The past few years have reminded us to be flexible, innovative, and thoughtful as we consider our scholars’ futures. In spring of 2021 we planned for a large daily schedule change to accommodate responsive scheduling focused on student academic support during the school day (Raider Time) and weekly staff professional learning (Collaborative Time). These changes…
Within any school there is a distribution of opportunity and privilege. The currency is who gets what they need first. The building schedule is largest system within this culture. Often this schedule is called the ‘master’ schedule. A simple way to build a more antiracist school is to decolonize the name by removing the word…
In through the out door
Growing up near Paisley Park, the kids I grew up with all had a unique familiarity with Prince. Everyone in my hometown has stories to tell about their connection to the artist formerly known as Prince. Myself included. Despite this, I never really listened to Prince’s lyrics the way I have…
Equality
by Dr. Maya Angelou
You declare you see me dimly
through a glass which will not shine,
though I stand before you boldly,
trim in rank and marking time.
You do own to hear me faintly
as a whisper out of range,
while my drums beat out the message
and the rhythms never change.
Equality, and…
Valley View Middle School is proud to celebrate the International Day of Pink today! It is wonderful to see all the students and staff wearing pink, talking about diversity and anti-bullying.
From the DayofPink website: www.dayofpink.org
DayofPink is the…
I have worked in high-poverty, diverse schools my entire career. While in High School, I enjoyed tutoring elementary students in south Minneapolis at Hoops and Homework which grew into a job with Educational Talent Search during college at Humboldt Junior/Senior High School. I was fortunate to student teach at Como Park High School in Saint…
Words are powerful. One of my first blog posts was about the r-word and its impact on my life. I urge you to go to www.r-word.org today and spread the word to…
At Valley View this year our PBIS team has promoted monthly staff challenges to connect with our students called the Impact Challenge. The goal is to impact students lives by doing simple yet powerful actions to show them that we care.
In August we wrote post-cards to each student in the building welcoming them to a…
