Dash’s Viewpoint
Dash, 13, first month at Diablo Valley School
How old are you?
D: Thirteen.
How long have you been attending DVS?
D: About a month.
What do you like doing at DVS?
D: I like hanging out with my friends. I like going out to eat. I like biking, which is nice because I didn’t used to be able to do that.
Have there been any changes in what you like to do here?
D: I started getting off the computer a bit more and hanging out with my friends more, which is nice. I’ve been interacting with people more.
How do you decide what to do when you come each day?
D: I just kind of go with the flow, see what my friends are doing, and I’ll decide what I want to do.
How do you get the resources you need?
D: If we don’t have them here, I usually ask, and they’re very good about getting them, which is good because at my old school if they don’t have them they just really don’t want to get them.
What are you most proud of that you’ve done here?
D: I’m proud to be a certifier for the Playstation and soon hopefully to be for the Xbox, because I’m very good at those.
What do you have to do to qualify to be a certifier?
D: You have to be fair. You can’t just ban people if you don’t like them. If they did something bad, you have to judge how long their punishment should be, like it can’t be forever. You have to be very decisive, I guess you could say.
What are your best skills or talents?
D: I would like to think drawing and gaming.
Is there anything you are working on improving?
D: I want to make video games. I’ve already made one, a little bit. It’s what I want to do when I grow up. I’m thinking about taking classes here for that.
Is there a class here on that subject?
D: No, but I’ve been told that at this school if you want to learn something you just have to ask and they will try to help you.
Have the staff members helped you in any way?
D: Yes, a lot. For example, when I was new here, I did not have any idea how to do the chores and how to write down the chore points. And they helped me with the Judicial Committee, because I did not have any idea what was going on with the voting.
What do you think about how decisions are made in the Judicial Committee?
D: I think it’s cool, because at my old school, the teachers would decide what your punishment was, and, kind of, what your motivation was, too. Here the kids get to decide. I think that’s cool because the kids know what’s fair for people of that age, because they’ve been there recently.
How do people get along with each other here?
D: I think they get along very well actually. I think it’s because it’s a small group of people. When it’s a big school, people start to tend to separate so you have thirteen year old boys over here and fifteen year old girls over here. With this school because it’s small, even the big kids interact with the little kids. It’s a nice community.
How does DVS compare to other schools you have attended?
D: I think DVS is more trusting with the whole off-campus thing, because they are saying basically we can trust these kids to go off campus alone and not to do anything stupid.
What would you advise another kid who was thinking about coming to DVS?
D: I would tell them definitely come here. It’s a great choice. In my opinion it’s one of the best schools I’ve ever been to.