Even I, a black educator who has studied ethnic studies and critical race theory, still perpetuate tenets of White Supremacy Culture. We are continually navigating the phases of a call out to call in culture with each other.. As a leader, I hold three core values close to me: connection, growth, and appreciation. You can see past weeks' newsletters as well. We provide opportunities and resources for all students to be successful. Its very peaceful here now.. Start with one class or year and let it grow from there.. This has included making decisions about curriculum, school partnership, and hiring, without authentically involving teachers or students in the process. The school is working on improving parent involvement through our Parent Liaison. Which Type of Exercise Is Best for the Brain? But this messy middle is precisely when we need to stay curious, be vulnerable, and innovative. Visitacion Valley Middle School. Most of the students seemed disinterested in Dierkes announcements about the springs impending graduation, upcoming field trips, and recent birthdays. View property details, photos, and neighborhood info. School Accountability Report Cards (SARCs) are required by state law and are intended to provide families with important information. $365. View more property details, sales history and Zestimate data on Zillow. He says the lives of students were infected by violence in the community, and several fights would break out every day. Imagine that. I got to sit right by him and the whole school meditated with him.. This is because we are starting with the branches of the tree instead of the roots. This is such a pattern in urban schools that researchers consider it a predictable outcome. Ultimately, we are here to help students empower themselves through education. *The name of one student has been changed. Published annually by SFUSD to provide access to key data points and three-year trends related to student achievement and school culture-climate. Property Taxes. Public, 6-8 Serves this home. In fact, based on certain urban zip codes, education researchers can predict students attendance rate, behavior, test scores, and overall academic achievement. What Happened When My School Started to Dismantle White Supremacy Culture, The Standing Up for Racial Justice coalition. the Visitacion Valley principal who brought the program to life in 2007. White Supremacy Culture. 2,414 Sq. Students at Visitacion Valley School in San Francisco meditate, as part of a program in which students meditate for fifteen minutes twice a day. Based on Rocket Mortgage data in comparison to public data records. Consequently, this allows for us to align our purpose with our pedagogy, curricula, policies, decisionmaking processes, and adult structures. White Supremacy Culture also tricks us into thinking that if we change to fit a white model, we can be more valued but still never be white. Teachers and students are assigned to academic families that use a variety of innovative technology, cross-curricular writing programs, and project-based and standards-based instruction throughout the year. Dismantling WSC unites staff to work toward being anti-racist. (Dan Schreiber/The Examiner) In 2004, two students discovered the partially decomposed body of a 19-year-old stabbing victim. Teachers. By Joe Truss, the principal of Visitacion Valley Middle School in San Francisco and a leadership coach. Our teachers use Community Building and Restorative Practices. It is invisible and it is toxic. Racial-equity leaders must be both intentional and responsive when doing this anti-racist work. 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. The success of some schools efforts Therefore, it was necessary to create shared understandings and subsequent commitments, which was facilitated by exploring a framework of White Supremacy Culture. Visitacion Valley Middle School To do it properly Visitacion Valley middle school made the day 30 minutes longer. That was crazy, Angelica, the student body president, said. Thus, we are building a collective purpose and a commitment to learning. After the shooting, the usual culprits were blamed: guns, violent movies and video games, says Rice. Joe Truss is a native of San Francisco, previous High School Spanish Teacher, and now a 5th year Principal at Visitacion Valley Middle School (@vvmsfalcons). 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." I had never done meditation before, but now I do Quiet Time. San Francisco principal Jim Dierke knew something was up when he saw more cars than usual parked in front of his school Friday morning. were the happiest in the whole of San Francisco, to more schools in the city introducing the programme, Center for Wellness and Achievement in Education, recommended the Department for Education designate three schools to pioneer mindfulness teaching, international lessons in education series. . Some conversations fell flat, and others were superficial. Eighth grader Stacy* has been meditating since she joined the school three years ago. Every day before class, Visitacion Valley Middle School students pass an informal memorial known as the "R.I.P. 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. Connection is first and foremost because this work is all about relationships - connecting with stakeholders, earning trust, and sharing in the decision making. Visitacion Valley Middle School. 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. This took the form of discussions, watching short video clips, annotating readings, and doing some deep personal introspection. Coming soon. Visitacion Valley still struggles with significant challenges. Quiet Time in Los angeles The David Lynch Foundation is partnering with several Los angeles-based institutions which deliver excellence in academics and holistic student development through innovative educational models. 