Stories from IVA High

At IVA High, community lives in the hallways, in the classrooms, and in the students who show up every day ready to grow. 12th-grade student, Giovanni Ayala, embodies that spirit. 

A two-year member of the IVA High family, Giovanni has taken on the challenge of becoming a stronger version of himself, and his journey reflects exactly what we celebrate here. His story is a reminder of what makes IVA High such a special place to learn.

A Transfer That Changed Everything

Before IVA, Giovanni attended a large high school where he struggled to find his footing academically and socially. His close-knit family noticed. His sister, now a 10th grader at IVA, was the one who first told him about the school. His mother recommended IVA, hoping a smaller, more caring environment might turn things around.

Giovanni himself was hesitant, unsure which direction to take or whether a new school would make any real difference. IVA was small. That felt different. It also looked welcoming, which helped. But stepping into a new environment at mid-high school takes courage, and the road wasn’t immediately smooth. He faced real challenges in that first year, ones that tested his resolve and pushed him to a crossroads. What met him there surprised him.

The staff showed up in ways he hadn’t experienced before. So did counselors, peers, his own family and the broader IVA community. Slowly, Giovanni began showing up for himself. “The staff seemed very accepting,” he says. “The way they take their time with students and help them for the better.”

One moment stands out from that turning point. During a “Make It Right,” our approach to restorative practice where students take accountability and work to repair harm in the community, something clicked. “It made me realize I had to be a better person,” he says. That kind of clarity, honest and unadorned, reflects exactly the growth we work to nurture in every student.

Challenges That Led to Change

Those challenges didn’t disappear after transferring. The bad influences and habits he’d carried from his former school were still pulling at his decisions, and eventually those outside pressures caught up with him in a serious way. “My first year there I was still a troubled kid doing what I wanted to do,” he reflects. He faced a personal crisis that shook him to his core.

After some time away from school, he returned and the IVA community was waiting. He talked to the staff. He processed what had happened. “It helped me mentally and changed my perspective on life and decision making,” he says. That support, patient and personal, finally broke through.

Community Made It Possible

His family, long anchored in values of connectedness and support, had been there through all of it. That foundation, combined with the relationships Giovanni built at IVA, gave him the resilience to keep going. He credits IVA with helping him leave those habits behind, and he now has his sights set on his future.

Ask Giovanni about his favorite memory and he points to the block party last school year, a celebration of community that captures the spirit of what IVA High is all about. That spirit shows up in a lot of ways, including the school’s cheer team (founded by Giovanni’s own sister!).

Giovanni also wanted to celebrate the community directly. “I’m truly grateful for IVA and the community it is,” he says. “I want to be a good influence to others and do better for my education.”

At a school built around intellectual virtues like curiosity, humility, and courage, that kind of intentional care sits at the heart of everything we do. For Giovanni, it made all the difference.

Nia Berry-McMillan’s path to IVA started with a Google search. She and her mother were looking for a smaller school after years at larger campuses where students’ safety, mental and physical, was never a given. Her older brother had attended a charter school during middle school, so the model felt familiar to her. 

Still, Nia needed to see it for herself. A staff member gave her a tour, and what she heard was consistent: IVA put students first. That was enough. She enrolled, and the school was just what she had been looking for.

The Day the Room Came Alive 

Ask Nia about a moment that changed her, and she points to an afternoon in English class during her junior year. The class was working through Jane Eyre, and what started as a Socratic seminar turned into something else entirely. “The conversation was never-ending,” she says. “For the first time, I saw the excellence in my peers far beyond what I knew of their personality.” That kind of moment, students pushing each other’s thinking in real time, sits at the heart of what IVA works to build every day. For Nia, it reframed what she understood about the people around her.

What Comes Next 

Nia’s junior year left a mark. She reflects on it as an experience she never took for granted, and one she felt emotional about when it ended. One moment stands out in particular: a Socratic seminar in English class where her peers were discussing a chapter from Jane Eyre. The conversation kept going, and Nia saw something she hadn’t expected. “For the first time I saw the excellence in my peers far beyond what I knew of their personality,” she says. That kind of discovery — of the people sitting right beside you — is exactly what we at IVA High hope to make possible. She carries all of it with her now as she heads into her senior year.

