacy Culture. James Dierke, Principal of Visitacion Valley Middle School in San Francisco, like so many thousands of principals and teachers who are working in inner-city schools throughout the US, knows how frustrating it can be trying to provide an education in America's low income, high stress localities. Due to stereotype threat, this is especially problematic when students of color are a numerical minority in a classroom or school. Contact - Valley Middle School of STEM - District 196 Principal Specifically, this pushed on us to think about and change how we work together: We worked to create norms that encourage people of color and women to contribute, we shifted the relationship between teachers and administration so that teachers had more input in budget and hiring decisions, and finally, we adjusted the pace of our professional-development plans to emphasize quality over quantity. [2] Under the management of the San Francisco Board of Education, the district serves more than 55,500 students in more than 160 institutions. Leading a 501 (c)3 nonprofit working with a consortium of collaborative partners including university researchers . We needed to go deeper than our previous conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion. In 2007 a meditation programme called Quiet Time was brought in to meet some of these challenges. This change comes at the cost of detaching ourselves from ourselves, which also is dehumanizing. 8:15 a.m. - MWTh 3:00 p.m.; 8:15 a.m. - TuF 1:15 p.m. SFUSD's Student Family School Resource Linksupports students and families innavigating all of the SFUSD resources available to them. Specifically, we must look at how it shows up in our own lives, in our personal relationships, in between school staff, and in our histories. The programme, introduced to all ages, sees students sit for 15 minutes of meditation twice a day. Finally, this work is some of the most challenging, but rewarding work there is. Theres an App for That. Every day before class, Visitacion Valley Middle School students pass an informal memorial known as the "R.I.P. This might include wanting to win an argument, not making space for others to talk, and rushing through meetings. Further, staff moved to thinking about how our school practices perpetuate WSC and send negative messages to our students. Executive Director Gerald Tirozzi of the association noted that Dierke has given the community around the school a sense of hope. Programs School Data Contact Info Visitacion Valley Middle School Grades 6-8 "He's like our own American Idol," Garcia said. These are also known as bank-owned or real estate owned (REO). We have seen attempts at creating buy-in fail for initiatives like ethnic studies, mastery-based grading, or project-based learning. But Quiet Time took years to develop. The middle school years are critical times of development for students and families, and I look forward to working with all of you to ensure our school helps students feel a sense of belonging and joy, as well as prepares them for high school, college, and beyond. Homeowners' Insurance. Visitacion Valley Middle School - Trulia Real Estate Search ODriscoll was sceptical at first about mediating himself, but since giving it a try he can concentrate better and feels less stressed. New Principle, amazing teachers and support staff. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me for anything (harrisc@sfusd.edu). Ale House Alley, Mission Blue, and Lucky's Bakery & Cafe. The first day of school will be Wednesday, August 17, 2022. in San Francisco. Once Quiet Time started, she mellowed out and started getting along with people. Stacys academic performance has also improved shes in the top 5% of the class. A lot has changed over this period, including three principals coming and going, but ODriscoll puts the turnaround down to the one constant: the calming influence of the meditation programme. In order to build this ideal structure, we must start at the base and engineer for equity. A restless din filled the large room. $5,220. It can result in white rage, broken relationships, grievances, and further harm to oppressed students. The work to address racism in schools has been called cultural competency, diversity training, and equity. for publication. In Violent Neighborhood, 15 Minutes of Meditation Calms Students At Visitacion Valley Middle School (VVMS), in the San Francisco Unified school district, our brave staff spent a majority of the 2018-19 school year unpacking White Supremacy Culture (WSC). It helps me not be so tired during school, she said. Just as long as they are quiet. James Dierke, principal of Visitacion Valley Middle School in San Francisco: Principal James Dierke "When I arrived at this school thirteen years ago it had the highest absentee rate, the highest suspension rate, the highest teacher turnover rate, the lowest academic achievement rate. Yes, it is exhibited by leaders at all levels, including me.

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