visitacion valley middle school principal

Visitacion Valley Middle School basks in principal-of-year award, campusviolence03_005_cs.jpg "Instead, the parents demonstrated their faith in Dierke's leadership by not withdrawing any children from the school.". I like to think of myself as a recovering perpetrator of WSC. A major factor preventing underserved children from learning is the stress they encounter on a daily basis from factors like poverty, deprivation, lack of steady parental input, physical danger and constant 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. This leads to resistance or failure to follow through, maintaining a status quo of disproportionate outcomes for students based on race. I like to think of myself as a recovering perpetrator of WSC. 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. This includes emotions of fear, anger, and guilt, as well as actions of argumentation, silence, and withdrawal. MLS # 423724059 375. For a more complete list, see the 15 WSC characteristics from Tema Okun and Kenneth Jones in the 2001 Dismantling Racism Workbook. Please read our Welcome Back letter. I had never done meditation before, but now I do Quiet Time. Visitacion Valley Middle School. Grades: 9-12. . Visitacion Valley Middle School Catering to our kids grades 6-8. A Clipper Card is not required for buses and trains, however it is needed to receive a free fare on cable cars. Students at Visitacion Valley School in South San Francisco observe 15 minutes of quiet time every morning. Places. This article was amended on Wednesday 25 November to clarify that Visitacion Valley middle school funds Quiet Time mostly through private donations to CWAE. 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. When the staff at Visitacion Valley Middle School explored White Supremacy Culture, it gave them a new framework to define their North Star: being an anti-racist school. 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). 609-611 Naples Street is a 2-bed, 2-bath, 1,850 sqft multi-family home built in 1947. For the majority of urban students, drugs, gangs and violence are part of everyday life. 3 Baths. It has 358 students in grades 6-8 with a student-teacher ratio of 13 to 1. Ultimately, we are here to help students empower themselves through education. The trouble is we don't even see it. Ft. 45 Arleta Ave, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94134. 3rd Street Youth Center & Clinic Government Administration SAN FRANCISCO, California As Boys Get Fatter, Parents Worry One Body Part Is Too Small. 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. 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. Former principal of Visitacion Valley Middle School in San Francisco and a former Principal of the Year. And thats one of the challenges., However, Swarana Patel, a teacher in a north London secondary school where behaviour is often an obstacle, can see the benefits of a more intensive programme like this. 2. We needed to go deeper than our previous conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Homeowners' Insurance. live well. Ale House Alley, Mission Blue, and Lucky's Bakery & Cafe. New Principle, amazing teachers and support staff. This has included making decisions about curriculum, school partnership, and hiring, without authentically involving teachers or students in the process. Those selecting Dierke for the honor noted how a gunman entered the school, threatening teachers and students in 2004. As a leader, it is easy to hoard power, claim objectivity in decision making, or believe that there is only one way to fix education. Young people are incredibly stressed, says Michael Matania who teaches mindfulness meditation to young people in London through a programme called Mindkit. $1,150,000 Last Sold Price. But he admits that it takes a big time commitment in resources and attention commitment to do this. 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. 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." Listed by Gaye Harrison DRE #01319223 World Premier Realty Redfin checked: just now (Mar 2, 2023 at 11:15pm) Source: BAREIS #422707922 Home Facts Status Active In my dream, I imagine that Culturally Responsive Teaching, restorative practices, and deeper learning are all alive in classrooms across the United States. Imagine that. We might also see students connecting their identities to their learning and applying it back to their communities to manifest social justice. It is the water we are swimming in. White Supremacy Culture. This took the form of discussions, watching short video clips, annotating readings, and doing some deep personal introspection. To do it properly Visitacion Valley middle school made the day 30 minutes longer. 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. Week 25 newsletter in different languages. Racial-equity work is like trying to defuse a bomb and cutting the wrong wire. to meditation? Visitacion Valley Middle School, Public District Grades 6-8; Revere (Paul) Elementary School, Public District Grades KG-8; . Use the arrows to change between different dates on the calendar. 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. 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. At VVMS, we were able to get past defensiveness and excuses and get to the heart of the matter. What Happened When My School Started to Dismantle White Supremacy Culture, The Standing Up for Racial Justice coalition. The school is working on improving parent involvement through our Parent Liaison. We have seen attempts at creating buy-in fail for initiatives like ethnic studies, mastery-based grading, or project-based learning. In 2008 Mr. Dierke was named MetLife/NASSP National Middle Level Principal of the Year. Most definitely recommend this school to parents in the neighborhood with kids in Kinder-5th grade. Quiet Time is just like an umbrella. 