New Vista High School

New Vista High School
Location
Boulder, Colorado, United States
Information
Type	Public high school
Established	1993
Principal	Kirk Quitter
Assistant Principal	Ivette Visbal
Faculty	48
Grades	9–12
Number of students	300-350
Color(s)	Black and Teal
Athletics	Ultimate Frisbee, Basketball, Volleyball, Dodgeball Vs. Boulder Police.
Mascot	Phoenix, Australian Shepherd
Founded by	Rona Wilensky
Website	New Vista High School

New Vista is a small, innovative high school located on the corner of 20th and Baseline in Boulder, Colorado. Founded by Rona Wilensky in the fall of 1993, the school's one intention was to break away from the practice of a conventional secondary school. To do this they set out with three goals: 1.)To educate students in the conventional academic subjects 2.) To help each and every student identify and pursue interests at which he or she is genuinely motivated to achieve in and 3.) To prepare students for the demands of citizenship in a community. New Vista High School has many high expectations, including seeing students live up to their own potential. The Colorado Department of Education's School Accountability report has consistently rated New Vista high school has a "high" performing school.

Academics

NVHS runs on a quarter system; every nine weeks the schedule changes. There are no Advanced Placement classes, IB Program, or weighted grades. Anything below a B- (80%) is a failing grade. Students cannot count a "C" for a Common Learning credits, although it can be counted toward college if the student is a stage one (pre-Culminating Project proposal student). Class subjects are varied, allowing students to learn about things that interest them. New Vista is within close proximity to the University of Colorado and both of the major high schools in Boulder, so students have the option to take classes there that NVHS doesn't offer. New Vista tries to keep its class sizes under 25, but many classes are smaller than that. Usually, those students are of mixed grade levels. New Vista has its own graduation requirements, separate from those required by post-secondary schools, although New Vista fully supports the earning of those credits, many of them overlapping with New Vista's own graduation requirements.

New Vista Works on a different credit system, but transfer students are still accepted and encouraged to join the community. New Vista Credits work differently in the way that two NV Credits are equal to one year, or one MAPS (minimum academic preparation standards) Credit that are required to attend most four year universities. An example of MAPS requirements can be found on the CU-Boulder Admissions Site.

Culminating projects

In order to graduate from New Vista, every student must complete a Culminating Project. Culminating Projects are self-created projects seniors must complete using all original work; seniors must spend at least 120 hours on this project.

Block schedule

Most students take a total of three to five classes a quarter: First Period, AM block, Seminar, and PM block, or two one hour long PM classes—along with advisory. AM and PM blocks are worth one credit; Seminar classes and PM One-Hour classes are worth half a credit. First periods lasting a quarter are optional and offer a chance to catch up or get ahead on credit and are also worth half a credit, whereas first period lasting a trimester start a bit earlier and are worth 1 credit.

Advisory

Every student at New Vista is assigned to a mixed-grade advisory class, which they attend all four years of their career at New Vista, supporting each student from enrollment through graduation. Advisors help students stay on track with academics, scheduling and general support.

Community gatherings

Community Gatherings are a weekly, mandatory opportunity for students and teachers to gather as a whole and announce recent/upcoming events such as programs that are being offered in or around New Vista, clubs that may being formed, events such as open mics or live music. It is held from 11:05 to 11:30 on Wednesdays.

Exhibition Day

At the end of each quarter there is a day set aside for the community to come together and present what they have accomplished. This is an Exhibition Day. The entire school and even parents come in and see students present various projects based around what they did during the quarter. These projects are anything from oral reports to theatrical and artistic performances depending on the class a student took that quarter. Presenting on Exhibition Day is optional.

Senior Exhibition Day

Senior Exhibition day follows the same pattern and schedule as a regular exhibition day, but instead of taking place after each quarter it takes place once near the end of the school year. Also--unlike a regular Exhibition Day--Senior Exhibition Day is meant solely for the senior class to present their culminating projects.

Other learning opportunities

New Vista gives students the chance to explore the community and get credit for their work in out-of-school activities.

