Archive for November 30, 2018

College Course – Intro to Anthropology

Hey Designers,

El Camino College will offer Intro to Anthropology 1 for the Spring 2019 semester as a duel enrollment seminar class. This class will take place at Da Vinci Communications High School on Monday and Wednesday from 3:00pm – 4:25pm. The class will start on Wednesday, February 13, 2019.

The following information was taken from the El Camino College Catalogue:

Anthropology 1
Introduction to Physical Anthropology
3 units; 3 hours lecture
Transfer CSU, UC

This course explores and emphasizes the evolution and biological diversity of the human species and our closest living relative, the non-human primates. Topics include genetics, mechanisms of evolutionary change, human variation, and the reconstruction of human evolutionary history through examination of the fossil record.

If you are interested in taking the class, there is a meeting for students on Tuesday, December 4 during lunch in room 3206 to discuss the details on how to complete the El Camino College online application.

STEP 1 – Complete the online El Camino College Application at www.elcamino.edu/apply

STEP 2 – Complete the Dual Enrollment Application

The student is responsible to submit a print out of their El Camino College acceptance email and the dual enrollment form by WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 12, 2018 @ 3:00PM to Ms. Barba in the counseling office.

Please keep in mind, this class is intended for 12th and 11th grade students; 10th grade students are restricted and will need an approval from the El Camino College Dean to register for the class.

 

Thank you,

 

The Counseling Team

Week 16 Update

Week 16 Bell Schedule

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Next week is the last week of seminars (12/5 and 12/6).

POLs being on Friday 12/14 and run through Thursday 12/20, which is also the last day of the semester.

Teachers will be supplying (or may have already supplied) POL prep materials.

Architecture Pathway College Classes – Parent Info

11th and 12th grade Architecture classes will be offered as dual enrollment classes via El Camino College this spring. Students will have support from an El Camino representative on December 5th and December 6th at Da Vinci Design during class.

The following packets were sent home with students today to prep students for enrollment.  The concurrent enrollment form must be turned in and registration complete by no later than December 14th (this is El Camino College’s deadline).

GRADE 12 PARENT INFO PACKET – ECC ARCHITECTURE

GRADE 11 PARENT INFO PACKET – ECC ARCHITECTURE

9th Graders Participating in the MakerFaire – this Saturday!

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Senior Cap & Gown Portraits

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MATH AND SCIENCE TUTORING AVAILABLE

See flyer regarding tutors and their availability, especially with POLs approaching!

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ACT Test Prep – Winter Break Offering

Da Vinci is once again offering a winter ACT Prep course to its students through PJ Test Prep, a small Test Prep and Tutoring company based in the south bay. The course, open to students from all DV high schools, will be 5 days over winter break from Monday January 7th to Friday January 11th, 2.5 hours per day. Students can sign up for either the AM session (10:00-12:30) or the PM session (1:15-3:45) and are expected to attend the same session for all 5 days. The cost is only $50 per student (partial scholarships are available, so please don’t let the cost stop you from signing up!)

After signing up here, students pay the $50 course fee to their school’s office. Please make checks out to “Da Vinci Schools” and write “Winter ACT Test Prep” on the memo line.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F45AFAF28A64-winter2

Week 15

Welcome back from Thanksgiving break! We hope you all had a restful week and were able to recharge for the last 4 weeks of semester 1.

Congratulations to all of our students on another successful Exhibition evening. We are continually impressed with the commitment to your work and depth of your learning through projects. Thank you to all of the DVD families, friends and community members who attended the event as well. We are so appreciative for your support.

A few reminders for the weeks ahead:

  • December 5th and 6th are the last days of seminar for semester 1
  • December 14-20 are POL days (half day schedule, see below)
  • December 20 is the last day of the semester, no school on 12/21 (this is a staff development day)
  • Bell schedules for the next 4 weeks are below for your preference and planning

POL Schedules

From December 14-20, students attend only half days; they are scheduled in the morning or afternoon group and will receive this information from their grade-level teachers. We will be sending out more detailed correspondence regarding the schedule for those days soon.