1. Surrounded by drugs and gang violence, the kids were stressed out and agitated. It is time that we detox and make the invisible visible. Principal Broker: William J Oliver. They couldnt concentrate on school.. Public, 6-8 Serves this home. Dear Visitacion Valley Middle School Community. The programme, introduced to all ages, sees students sit for 15 minutes of meditation twice a day. To do it properly Visitacion Valley middle school made the day 30 minutes longer. . Most of the students seemed disinterested in Dierkes announcements about the springs impending graduation, upcoming field trips, and recent birthdays. Visitacion Valley Middle School. Ultimately, we are here to help students empower themselves through education. Get the latest education news delivered to your inbox daily. Homeowners' Insurance. suggests that meditation might significantly improve childrens school performance and help close that gap. Anecdotally, favorable feedback poured in from both students and staff members. The School Plan for Student Achievement is the template on which this review and stakeholder engagement process is codified. 336 Wilde Ave , San Francisco, CA 94134-2252 is a single-family home listed for-sale at $988,888. In fact, based on certain urban zip codes, education researchers can predict students attendance rate, behavior, test scores, and overall academic achievement. For example, pushing students to work independently or write before processing verbally can lead to stress and isolation. 7 /10. 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. 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. This can create power struggles, a learning opportunity gap, and as the scholar Monique Morris writes, students being pushed out of schools. Likewise, test scores have increased in recent years but still remain low compared to other SFUSD middle schools. The Transcendental Meditation technique is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical diagnosis or treatment. Bursts of laughter and errant shouts punctuated the buzz. Angelica Mahinay, Visitacion Valleys 8thgrade student body president, said Quiet Time gives her more energy. Apply for Educational Benefits for the 2022-23 school year I am deeply honored and excited to have the opportunity to serve as Principal of Visitacion Valley Middle School. In addition, we might see curricula that affirms and engages students of color. Yes, this is built into our systems of power, structures, policies, and rules. The Visitacion Valley Middle school vision is that our students will strength their passion for learning, develop the skills to become empowered community members, and gain the knowledge to be ready for high school with a clear path to college, career, and future success. School communities gather twice a year to review data and previous actions in order to intentionally plan for the coming months. It really is quiet time.. This 3-bedroom 3 bath Tri level home has a lot of character and with the right owner can be brought up to date. Its provided a lot of stability to our school, helping staff and kids get through the stress they have in their lives., The impressive results have led to more schools in the city introducing the programme. However, when we name oppression, racism, and more explicitly White Supremacy Culture, folks have to determine where they stand, what they value, and why they work in education. This pushed some folks to identify who they could be safe with, be it for comfort or growth. 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. 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. Photo at top courtesy of Joe Truss: VVMS staff match examples of White Supremacy Culture to the definition of each characteristic. I get to school at 7 a.m. for softball practice. Please refer to legal details concerning copyright and trademark protection. I saw this personally at VVMS, as situations got awkward, uncomfortable, and uncertain. 1500 Visitacion Ave, San Francisco, CA is a single family home that contains 1,068 sq ft and was built in 1944. And our teacher turnover and absenteeism is almost zero.. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider regarding any medical condition. 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. visitacion valley middle School students 14The QuieT Time Program DaviD Lynch FounDaTion 1 5 7. Having served the past two years as Assistant Principal, VVMS is a community that I love and care for. Visitacion Valley Middle (San Francisco) is a 06 to 08 grade school in San Francisco, and has made tremendous strides in improving the acceptance rate and education its students receive. He blogs at culturallyresponsiveleadership.com and is a racial equity leadership coach. Just as long as they are quiet. fear. They are more motivated, more confident, more focused, more successful and more joyful. He says the lives of students were infected by violence in the community, and several fights would break out every day. SFUSD annually surveys families and school staff on a range of school climate indicators that have been found to predict positive student academic achievement. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me for anything (. In 2007 a meditation programme called Quiet Time was brought in to meet some of these challenges. levels of self-confidence and happiness. Start with one class or year and let it grow from there.. Price: $759,000. Annual math and English scores improved in the students who meditated, while they declined in those who didnt meditate. C. Visitacion Valley Middle School is a public school located in SAN FRANCISCO, CA. Modern Band (music) with contemporary instruments, Visuals Arts, Ethnic Studies, Computer Science, Dramatic Arts, and Spanish! Together, educators are doing the reimagining and reinvention work necessary to make true educational equity possible. Some of the work I am most proud of as a teacher and leader is building relationships with all community members to create a supportive and positive environment, as well as creating systems and using data to make informed decisions regarding instructional practices that lead to increased achievement for students. When the bells sound twice a day at Visitacion Valley Middle School in San Francisco, students who used to be too rowdy to even sit still close their eyes and spend 15 minutes clearing their minds. We are continually navigating the phases of a 'call out to call in culture' with each other.". The UK has already started experimenting with meditation: 400 secondary schools offer programmes like the Dot B mindfulness meditation programme, which tends to take place once a week in personal, social, health education (PSHE) class. 