1500 Visitacion Ave, San Francisco, CA is a single family home that contains 1,068 sq ft and was built in 1944. For over 10 years, Visitacion Valley Middle School has been utilizing Transcendental Meditation to help students address stress and improve focus. We get thrown a new thing every couple of years so I didnt put too much faith in it. But in April, just a month after meditation began, teachers noticed changes in behaviour. For example, pushing students to work independently or write before processing verbally can lead to stress and isolation. [2] Under the management of the San Francisco Board of Education, the district serves more than 55,500 students in more than 160 institutions. visitacion valley middle School students 14The QuieT Time Program DaviD Lynch FounDaTion 1 5 7. The award, given by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, includes a $5,000 award for the school. Please read our Welcome Back letter. I imagine we might even see white folks redirecting their white colleagues and carrying their weight of racial conversations. It is imperative that we examine our actions to see if they are further harming students of color, disempowering them, and creating a psychologically hostile learning environment. $1,041. (DiAngelo, 2018). We are the operators of some piece of the education machine, and therefore, if we change our actions, we can change the larger system. . It is time that we detox and make the invisible visible. The work to address racism in schools has been called cultural competency, diversity training, and equity. Education in collaboration with the San Francisco Unified School District research department, had more good news. Students at Visitacion Valley School in South San Francisco observe 15 minutes of quiet time every morning. Visitacion Valley Middle School. (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. 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 first pitfall is failing to scaffold for white privilege and white fragility. For the majority of urban students, drugs, gangs and violence are part of everyday life. An easy way to remember our website is to memorize our bit.ly URL! 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. New Principle, amazing teachers and support staff. This change comes at the cost of detaching ourselves from ourselves, which also is dehumanizing. The first pitfall is failing to scaffold for white privilege and white fragility. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to school starting Wednesday, August 17, 2022. It feels good to have that reputation.. This leads to resistance or failure to follow through, maintaining a status quo of disproportionate outcomes for students based on race. 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. What Happened When My School Started to Dismantle White Supremacy Culture, The Standing Up for Racial Justice coalition. Home has a beautiful view with a nice size backyard for entertainment. As a leader, it is easy to hoard power, claim objectivity in decisionmaking, or believe that there is only one way to fix education. Our Zoom link is: https://sfusd.zoom.us/j/89260175755?pwd=R2VLdWJQOVdySElJa1c2UUhCTkw5QT09. It can result in white rage, broken relationships, grievances, and further harm to oppressed students. Personal Commitment graphic organizer used in professional development (Courtesy of Joe Truss). 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). The trouble is we don't even see it. In fact, based on certain urban zip codes, education researchers can predict students attendance rate, behavior, test scores, and overall academic achievement. Visitacion Valley Middle School basks in principal-of-year award, campusviolence03_005_cs.jpg The Standing Up for Racial Justice coalition defines White Supremacy Culture as "the idea (ideology) that white people and the ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and actions of white people are superior to those of People of Color." They are more motivated, more confident, more focused, more successful and more joyful. Historically, those predictions have been accurate. Classes take place at students desks after the qualified TM teacher rings a bell. This prompts staff to reflect and ultimately declare, I want to be an anti-racist teacher, but I dont exactly know how. This has the power to unite folks at the foundational level, setting the stage for deeper commitments to learning new strategies, practices, and routines. View property details, photos, and neighborhood info. These kids hear gunshots on their way to and from school. Research shows that chronic stress can impair healthy brain development and the ability to learn, and that Transcendental Meditation, a stress-reducing technique that involves thinking of a mantra, can reduce Quiet Time isnt just a slogan but a daily regimen at Visitacion Valley. 