Principal and Interest. Its very peaceful here now.. Racial-equity work is like trying to defuse a bomb and cutting the wrong wire. Theres an App for That. Also, we might hear phrases like, That comment triggered me, it was a microaggression, I think we can do better for our Latinx students, or This is not consistent with our commitment to anti-racism. I imagine we might even see white folks redirecting their white colleagues and carrying their weight of racial conversations. It is the water we are swimming in. That is not always possible for his schools students, Dierke said. For example, we looked at how our implicit bias when responding to student behavior leads to racially disproportionate discipline incidents and we organically identified restorative practices as a focus for the following year. At that point the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) stepped in, calling Visitacion Valley "a neglected urban backwater of 18,000 with rampant crime, awful schools, and a deplorable housing project called Geneva Towers." (Gee, thanks, for the recognition, HUD.) *The name of one student has been changed. Property Taxes. Home has a beautiful view with a nice size backyard for entertainment. Having served the past two years as Assistant Principal, VVMS is a community that I love and care for. So the privately funded non-profit Center for Wellness and Achievement in Education (CWAE) was set up. WSC shuts down learning. It can result in white rage, broken relationships, grievances, and further harm to oppressed students. He partnered with the Center for Wellness and Achievement in Education to develop a Quiet Time Program for his school. Further, we must look at how it has affected us and how we have perpetuated White Supremacy Culture. Visitacion Valley Middle School prides itself in its active role in the community by welcoming parents, families, and community partners to participate on all levels of creating a culturally responsive 21st Century Middle School. Public, 6-8 Serves this home. Parks near 132 Britton St include Crocker Amazon Playground, Visitacion Valley Greenway, and Bayview Park. This leads to resistance or failure to follow through, maintaining a status quo of disproportionate outcomes for students based on race. Dismantling WSC unites staff to work toward being anti-racist. I like to think of myself as a recovering perpetrator of WSC. Published annually by SFUSD to provide access to key data points and three-year trends related to student achievement and school culture-climate. One does not have to be a white supremacist to hold these beliefs, because we have all been conditioned through exposure to media, parenting, schooling, and our interactions with power structures. We needed to go deeper than our previous conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Don't be confused. The program, which had initial funding from the Students straightened their backs and closed their eyes. It is invisible and it is toxic. But Quiet Time took years to develop. Now, Besides dealing with problems outside school, Visitacion Valley faces challenges in school, too. Historically, those predictions have been accurate. But this messy middle is precisely when we need to stay curious, be vulnerable, and innovative. near you and learn more, A summary of studies fromHarvard, Stanford, and more, AHA: TM is the only meditationfound to lower blood pressure, Different forms of meditationproduce very different results, Bob Roth, Director Just meditate!. Nov 2020 - Present2 years 4 months. where I had the privilege to serve as a 7th and 8th grade English Language Arts and English Language Development (ELD) teacher at a public middle school. I get to school at 7 a.m. for softball practice. 1. They worked harder, paid more attention, were easier to teach and the number of fights fell dramatically.. At first glance, it might not appear the principal of the year would come out of Visitacion Valley. Then, Dierke struck a bell and said, Okay, its quiet time.. White Supremacy Culture is the silent killer flowing throughout classrooms and school hallways, like carbon monoxide gas. Once white fragility is defined and debriefed amongst a team, we can begin to talk about racism, anti-racism, and White Supremacy Culture. Property Taxes. Quiet Time isnt just a slogan but a daily regimen at Visitacion Valley. - Managed relationships and contracts with principals and key staff at our 3 middle schools. 