Alumni Makayla Shields embodies the IVA High spirit. A four-year IVA student who has stayed connected to the school for eight years running, Makayla arrived as a shy freshman and left with the courage to give her graduation speech, earn acceptance to six colleges, and set her sights on a career in public health. Her story is a reminder of what makes IVA High such a special place to learn.

One School Tour Was All It Took

Makayla had just moved back to Long Beach from Arizona when she first heard about IVA High through a connection in her foster family. She was shy, navigating a new chapter, and looking for a school that wouldn’t overwhelm her. A friend of her foster mom already had a son enrolled, and the recommendation was enough to get her through the door for a tour. 

IVA High was still in its early days, barely finished interior walls and all, but Makayla saw something in it. “It felt like it had a lot of room to grow,” she says, “and I knew I had a lot of room to grow myself.” The match felt right. She enrolled, and our young school became home.

A Counselor Who Changed Everything

Ask Makayla what made IVA High different, and she doesn’t hesitate! A school counselor named Makenna changed her life. At a point when Makayla struggled to trust adults, Makenna became the person she confided in. “She kept me on track,” Makayla says. “She reminded me my past doesn’t define my future and I’m capable of doing whatever I put my mind to.” 

That relationship stuck. Now watching her younger sibling navigate high school, Makayla understands how rare it is to find someone like that in a school building. “Knowing I had Makenna be my person at that time makes me feel so lucky.” IVA’s counselors and teachers invest in students. For Makayla, that investment paid off in ways she’s still counting.

The Speech She Almost Didn’t Give

The biggest test of courage came at graduation, when we asked Makayla to deliver the Triton speech in front of her entire class and their families. She almost said no. “I remember asking if they were sure they wanted me to give the speech,” she says, “not because I didn’t want to, but because I was scared.” Mr. Schmidt reminded her that nobody else could speak to our community the way she could.

She took the mic. She never looked back. “That was not the first time I had to use courage, and it wasn’t the last,” she reflects, “but it was the first time I realized just how capable I was once I put fear aside.” That kind of clarity, honest and hard-won, reflects exactly the growth we work to nurture in every student.

A Community Who Made It Possible

Family, staff, and peers gave Makayla the resilience to push toward her future with confidence. With guidance from Makenna and Mr. Schmidt throughout the college application process, she earned acceptance to six of the eight schools she applied to and chose UC Santa Cruz. She graduated with a degree in Global Community Health and a minor in Legal Studies, and three Master of Public Health programs have already accepted her.

“IVA and the staff members shaped me into a more confident and outspoken person,” she says. “I came to this school as a freshman scared of my voice and my world, but I left stronger.”

When Jade Jaramillo joined IVA High in 2019, she was looking for a place where she felt she belonged. The Class of 2022 graduate left high school with friendships that refused to fade, values that became instinct, and a clear path into a career in healthcare.

Jade first learned about IVA High when a counselor visited her previous school and talked about what IVA High offered. What sealed the deal for Jade and her parents was simple: “We liked the idea of a small community, how teachers and students all had a connection.” 

A school where teachers and students actually knew each other was exactly what she was looking for. Jade enrolled in 2019, and IVA High felt like home almost immediately.

The intellectual virtues aren’t just classroom concepts. For Jade, humility and open-mindedness became tools she reaches for without thinking. “I use a lot of the virtues to this day,” she says. “Humility and open-mindedness helped me overcome obstacles navigating life after high school.” Those aren’t easy years for anyone. Jade leaned on what IVA High built in her, and it held. And the more time passes, the more natural it feels. “I mindlessly think of the virtues whenever I’m stuck on something in my life,” she adds.

Ask Jade about her time at IVA High, and she always comes back to the people. Not a single class or a single moment, but four years of relationships that added up to something lasting. “Even if now we barely talk, they became a part of my life chapter forever,” she says. The friendships students build at IVA High tend to last forever. 

What Comes After IVA High?

Jade is working toward her associate’s degree in biological sciences and plans to apply to nursing programs this summer. She is also completing her phlebotomist license, building her credentials from the ground up with the same tenacity she practiced in high school. The AXS College and Career Pathways program at IVA High prepares students for exactly this kind of focused, purposeful next step.

Jade graduated from IVA High with a way of thinking that follows her into every hard moment and every new chapter. That’s the kind of people we build: students who know how to keep going.