Community experience

On Wednesdays, school ends at 11:30 and the students can either do a workshop or a Community Experience (CE). Students go out into the community and ask businesses if they can do an un-paid internship with them for at least a quarter.

Workshops

Some students choose not to participate in Community Experiences but workshops instead. Workshops are classes taught at New Vista by people who are not necessarily teachers. Workshops can most readily be defined as "Electives" that take place both on and off campus. Workshops take place every Wednesday for two hours after lunch.

Examples of past workshops:

• Cooking
• Trapeze
• Theater Improvisation
• "Natural Highs"
• Radio Production
• Film
• Embroidery
• Karate

Workshops or CEs are necessary to achieve enough credit for graduation, and students must participate in either, unless very special circumstances are presented. Workshops and CEs are considered classes, and students are given time on Wednesdays to participate in them. They cannot be taken at the same time, and are an "either or" choice that a student must make.

Learning Unit Contract (LUC)

All New Vista students are given the opportunity to earn extra credit through structured off-campus learning experiences outside the school day. To do an LUC, a student must create a contract with the school's LUC coordinator, Vanessa Dimiziani-Cascio. The amount of credit received depends on the number of hours spent. Examples of past LUC's include: world languages, volunteer work, classes in the community, camps, peer education, music, sports, community theatre, projects, and other private lessons.

Service Learning

Every year students take a break from the regular school curriculum to go out in the community and give back through service learning. Service learning, although somewhat similar, is separate from quarterly offered workshop classes that students my take in place of a C.E. to fulfill path credit. The offered programs are similar to hands-on workshops, and include community volunteering, as well as self-learning experience.

CAP

The Community Adventure Program is the core educational program of the Cottonwood Institute and is offered through public schools in the Colorado Front Range. CAP is an outdoor adventure class geared toward environment education and understanding. CAP is offered as a class, and at the end of each quarter, students are taken on an outdoor trip. More information on CAP

Extracurricular activities

Students are given the chance to go to other schools, such as The September School to participate in after school activities that they provide. If students are struggling with credit they may take an online class that can count towards common learning credit. Online classes can be set up through the school, but usually cost money.

Other activities offered by New Vista:

• Theater
• Restorative Justice
• Yearbook
• Equity
• Pepquity
• After School Band

Ultimate Frisbee

New Vista's Ultimate Frisbee is open to all students. Although competitive, the sport teaches team work, the spirit of the game, and honesty. New Vista's team has won many awards and commendations in the past, and each year, the team works to build a strong community of honest, hard working, committed students.

Volleyball

New Vista has the only co-ed volleyball team in the state. NVHS plays in the 3A and 5A boys league. The team was resurrected in 2001, after a two year hiatus.

New Vista was the 2007 state champion in 3A.

Earth Task Force

Earth Task Force is an environmental group at New Vista High School. The Earth Task Force has received numerous grants and awards. They were awarded the Green price in public education, a $10,000 Green prize, because of ETF's creativity in greening the school given limited resources, such as a school building built in 1952. They also received an Action team grant, matching funds grant, superintendent's honor roll, green schools campaign grant, and ETF seed money.

Natural Highs

Natural Highs is a program that teaches teens about ways to get "high" naturally, without drugs. On Wednesdays a Natural Highs workshop is offered for credit. In the workshop teens drink Yerba maté in a circle and learn how drugs affect the brain and overall mentality.

Other athletics

Athletics at New Vista are limited, so many students participate in other school's sports teams such as: wrestling, tennis, cross country, track, football, soccer, and swimming teams. If you participate in a Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) sport (which is a sport played at another High School) then you are able to receive 0.4 credits for every season completed. Students may also start a club directed towards a specific sport they are interested in.

Clubs

All clubs at New Vista are formed and organized by students. Students are able to apply for clubs and if enough people are interested in joining, a club will be formed. Some of the clubs include: Robotics, ADDC Dance Crew, The Break Down Dance Crew, Railroad Model Train Society, Manga Club, and many more.

Renovations

The BVSD Bond Program has allowed New Vista to undergo facility renovations in the theatre, the main office, the cafeteria and the study center.

External links

• BVSD
• New Vista High School