4 Beds. (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. Personal Commitment graphic organizer used in professional development (Courtesy of Joe Truss). The 1,233 sq. And although this program has focused on schools in low-income areas, adolescents from middle-class and affluent families could benefit from stress reduction as well. SFUSD annually surveys families and school staff on a range of school climate indicators that have been found to predict positive student academic achievement. There was a time when Visitacion Valley middle school in San Francisco could have featured in a gritty US crime drama. Eighth grader Stacy* has been meditating since she joined the school three years ago. It is invisible and it is toxic. In addition, we might see curricula that affirms and engages students of color. This content is provided by our sponsor. For over 10 years, Visitacion Valley Middle School has been utilizing Transcendental Meditation to help students address stress and improve focus. Dont just throw it into 2,000 schools, he says. Use the arrows to change between different dates on the calendar. [2] Under the management of the San Francisco Board of Education, the district serves more than 55,500 students in more than 160 institutions. Former principal of Visitacion Valley Middle School in San Francisco and a former Principal of the Year. Welcome to our new incoming 6th grade students! Callers can still leave a voicemail or send an email or request form at all hours. Price: $759,000. After School Program at Visitacion Valley Middle School As the elementary programs established themselves and became more successful, R.O.C.K. . Our courageous educators got personal, thinking about how White Supremacy Culture shows up in their personal lives and between colleagues. Lastly, this work connected well with our concurrent work of racial affinity groups, social-justice teaching, and revising our school mission statement. Public, 6-8 Serves this home. In my dream, I imagine that educators can become comfortable talking about race and how it informs the work of educating children. for the lowest performing demographic was double that for the overall student group. Further, we must look at how it has affected us and how we have perpetuated White Supremacy Culture. Consequently, "all other cognitive functions such as learning, problem solving, or creative thinking stop," (Hammond, 2015) activating our fight, flight, or freeze response. foot 2 bed, 2 bath townhouse for sale. Like most groups of educators, we had spent a few years dancing around topics of racism and struggled to make lasting change. I got to sit right by him and the whole school meditated with him.. "He has put his heart and soul into making sure his students feel safe and secure in their school building and has developed a school climate that nurtures academic excellence," Tirozzi said. Now our previous work on Culturally Responsive Teaching, use of rubrics, and adding student voice had a theoretical underpinning. Rice says they use TM because it takes those who do it to a deep level of relaxation, and its easy for children to learn. Every day before class, Visitacion Valley Middle School students pass an informal memorial known as the "R.I.P. For the majority of urban students, drugs, gangs and violence are part of everyday life. There he is leading with a vision of Love, Literacy, and Liberation. 9 . A lot of the kids have deep anger issues or problems focusing, she says. We needed to go deeper than our previous conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Executive Director Gerald Tirozzi of the association noted that Dierke has given the community around the school a sense of hope. Teacher Phil Yordy, left, works with freshman Derek Shallow, 15, right, during an after school mentoring program at Oregon High School in Oregon, Ill., in February. Also, our school is rich in ethnicity and culture. Homeowners' Insurance. Its also important to start small. Based on Rocket Homes closed client surveys received from 2011-2021. An easy way to remember our website is to memorize our bit.ly URL! For a more complete list, see the 15 WSC characteristics from Tema Okun and Kenneth Jones in the 2001 Dismantling Racism Workbook. Yordy teaches world history, civics, and freshman seminar and volunteers as a program mentor. Saratoga, California, United States. All school events, including athletic events, will be posted in this calendar. Due to stereotype threat, this is especially problematic when students of color are a numerical minority in a classroom or school. With respect to race, the foundational issue is White Supremacy Culture, and we must attack the problem head on. By Kyle Palmer On a recent morning at Visitacion Valley Middle School in South San Francisco, Principal James Dierke looked out over the school's auditorium at more than 100 eighth graders. Visitacion Valley Middle School 2 4 reviews Grades 6-8 Students 375 Type Public School District San Francisco Unified School District 450 Raymond Avenue San Francisco, CA 94134 (415) 469-4590 https://visitacion-sfusd-ca.Schoolloop.com/ Nearby Schools Elementary Middle High Alvarado Elementary School K-5 Public 515 Students Start with one class or year and let it grow from there.. Staff watch a clip about white fragility during a staff meeting (Courtesy of Joe Truss). Visitacion Valley Middle School basks in principal-of-year award, campusviolence03_005_cs.jpg This includes emotions of fear, anger, and guilt, as well as actions of argumentation, silence, and withdrawal. Angelica Mahinay, Visitacion Valleys 8thgrade student body president, said Quiet Time gives her more energy. 