Home | Center for Wellness and Achievement in Education San Francisco Schools Transformed by the Power of Meditation NBC News Silence isnt something people usually associate with middle school but twice a day the halls of Visitacion Valley School in San Francisco fall quiet as the sixth seventh and eighth grade students meditate for fifteen minutes. And school administrators tell NBC News that the violence outside of the school which is situated in one of San Franciscos poorest neighborhoods was spilling into the school and affecting the students demeanor. The kids see guns on a daily basis the schools athletic director Barry ODriscoll said adding there would be fights here threetofive times a week. Read More With a typical schools days filled with mayhem ODriscoll was skeptical when the San Francisco Public School District partnered with the Center for Wellness and Achievement in Education to introduce a meditation program called Quiet Time to four of its schools including Visitacion Valley.