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. It would be nave to think that meditation alone could erase the effects of the many factors, like poverty, that are barriers to educational achievement. 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. The announcement was made today during a surprise ceremony at Visitacion Valley. She used to have trouble at home and get into fights with her family, says ODriscoll. It serves 358 studentsin 6 - 8 with a student/teacher ratio of 14.3:1.Its teachers have had 79 projects funded on DonorsChoose. 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. One other middle school and two high schools in the Bay Area adopted the program. 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. In recognition of the honor, Mayor Gavin Newsom declared Friday Jim Dierke Day in San Francisco. WSC dehumanizes people of color. 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. Nearby Public Schools The nearest high school to Visitacion Valley Middle School is Burton (Phillip And Sala) Academic High School(0.6 miles away) The nearest middle school is Bayshore(0.6 miles away) In 2006 there were 38 killings in our neighbourhood, says Barry ODriscoll, the schools head of physical education (PE). Down Payment . With after-school programs at both Visitacion Valley Middle School and El Dorado Elementary School, R.O.C.K. It is the water we are swimming in. Yes, it is exhibited by leaders at all levels, including me. The most recentnewsletteris linked below in the Week 25 section and also in our Families section. Once white fragility is defined and debriefed amongst a team, we can begin to talk about racism, anti-racism, and White Supremacy Culture. Speak with a TM teacher: 888-LEARN-TM (888-532-7686), Stanford research: TM is twice as effective, Reduced for adults, In my dream, I imagine that Culturally Responsive Teaching, restorative practices, and deeper learning are all alive in classrooms across the United States. This pushed some folks to identify who they could be safe with, be it for comfort or growth. Informacin detallada del sitio web y la empresa: cd77petanque.com Comit de seine et marne de ptanque $1,150,000 Last Sold Price. Consequently, all other cognitive functions such as learning, problem solving, or creative thinking stop, (Hammond, 2015) activating our fight, flight, or freeze response. Get the latest education news delivered to your inbox daily. White Supremacy Culture. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me for anything (harrisc@sfusd.edu). In the outside world, TM has been criticised for the price-tag it comes with; the programme at Visitacion Valley costs $280,000 (185,128) a year - paid for mainly through private donations to CWAE. This work has gotten co-opted and watered down, leading to many people talking the talk, without much walk. 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. 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. You can listen to Mr. Dierke speak at a conference in Los Angeles in December 2011 about his school districts research on the effect the Quiet Time/TM program has had on his students and teachers since it became part of their school five years ago. This requires dismantling White Supremacy Culture and building a new foundation for an anti-racist and empowering education. 3rd Street Youth Center & Clinic Government Administration SAN FRANCISCO, California Known nationally for its innovative programs, teachers and students use technology, cross-curricular writing programs, and project- and standards-based instruction throughout the year. 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. The social-emotional learning of students in grades 4-12 is also assessed. The second controlled study, authored by WestEd, an independent evaluator, found that after seven months of the Quiet Time Program, ninth grade A pioneering programme has reduced stress and improved grades at Visitacion Valley middle school with lessons other schools can learn from. This might include wanting to win an argument, not making space for others to talk, and rushing through meetings. In addition, we might see curricula that affirms and engages students of color and assessment practices that dismantle racial bias in standardized testing. The trouble is we don't even see it. We work hard to create a positive school climate where students are recognized for their growth. 2. 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. Lastly, this work connected well with our concurrent work of racial affinity groups, social-justice teaching, and revising our school mission statement. It's important to note that these responses work to maintain current consciousness and white supremacy. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me for anything (. Other schools have taken a few minutes off lunch and tutorials. 1971 Visitacion Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94134. In between, she spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English in Cape Verde, West Africa. NBC News Cynthia McFadden, Tim Sandler and. My partner and I recently moved from San Francisco to the East Bay, and we are preparing to welcome our first child this summer! 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. MLS # 423724059 and our Visitacion Valley Middle School Spark Program site. "He's like our own American Idol," Garcia said. I look forward to our partnership this upcoming school year and collaborating with all of you to support our brilliant students. School communities gather twice a year to review data and previous actions in order to intentionally plan for the coming months. The student population of Visitacion Valley Middle is 358 and the school serves. The entire schoolfaculty, staff, and studentsspend the first and last 15 minutes of every day in silence. 