5/28/2021. 7 /10. Very diverse community that is willing to go above and beyond to support students and their families. Therefore, it was necessary to create shared understandings and subsequent commitments, which was facilitated by exploring a framework of White Supremacy Culture. I saw this personally at VVMS, as situations got awkward, uncomfortable, and uncertain. To do it properly Visitacion Valley middle school made the day 30 minutes longer. Visitors are always amazed, Dierke said afterwards, but it works. Visitacion Valley Middle is a public school located in San Francisco, CA, which is in a large city setting. In my spare time, I enjoy camping and traveling. Mad Sal's Dockside Inn in Ale House Alley, and Mission Blue. As Boys Get Fatter, Parents Worry One Body Part Is Too Small. Visitacion Valley Middle School is part of San Francisco Unified School District. I think of my mantra, and it helps me calm down., Bob Roth, Executive Director for the David Lynch Foundation, said meditation is not just a way for students to relax but has real cognitive benefits. 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. She is a frequent guest on KQED's "Newroom" television show and "Forum" radio show. What Happened When My School Started to Dismantle White Supremacy Culture, The Standing Up for Racial Justice coalition. Racial-equity leaders must be both intentional and responsive when doing this anti-racist work. To our teachers and staff, joyful learning means that each student is able to maximize his/her abilities and be successful in learning through different learning methods. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me for anything (. Two controlled studies have been published so far; others are in submission These kids hear gunshots on their way to and from school. For instance, we might see folks making eye contact, leaning into conversations about racial identity, and asking probing questions. Our kids are coming to school. We have seen attempts at creating buy-in fail for initiatives like ethnic studies, mastery-based grading, or project-based learning. Prompts for reading a White Supremacy Culture article (Courtesy of Joe Truss). Like most groups of educators, we had spent a few years dancing around topics of racism and struggled to make lasting change. It is the water we are swimming in. The trouble is we don't even see it. When Dierke took the helm of Visitacion Valley in 1999, it was the lowest-performing of San Francisco's 18 public middle schools on the state's Academic Performance Index; now the school ranks 10th. [3] Week 25 newsletter in different languages. 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. The once-boisterous hall became silent and remained so for the next 15 minutes. White Supremacy Culture. years of my tenure, the school was dominated by stress and fighting. But in the last few years, he said, we have had very few fights.. White Supremacy Culture is the silent killer flowing throughout classrooms and school hallways, like carbon monoxide gas. $1,041. Parks near 83 Ervine St include Visitacion Valley Greenway, Bayview Park, and Louis Sutter . We might also see students connecting their identities to their learning and applying it back to their communities to manifest social justice. Thus, we are building a collective purpose and a commitment to learning. Can You Safely Lose Weight While Breast-Feeding? Ft. 45 Arleta Ave, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. The school has something to offer everyone, from new programs of study and a variety of clubs to join. Racial-equity work is like trying to defuse a bomb and cutting the wrong wire. Additionally, kids get to participate in fun activities, including recreation, cooking, dance, technology and leadership. Our courageous educators got personal, thinking about how White Supremacy Culture shows up in their personal lives and between colleagues. They are more motivated, more confident, more focused, more successful and more joyful. Programs School Data Contact Info Visitacion Valley Middle School Grades 6-8 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. I began my career in education in Richmond, CA. 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. Norman E. Rosenthal is a psychiatrist and the author of Super Mind: How to Boost Performance and Live a Richer and Happier Life Through Transcendental Meditation.. The letter is also available inChinese/andEspaol. View SFUSD's most recent athletics participation dataor past years' reports. On a personal note, I was born and raised in the midwest, but I have called San Francisco home for the last 13 years. And our teacher turnover and absenteeism is almost zero.. SOLD JUN 13, 2022. This is because we are starting with the branches of the tree instead of the roots. 