Vista Academy

Vista Academy, a small school in a quiet leafy corner of East New York, gives teens the tools they need to cope with the daily stress of living in a tough neighborhood. They learn to manage their anger with deep breathing exercises and meditation; set daily goals, and make good decisions.

Teens feel challenged, respected and safe at Vista Academy, according to school surveys, and most teachers say they would recommend the school to other families.   

Founded in 2013 to replace the often-rowdy PS 302, Vista Academy has a quiet and industrious tone. It is located on two floors in a large building with little adornment aside from inspirational posters on bright blue and yellow walls. 

Outside, generous swaths of green—the school’s playground and track and field—provide a buffer against the bustle of Atlantic and Liberty Avenues with their storefront churches, auto repair shops and cars that drive by with music blaring. 

VA scholars, as students are called, participate in well-organized character-development activities, beginning with a daily, 15-minute, school-wide motivational morning meeting. On one of our visits, a 6th-grade teacher spoke about NBA star Kevin Durant, who said, "Don't stop doing your best just because someone doesn't give you credit," and played the song "Magic" by the band Coldplay.

The school day continues with a DMP (decision-making period) in which kids set goals, check-in with peers, journal and close their eyes and sit in silence for several minutes. In one class, kids were reading an article by Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh. 

A teacher said 6th graders, especially, need time to acclimate to middle school. Teachers pick out those who need additional support for all-male and all-female support groups. As a result of all this preventive work, suspensions are rare, said Principal Bernard Addo, formerly the assistant principal, who took the helm in 2017. 

Many students enter the school with weak skills in math, reading and writing, according to staff, but teachers have been able to bring test scores up despite the fact that many teens are repeatedly absent, and many live in unstable or temporary housing situations. About 30 high-achievers take the high-school level science course (in 2018 the school will have a high school-level math class). A science teacher said kids participate in hands-on labs, such as one in which they design and build simple machines to learn about energy transformations.

While the school gets high marks on its positive culture, the Quality Review cites class discussion as an area that needs more work—and we did notice teachers did most of the talking on our visit. The reviewer wrote that teachers prompt children to speak but that, “students have yet to consistently take ownership of the conversations and respond freely to one another.” One way teachers are addressing this is by holding Socratic Circles, in which teens sit in inner and outer circles, prepare questions, and follow formal rules of discussion.

Vista Academy has an array of academic, athletic and creative after-school programs from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm, including basketball, volleyball, wrestling, karate, dance, glee club, newspaper, music and video club, creative writing, and robotics. Children who scored in the bottom one-third on their tests attend a two-hour intensive tutoring session on Saturdays.

SPECIAL EDUCATION: The school has small classes for children with special needs only, and ICT (integrated-co-teaching) classes, which incorporate students with special needs into general education classes with two teachers. One “self-contained” class did not have windows but there was a ventilation system.

ADMISSIONS: District 19, with priority to children who live in the school attendance zone and attend an open house. (Lydie Raschka, October 2017)