New Vista High School

New Vista High School was created in 1992 and approved by the Boulder Valley Board of Education to “break the mold” of conventional secondary school practice and to offer students another option for the high school experience. Kirk Quitter school principal Ivette Visbal dean of students Above Diane Jensen and Aimee Dana school counselors and Beyond CONTACT US: phone 720.561.8700 fax 720-561-8701 nvh.bvsd.org 700 20TH STREET BOULDER COLORADO 80302 Why New Vista? New Vista High School complex and demanding soci- lect a post-graduation path for was created in 1992 and ety. We are structured to work which they prepare themselves with students who are ready during the last part of their approved by the Boulder to take more responsibility for high school career. In the case Valley Board of Educa- their own learning. Students at of college-bound students, Indi- Where our tion to “break the mold” of New Vista choose their classes vidual Path is usually connected students are conventional secondary and the order in which they will to meeting college entrance re- GOING school practice and to of- meet Common Learning and In- quirements. Finally, each student college/university accepetances dividual Path requirements. They designs and produces a rigorous fer students another option Adams State, Adelphi, American Acad- choose projects within each class Culminating Project which builds emy of Dramatic Arts, American Univer- for the high school experi- that match their interests to the a bridge between high school sity, Antioch, Arizona State, Art Institute of subject matter at hand. They also studies and the student’s chosen Boston at Lesley, Art Institute of Chicago, ence. New Vista serves a broad Bard, Barnard, Bates, Bay State, Beloit, Ben- spectrum of students with the choose learning experiences future. Students work with an nington, Berklee College of Music, Boston intent of helping them develop in the community which allow advisor throughout this process University, Bowdoin, Brandeis, Brown, them to explore current interests to develop an understanding of Bryn Mawr, Bucknell, California Institute their unique talents and interests of the Arts, Cal Poly at Pomona, California and prepare them to become and future options. As juniors at how their choices shape their State-, Chico, Humboldt, Carleton, Carne- fully engaged citizens within our New Vista, students formally se- learning experiences and their gie-Mellon, Clark University, Coe College, future opportunities. Colby, College of the Atlantic, College of St. Catherine, College of Santa Fe, Colo- rado College, Colorado Mountain College, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University, Columbia College Chicago, Co- The Nitty Gritty lumbia University, Connecticut College, Cornell College, Cornell University, Cor- nish, Dartmouth, De Pauw, Drake, Earlham, Eckerd College, Emerson College, Eugene Calendar/Schedule: New Vista operates Lang, Evergreen State, Fort Lewis, Franklin, on a quarter system and uses block classes. The Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, year-long schedule includes a week of commu- Front Range Community College, George Washington, Goucher, Grinnell, Guilford, nity service activities each year. Hamilton, Hampshire, Hastings, Haverford, Hofstra University, Indiana University of PA, Ithaca, Juaniata, Kalamazoo, Kansas Advisory: Every student at New Vista is in a City Art Institute, Kenyon, Knox, Laguna multi-age advisory led by a staff member. Ad- College of Art and Design, Lewis and Clark, MIT, Marbella Design Academy Spain, Ma- visory serves as the primary source of guidance calaster, Marlboro, Maryland Institute Col- and support for each student from the time he/ lege of Art, Mesa State, Metropolitan State she enters the school until graduation, as well University of Denver, McGill, Miami of Ohio, Middlebury, Mills, Minneapolis College as where we explicitly teach cultural compe- of Art and Design, Montana State, Moore tency skills. College of Art and Design, Mount Holyoke, Muhlenberg College, Naropa University, New Mexico Highlands University, New Grading and Class Rank at New Vista: York University, NYU–Gallatin and Tisch, NorthEastern Junior College, Northeastern Course work only counts toward the school’s University, Northern Arizona University, Common Learning requirements when stu- Enrollment and Demographics Ouachita Baptist, Oberlin, Occidental, Ohio dents earn a grade of A or B. A limited number State University, Oregon State, Oregon Student body.......................................... 312 College of Arts and Crafts, Otis College of C grades can be applied to the student’s In- Students of color.................................... 25% of Art & Design, Pacific Lutheran, Pacific dividual Path. Work of lower quality is not given Northwest College of Art, Pacific Univer- any credit. sity, Parsons School of Design, Pikes Peak Average class size: 25 CC, Pitzer, Pomona, Portland State Uni- versity, Pratt Institute, Prescott, Redlands, Students receive letter grades and have their Teachers Reed College, Renssalaer Polytechnic In- Grade Point Average calculated using the four- stitute, Quest University Canada, Rhode Licensed Faculty........................................22 Island School of Design, Rocky Mountain point system. We do not, however, generate a Adjunct Faculty.......................................... 4 College of Art & Design, Roger Williams class ranking. It is our view that ranking stu- University, Rutgers, St. Olaf, San Francisco dents interferes with our commitment to each Art Institute, Santa Barbara City College, Accreditation: State of Colorado Sarah Lawrence, Savannah College of Art student as a unique learner. & Design, Scripps, School of the Art Insti- SAT Composite: 2019: 1056 tute of Chicago, Seattle University, Simon Fraser, Skidmore, Smith, Soka University Community Experience: Community Ex- of America, Southern Oregon University, perience is a four-hour block of time built into New Vista Meets all State Expectations for Academic Spelman, Stanford, State University of New Achievement and Exceeds State Standards for Post York at Purchase, Sterling, Stevens, Ste- the weekly schedule. Students are expected to vens Institute of Technology, Syracuse, The find a placement in the community that allows Secondary and Workforce Readiness New School, Temple, Tiffin, Trinity Western, them to explore out-of-school learning experi- Tufts, U.C. Berkeley, U.C. Davis, U.C. Santa Cruz, University of Arizona, University of ences which are of interest to them. Communi- Colorado at Boulder, Denver, and Colorado ty Experience can take on many forms: service, Graduation requirements in Learning Units* Springs, University of Denver, University of shadowing, internship, class work in another Hawaii, University of Illinois (Champaign- Urbana and Chicago), University of Iowa, Common Learnings............28 institution, independent study, and apprentice- University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Univer- ship. Individual Path.....................20 sity of Mass. (Amherst), University of North Applied Technology...........2 Carolina-Asheville and Greensboro, Uni- versity of North Carolina School of the Arts, Arts...........................................2 University of Northern Arizona, University Independent Study Contracts: World Language..................2 of Northern Colorado, University of Ore- New Vista students can earn credit for off-cam- Interpersonal Skills.............3 gon, University of Puget Sound, University of San Francisco, University of Southern pus learning experiences outside the school Intrapersonal Skills.............3 Maine, University of Southern Oregon, day and year that are supervised and evaluated Language Arts......................4 University of Texas at Austin, University of by qualified community experts. Examples in- Mathematics.........................4 Utah, University of Vermont, University of Victoria, University of Washington, Univer- clude team sports, fitness programs, language Science....................................4 sity of Wisconsin, University of Wyoming, study, music or other private lessons, etc. A Social Studies........................4 Vassar, Wagner College, Warren Wilson, staff person works with each student to identify Culminating Project............2 Wellesley, Wesleyan, Western Washington University, Wheaton, Whitman, Whittier, learning goals, devise assessments, and insure TOTAL....................50 Whitworth University, William and Mary, follow-through on commitments. Williams, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, * 1 Learning Unit = .5 Carnegie Units York University.

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