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. School: Visitacion Valley Middle: District: San Francisco Unified (District Profile) County: San Francisco: Address: 1971 Visitacion Ave. San Francisco 94134-2700: Phone (415) 469-4590: Web site* CDS Code: 38 68478 6059919: School Type: Intermediate/Middle Schools (Public) Charter School: No: Principal/Administrator: Courtney Harris, Principal . I value growth because I am constantly reviewing data, asking how we can be better for our students. In order to build this ideal structure, we must start at the base and engineer for equity. 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. And our teacher turnover and absenteeism is almost zero.. A restless din filled the large room. And a 2015 review of the program, issued by the Center for Wellness and Achievement in It helps me not be so tired during school, she 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. Together, educators are doing the reimagining and reinvention work necessary to make true educational equity possible. Yes, it is exhibited by leaders at all levels, including me. The programme, introduced to all ages, sees students sit for 15 minutes of meditation twice a day. I saw this personally at VVMS, as situations got awkward, uncomfortable, and uncertain. 379 Winding Way, San Francisco, CA 94112 is a single family home listed for sale at $1,280,000. This is a 4-bed, 3-bath, 1,597 sqft property. SOLD JUN 13, 2022. This is true for our staff as well, contributing to racial fatigue and staff sustainability for IBPOC. White Supremacy Culture. $93. This requires dismantling White Supremacy Culture and building a new foundation for an anti-racist and empowering education. Although controlled studies are difficult to perform in an academic setting, collectively the results of the Bay Area studies are encouraging. This home last sold for $840,000 on Feb 2, 2021. This coming year, we are looking at how to build more community in the classroom, how to unify our students across cultural differences, and how to reduce bias in our discipline systems. Therefore, unexamined behaviors of White Supremacy Culture are preventing students from being comfortable or supported enough to learn and flourish. There he is leading with a vision of Love, Literacy, and Liberation. Now that the shock of reading these words has worn off, let's explore what it is and why we need to dedicate more time to exploring its dehumanizing effect in our schools. 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 In recent years however, Principal Dierke and a growing number of other educators have found a way to break the predictive power of demographics. Ive found that it makes peoplestudents and teachersmore joyful, Dierke said, To have that time to reflect and be still is important.. I also enjoy cooking (and eating) good food with family and friends. But Quiet Time took years to develop. Mortgage insurance $0. In their schools, the Quiet Time/Transcendental Meditation program is playing a key role in that breakthrough. 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. For students of color, characteristics of White Supremacy Culture similar to microaggressions hijack the amygdala. 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, Join us at this years SFUSD Virtual Enrollment Fair for Middle and High Schools, October 24-27, 2022! 2023 San Francisco Unified School District, I look forward to our partnership this upcoming school year and collaborating with all of you to support our brilliant students. 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. Report an absence. Those selecting Dierke for the honor noted how a gunman entered the school, threatening teachers and students in 2004. That is not always possible for his schools students, Dierke said. All rights reserved. In the first year of Quiet Time meditation, suspensions at Visitacion Valley were reduced by 45%. 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. Theres an explosion of mental health problems among young people and its going to be incredibly expensive to treat in the future. students who meditated showed a significant decrease in anxiety and a significant increase in resilience compared to nonmeditating students. The teacher has also seen dramatic transformations in his students. Before becoming the Assistant Principal at VVMS, I served as an Assistant Principal at two different elementary schools in Richmond, CA. Public, 6-8 Serves this home. This leads to resistance or failure to follow through, maintaining a status quo of disproportionate outcomes for students based on race. Prompts for reading a White Supremacy Culture article (Courtesy of Joe Truss). 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). Anther example might be superficially speeding through content or discouraging interruptions for questions. Annual math and English scores improved in the students who meditated, while they declined in those who didnt meditate. In addition, meditating students reported sleeping better as well as higher 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 Yordy teaches world history, civics, and freshman seminar and volunteers as a program mentor. Over the next three years, Visitacion Valleys suspensions dropped by 79 percent, attendance rose to 98 percent, 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. 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 . For instance, we might see folks making eye contact, leaning into conversations about racial identity, and asking probing questions. 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.