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 When they started everyone said it would be impossible to get 12-year-olds to sit for even a minute, but through transcendental meditation (TM) they proved critics wrong. Visitacion Valley Middle School Unclaimed 1971 Visitacion Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94134 Contact info Website 3 /10 GreatSchools Rating 5 reviews Public school 375 Students Grades 6-8 Updates Compare 3 /10 GreatSchools Summary Rating 2/10 Test Scores below average 4/10 Academic Progress below average 1/10 Equity below average But to start, we must go inward. But he admits that it takes a big time commitment in resources and attention commitment to do this. This change comes at the cost of detaching ourselves from ourselves, which also is dehumanizing. Ale House Alley, Mission Blue, and Lucky's Bakery & Cafe. This work has gotten co-opted and watered down, leading to many people talking the talk, without much walk. This is true for our staff as well, contributing to racial fatigue and staff sustainability for IBPOC. Less than a year after starting Quiet Time, which is in part funded by . They thought their classmates would be making fun of them, staring at them, maybe possibly even hitting them, he says. To do it properly Visitacion Valley middle school made the day 30 minutes longer. Theres an explosion of mental health problems among young people and its going to be incredibly expensive to treat in the future. . expanded to serve middle school children and grow with the kids it was already serving. Young people are incredibly stressed, says Michael Matania who teaches mindfulness meditation to young people in London through a programme called Mindkit. The second controlled study, authored by WestEd, an independent evaluator, found that after seven months of the Quiet Time Program, ninth grade wall," a reminder of trouble that awaits them when the afternoon bell rings.. For example, we looked at how our implicit bias when responding to student behavior leads to racially disproportionate discipline incidents and we organically identified restorative practices as a focus for the following year. Were not perfect, Dierke said. 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. Now our previous work on Culturally Responsive Teaching, use of rubrics, and adding student voice had a theoretical underpinning. This requires dismantling White Supremacy Culture and building a new foundation for an anti-racist and empowering education. 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. I was very reluctant when it first started, he said. Principal and Interest. that teachers and students enjoy and which preliminary data suggest is effective. Students then repeat a personal mantra (a word from Sanskrit, the ancient Indian language) in their heads until they reach a deep feeling of relaxation. 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. Dont be confused. Places. Further, staff moved to thinking about how our school practices perpetuate WSC and send negative messages to our students. As a result, staff were curious to take action to be anti-racist and promote a learning community that did the same. Classes take place at students desks after the qualified TM teacher rings a bell. He says the lives of students were infected by violence in the community, and several fights would break out every day. Students seemed happy, says ODriscoll. Students at Visitacion Valley School in San Francisco meditate, as part of a program in which students meditate for fifteen minutes twice a day. Stacey Buchwald promoted to principal at Valley Middle School of STEM District 196 Superintendent Mary Kreger today announced the promotion of Dr. Stacey Buchwald from interim principal to principal of Valley Middle School of STEM in. We must name, define, and plan for white fragility, the defensive response by whites when discussing racism. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to school starting Wednesday, August 17, 2022. In 2008 Mr. Dierke was named MetLife/NASSP National Middle Level Principal of the Year. 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. San Francisco Superintendent Carlos Garcia told Dierke's students Friday that their principal was chosen from among the thousands of middle school principals across the country. Given that the students in the study were performing below par at baseline, these results Others rested them on the backs of their chairs. When the school year starts, students may use Student Portal Student Portal (StudentVUE)and families may use Family Portal (ParentVUE)to keep track of a student's attendance, assignments, and grades, and contact teachers. Racial-equity leaders must be both intentional and responsive when doing this anti-racist work. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me for anything (harrisc@sfusd.edu). MLS # 423724059 Its important to note that these responses work to maintain current consciousness and white supremacy. As a leader, I hold three core values close to me: connection, growth, and appreciation. White Supremacy Culture. This post originally appeared in KQED's MindShiftblog. To do this, we use diverse staff resources and improve student access to high quality programs during the school day and in after-school programs.