As one of seven Yuma Union High School District high schools, Vista High School offers an alternative to students looking for a smaller school with smaller classes.
The school first opened its doors in 1991. Originally, Vista was housed in two buildings by 24th Street, but since 2018, it’s been sitting at the corner of Avenue A and 32nd Street.
Walking inside, Vista’s pretty quiet. That's because the campus is pretty small: it's just two floors in one building.
“We are a school that serves up to 300 students,” said Principal David King. “Our students range everywhere from wanting to graduate early to being a little behind in credits and having to catch back up. Some are just here to have a regular high school experience and graduate on time. Some have other jobs or other commitments and so our flexible scheduling helps them to stay engaged with learning, but then also be able to have that flexibility that they might need.”
Sitting down in his office, King explained that the school operates on a block schedule consisting of just four courses a day. This gives students a little more time to focus on their subjects.
“A typical day for our kid—they've got English, math, science, they might have an elective,” he said.
Currently, Vista offers a few electives:
- Hospitality Management
- Culinary Arts, as a food truck program (VHS is still working on making the food truck a reality)
- Mental and Social Health
- Medical Assisting
- Current Events
Vista’s officially categorized by the Arizona Department of Education as an alternative high school. King explained this means they need to specifically serve students who haven't seen success on other campuses.
“There are a long list of barriers that can get in the way of a kid being successful—whether it's a social emotional struggle, discipline, being a parent themselves or a ward of the state, homelessness, or whatever that may be—there are just a multitude of reasons that a kid may have become credit deficient on their home campus,” he said.
Sometimes students decide Vista is a better fit due to its smaller environment and class sizes.
“I love Kofa—I spent the beginning of my administrative career at Kofa—but it’s 90 acres,” King commented. “So, you know, if you are not a student who feels comfortable in large crowds or navigating a big campus like that, then that can be intimidating, I'm sure, or if you have a physical or mobility issue, you know, that could be intimidating as well.
“... This semester, we have a number of kids that are like, ‘Wait, I can graduate early and start working or start going to college? Let me do that.’”
Although it's previously had other locations, Strategies for Success, the district's alternative to suspension program, is currently housed at Vista.
Students in this program level up through positive behavior to earn privileges and eventually readmission to their home school.
Each student starts at level one. “In level one, they're in that same space for five days while they show that they can kind of navigate the culture and the [Standard Operating Procedures] of the system,” King said. “Then they earn their way upstairs in levels two, three, and four.”
If students can demonstrate they can do a good job in level two for two weeks, they move on to level three. Another successful two weeks in level three means they can move to level four weeks.
“That’s earning daily points, getting feedback from teachers, being productive, following directions, being respectful,” King explained. “Then when they meet those conduct and productivity goals, then they move up in levels.”
Once a student reaches level four, they need to maintain it for the majority of their suspension. If they sustain it for 50% of their suspension time plus one day, they can earn the recommendation to move back to their home campus.
When behavioral issues arise, Vista prioritizes restorative practices while still enforcing consequences.
King shared that he tries his best to make discipline a positive experience for students.
“You know, it shouldn't be a lot of yelling and screaming,” he said. “You made a mistake, right? We're, we're going to learn from this. We're gonna move forward together. And that's really part of the definition of, you know, Vista and Strategies for Success is that our students have encountered something that requires support for them to move forward.
“Day to day discipline’s the same way. You made a bad choice—you had your cellphone out, you had a disagreement, whatever it might be. Okay, how do we move forward?”
Principal King often hears concerns about suspended kids' behaviors, but he explained the campus is pretty quiet.
“I think it's hard to do a lot of the common bad behaviors here because if you're going to go ditch class, where do you go? It's one building,” he said. “It's hard to fight, you know, because there's a lot of adults and there's a lot of supervision and vigilance, so that's pretty rare too. You know, other discipline issues that campuses face, you don't have to deal with vaping and things like that. That's hard to do because it's a small space.
“And in Strategies, they have supervised restroom breaks throughout the period, and so that makes it really hard for the kids that are here for discipline to continue to have the same behaviors because we've got systems in place that make it pretty tough.”
For curious parents, King invites them to come tour the school and speak with the counselor.
“Every high school in our district is amazing,” he said. “I just think that we have an opportunity to do those great things in a little bit smaller, more cohesive environment, and that's meaningful to a lot of kids.”
Reporting for this article is supported by a grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation.