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. Phys Ed: The Benefits of Exercising Before Breakfast, Dog Needs a Walk? Its important to note that these responses work to maintain current consciousness and white supremacy. Very diverse community that is willing to go above and beyond to support students and their families. 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. Visitacion Valley Middle School $93. View SFUSD's most recent athletics participation dataor past years' reports. We must name, define, and plan for white fragility, the defensive response by whites when discussing racism. 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 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. The letter is also available inChinese/andEspaol. In their schools, the Quiet Time/Transcendental Meditation program is playing a key role in that breakthrough. Therefore, unexamined behaviors of White Supremacy Culture are preventing students from being comfortable or supported enough to learn and flourish. An all-party parliamentary group has also recommended the Department for Education designate three schools to pioneer mindfulness teaching, and set up a 1m fund to allow more schools to benefit from support in the practice. Our courageous educators got personal, thinking about how White Supremacy Culture shows up in their personal lives and between colleagues. Given that the students in the study were performing below par at baseline, these results We were looking for a way to get kids to relax, he said. 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.) 379 Winding, San Francisco, CA 94112 is a 4 bed, 3 bath, 1,597 sqft house now for sale at $1,280,000. Like most groups of educators, we had spent a few years dancing around topics of racism and struggled to make lasting change. I think its helped my golf game, too.. View more property details, sales history and Zestimate data on Zillow. The art of relaxation: ideas to get students to unwind and recharge, How two minutes of mindfulness can calm a class and boost attainment, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Select Week, Month, or Agenda to see different views of the calendar. Visitacion Valley Middle School in San Francisco Unified school district (Courtesy of Joe Truss). Students, families, and school staff can email requests to sflink@sfusd.edu, call 415-340-1716 (M-F, 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m., closed from 12 to 1 p.m. every day), or complete an online request form. Why shouldnt all our students have access We will share information about our school and answer your questions. This is a 4-bed, 3-bath, 1,597 sqft property. 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. For a more complete list, see the 15 WSC characteristics from Tema Okun and Kenneth Jones in the 2001 Dismantling Racism Workbook. White Supremacy Culture is the silent killer flowing throughout classrooms and school hallways, like carbon monoxide gas. This listing's school district is San Francisco Unified School District. Callers can still leave a voicemail or send an email or request form at all hours. All school events, including athletic events, will be posted in this calendar. the Visitacion Valley principal who brought the program to life in 2007. Due to stereotype threat, this is especially problematic when students of color are a numerical minority in a classroom or school. Find COVID-19 testing, vaccine, and daily health screening information. Lastly, this work connected well with our concurrent work of racial affinity groups, social-justice teaching, and revising our school mission statement. Like most groups of educators, we had spent a few years dancing around topics of racism and struggled to make lasting change. Students straightened their backs and closed their eyes. Since beginning Quiet Time, Dierke said things have improved: Daily attendance last year was more than 98 percent, and there have been fewer suspensions and higher test scores. 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. Based on Rocket Homes closed client surveys received from 2011-2021. 82616 to call in a student absence. WSC dehumanizes people of color. Parks near 132 Britton St include Crocker Amazon Playground, Visitacion Valley Greenway, and Bayview Park. Even in failure, there is growth, if you are using a critical lens to understand and improve. Others rested them on the backs of their chairs. Leading a 501 (c)3 nonprofit working with a consortium of collaborative partners including university researchers . 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. Only two teachers have left in the past five years, outside of retirements and district layoffs. I also enjoy cooking (and eating) good food with family and friends. 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. 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. I value growth because I am constantly reviewing data, asking how we can be better for our students. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me for anything (harrisc@sfusd.edu). This week's important updates are available! 5/28/2021. Real Options for City Kids (R.O.C.K.) Therefore, it was necessary to create shared understandings and subsequent commitments, which was facilitated by exploring a framework of White Supremacy Culture. This change comes at the cost of detaching ourselves from ourselves, which also is dehumanizing. We work hard to create a positive school climate where students are recognized for their growth. I look forward to our partnership this upcoming school year and collaborating with all of you to support our brilliant students. Finally, this work is some of the most challenging, but rewarding work there is. Students at Visitacion Valley School in South San Francisco observe 15 minutes of quiet time every morning.

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visitacion valley middle school principal