Have a great week!

 

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Da Vinci Designers Explore Their Personal Passions Through Digital Media Projects

Da Vinci Design seniors are cultivating their personal interests and passions into a marketable brand for their first semester exhibition project, Innovating Success.

The questions driving this real-world project are “What am I passionate about and how can I use media to share my passions with others?”

Our Designers have a wide variety of personal interests and passions, ranging from animation to car design to Latinx culture and teaching. Students are interviewing outside experts in the their field of interest, taking photos and video for inspiration, and creating final digital media deliverables such as a blog, podcast, or vlog that can be shared across multiple social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. > READ MORE 

You can see this project, and those from other grade levels at Exhibition this Wednesday!

Week 14 Update – Exhibition Week

Exhibition Night is this Wednesday, 11/14 from 6:00-8:00 pm. We look forward to seeing family, friends and community members at the event where our students will be displaying their projects from first semester.

*No School Monday 11/12 (observation of Veteran’s Day holiday)

*Minimum Day Friday 11/16, 9:00-1:30 pm

Week 14 Bell Schedule

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Being Good Neighbors: Reminders regarding Drop Off and Pick Up

We have been notified by businesses in the area that some of our students and families have not been good neighbors.

Several students have been trespassing on private property (ignoring posted signs) at the Elevon complex north of Da Vinci Schools on Douglas Street.  This has been a recurrent problem since late last school year, and the business owners are within their rights to call for El Segundo law enforcement the next time they see students trespassing on private property.  Please respect our neighbors in the community and conduct yourselves accordingly:  if certain behaviors are inappropriate on campus, they are also inappropriate off-campus at neighboring businesses.

In addition, surrounding businesses have notified us that some families are using their parking lots for drop off and pick up of students.  Please do NOT use any parking lot or street location for dropping off or picking up your students other than the Da Vinci parking lot.  This also applies to students using ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft.

We thank those of our students and families who have been respectful of our neighbors; we expect all our students and families to behave appropriately in our community, as we all represent Da Vinci Schools.

Da Vinci Design Monthly Newsletters

Design Families,

At each of the links provided below, you will find Newsletters from each grade level with information regarding the month ahead! We encourage you to take a few minutes to review and discuss with your student at home.

9th Grade Newsletter

10th Grade Newsletter

11th Grade Newsletter

12th Grade Newsletter

If you have not already, please take a few minutes to fill out the DVD Parent Survey.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/dvdparent2018

Thank you,

Ms. Parsons

Transition in Staffing at Da Vinci Design

Design Families,

I am writing today to share about a transition in staffing at Da Vinci Design.

Our Assistant Principal, Ms. Megan Martin, will be taking on a new role at the Da Vinci Schools, Interim Director of the Da Vinci Institute, in January 2019. Da Vinci Institute was recently launched to meet the growing demand from educators around the globe who are interested in gaining access to Da Vinci signature practices, resources, and training. Please join us in celebrating her!

Due to the interim nature of the position, Ms. Martin may rejoin us at Da Vinci Design in the 2019-20 school year, and we will keep you informed when we have more information later this spring. In the meantime, an Interim Assistant Principal will be filling her role for the second semester. I am honored to share that Mr. Russell Stoll will take on this role, effective January 2019.

Mr. Russell Stoll is our English 12 teacher at DVD. He has been our school’s student leadership advisor for many years as well as the Alumni Mentor, providing support for DVD graduates. Mr. Stoll has 7 years of experience as a teacher at Da Vinci Design, has led numerous teacher professional development sessions, was part of the Administrator Support Team during the 2017-2018 school year, and has been part of the Da Vinci Design School Site Council for the past 4 years.

We are actively working to fill Mr. Stoll’s English 12 position with the goal of a new full time English teacher starting with our students second semester.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.I can be reached at kparsons@davincischools.org.  We are confident in our team and are thoughtfully planning what we expect to be a seamless transition.

Kate Parsons

Principal

Da Vinci Design