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). Ale House Alley, Mission Blue, and Lucky's Bakery & Cafe. Of even greater interest, the increase in G.P.A. Known nationally for its innovative programs, teachers and students use technology, cross-curricular writing programs, and project- and standards-based instruction throughout the year. Principal Broker: William J Oliver. Therefore, unexamined behaviors of White Supremacy Culture are preventing students from being comfortable or supported enough to learn and flourish. For a more complete list, see the 15 WSC characteristics from Tema Okun and Kenneth Jones in the 2001 Dismantling Racism Workbook. The social-emotional learning of students in grades 4-12 is also assessed. (DiAngelo, 2018). Joe Truss Eighth grader Art Parkeenvincha moved to San Francisco from Canada in the middle of this year. As Boys Get Fatter, Parents Worry One Body Part Is Too Small. Property Taxes. SFUSD annually surveys families and school staff on a range of school climate indicators that have been found to predict positive student academic achievement. provides quality after-school programming to children in the area. Sign up for the Well Family newsletter to get the latest news on parenting, child health and relationships with advice from our experts to help every family I can be really hyperactive, he said. NOTE: Due to late submission for 2021-22 school year data collection, schools in Texas and Washington were not included in this locator tool.To search for public . Phones will be closed on school holidays, including the fall, winter and spring breaks. increased attendance and increased academic performance. It can result in white rage, broken relationships, grievances, and further harm to oppressed students. Out of view, city dignitaries and his students waited inside Visitacion Valley Middle School to surprise him with the news: He was the National Middle School Principal of the Year.. A restless din filled the large room. This is true for our staff as well, contributing to racial fatigue and staff sustainability for IBPOC. Coming soon. We have seen attempts at creating buy-in fail for initiatives like ethnic studies, mastery-based grading, or project-based learning. campaign: %%CAMP%% -- %%CAMP_UID%%, creative: %%ADID%% -- %%AD_UID%%, page: %%PAGE%%, targetedPage: %%TARGETEDPAGE%%, position: %%POS%%, evaluated in public middle school students performing below proficiency level, Under Stress, Students in New York Schools Find Calm in Meditation. Students seemed happy, says ODriscoll. Visitacion Valley Elementary School Unclaimed 55 Schwerin Street, San Francisco, CA 94134 Contact info Website 5 /10 GreatSchools Rating 3 reviews Public school 338 Students Grades K-5 Updates Compare 5 /10 GreatSchools Summary Rating 5/10 Test Scores average 6/10 Academic Progress average 4/10 Equity below average Last updated: Nov 18, 2022 Dierke, who has been principal at the school for 13 years, said things reached a turning point about five years ago. The second controlled study, authored by WestEd, an independent evaluator, found that after seven months of the Quiet Time Program, ninth grade Please read our welcome letter! suggests that meditation might significantly improve childrens school performance and help close that gap. Therefore, it was necessary to create shared understandings and subsequent commitments, which was facilitated by exploring a framework of White Supremacy Culture. The Visitacion Valley Middle School mission is to create, through transformative relationships, an inclusive and collaborative learning community that is relevant to the lives of ourstudents, families, and staff. June 4, 2021 Dear Visitacion Valley Middle School Community, I am deeply honored and excited to have the opportunity to serve as Principal of Visitacion Valley Middle School. We publish a weekly newsletter to keep parents informed, hold workshops, and offer many opportunities for parent communication and involvement. Staff watch a clip about white fragility during a staff meeting (Courtesy of Joe Truss). We should be planning for the righteous rage of IBPOC (Indigenous Black People of Color), but 82 percent of our teaching force is white, so we will also plan for white fragility. Like most groups of educators, we had spent a few years dancing around topics of racism and struggled to make lasting change. When I first heard about it I thought it probably wasnt going to work, says ODriscoll. Its also important to start small. They are owned by a bank or a lender who took ownership through foreclosure proceedings. Not a Single State Meets the Bar, How One School's Mentorship Program Paid Off Big in Academic Gains, Revisiting Educator Collaboration: We Should Think Differently About How We Form Teams, Best Practices for Implementing DE&I PD for Teachers. 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. Every day before class, Visitacion Valley Middle School students pass an informal memorial known as the "R.I.P. Dismantling WSC unites staff to work toward being anti-racist. The work of exploring White Supremacy Culture gave our staff a new framework to define our North Star, being an anti-racist school. C. Visitacion Valley Middle School is a public school located in SAN FRANCISCO, CA. Meditation, which is taught as part of the program, or engage in other quiet activities like silent reading. [3] It serves 358 studentsin 6 - 8 with a student/teacher ratio of 14.3:1.Its teachers have had 79 projects funded on DonorsChoose.