Archive for May 27, 2020

DVD Senior Awards Ceremony

Greetings DVD seniors and families!

We are so proud of your accomplishments and the DVD staff is excited to celebrate the Class of 2020! Please click here to view the Class of 2020 Senior Awards Night Presentation. We have also included a link to the program here: Senior Awards Night Program that includes timestamps for each award.

The presentation will also be archived in our DVD Class of 2020 site.

Congratulations!

Veronica Rodriguez

Senior awards

Class of 2020 Activities and Website

Hello Class of 2020!

We are looking forward to celebrating your accomplishments in these last few weeks of school. The Senior Committee is hosting a Senior Week, beginning on June 5th and leading up to your Virtual Graduation Ceremony on June 11th. We will be kicking off Senior Week on June 4th by releasing an online “senior edition” yearbook which will be posted on a special website created just for the Class of 2020. Click here for announcements about upcoming events, messages from your teachers, and to take a trip down memory lane with videos and pictures from your time at DVD: DVD Class of 2020

Seniors – please read the message below from the Senior Committee. We need your help to make Senior Week a memorable event for all!

DVD seniors

 

Last Week of Instruction and POL Information

Hello Designers!

The end of the school year is approaching quickly! The last day of instruction is scheduled for this Wednesday, May 27th. We will then transition to POL Preparation Days, with POLs beginning in Week 37. Below are details regarding POLS for each grade level.

9th grade

10th grade

11th grade

12th grade

 

Week 32-38

Enjoy the three-day weekend!

Veronica Rodriguez

Cap and Gown Pick-Up Tomorrow

Greetings Class of 2020,

Tomorrow, May 22nd, DVD seniors may pick up their graduation caps, gowns, tassels, diploma covers, and a yard sign celebrating their graduation.

This will be done in a “drive-through” setup in Lane 4 (lane nearest to Douglas St.) at the following designated times based on students’ last names:

    • Last names A-E  →  8:00am-10:00am
    • Last names F-L   → 10:00am-12:00pm 
    • Last names M-Q  → 12:00pm-2:00pm
    • Last names R-Z   → 2:00pm-4:00pm

For the safety of our students, families, and employees, everyone must stay in their cars and wearing masks for this pickup.

Apply for a Remote Internship this Summer!

PROJECT CONSULTANCY SUMMER INTERNSHIP

Apply for a Remote Internship this Summer!

  • What is it? Students will work with a team of other Da Vinci students and corporate mentors on several real projects aligned to employer and industry needs alongside CoLabL Talent Accelerator. Please review the below documents for more information:
  • How do I apply?  
    • Apply by JUNE 1st at 5pm 
    • Apply online here: https://forms.gle/FcMRTvcFrckMeWYS7 
      • You’ll need:
        • An updated resume, saved in PDF form as “firstname_lastname_resume” 
        • Your cumulative GPA from PowerSchool
        • A maximum one page essay describing why you would like to participate, saved in PDF form as “firstname_lastname_essay”
    • Students will be informed of selection by June 8th at 5pm
  • Dates: The project consultancies will run from July 6th-August 14th.
    • They will be 100% remote
  • Hours: There will be 5-10 hours/week of work.  Students will work on 3 individual projects and 2 team projects during the internship.

Other details:

  • ELIGIBILITY: Open to all grade levels, but students are expected to communicate with industry partners and Natasha independent of parents/guardian.  Students are expected to communicate promptly and professionally via email.
  • SUMMER SCHOOL CREDIT: You will have the opportunity to earn 5 summer school credits for participating. It will reflect on your transcript as “Summer Internship Program”.

Need help with a resume?  

Check out these resources below and feel free to share your resume with Natasha via Google Docs for feedback.

Questions or Concerns?  

Reach out to Natasha Morrison, Dir. of Real World Learning, at nmorrison@davincischools.org

 

Thank you from The Diversity Council – @The Dinner Table responses are here

Over the last 4 weeks the Diversity Council’s @The Dinner Table discussion topics have been well received. We hope you enjoyed having these conversations around your dinner table. The campaign has now ended and we’d like to share some of the responses from our DVD Families. Please click the link here to view our presentation. Slides will change every 30 seconds to hopefully give you enough time to read the responses.

 
Thank you all for your participation!

The Diversity Council

Class of 2020 Virtual Graduation and Senior Activities

Greetings DVD Class of 2020!

CONGRATULATIONS on your upcoming graduation! We appreciate your understanding as we work through the logistics of celebrating our seniors while adhering to LA County and Department of Health guidelines. With the current restrictions, which include a ban on drive-through graduations and parades, we have determined that our best option is to honor our seniors with a virtual graduation ceremony. Please see the information below regarding senior activities and click on the following link for more details: 2020 Senior End-of-Year Information

Date Event Details
May 12 Senior Activities Interest Survey We would like to gauge your interest in various events and invite you to help coordinate events that celebrate the Class of 2020! Click on the following link: Senior Activities Interest Survey and complete this form by Tuesday, May 12th. More information regarding senior virtual events to come.
May 20 Graduation Speaker Applications due Click here for Applications for Design Thinking and Habits of Mind Graduation Speakers. Virtual Interviews will take place from May 27-28.

Seniors: complete this survey to choose a
DVD faculty member to deliver the Graduation Teacher Address.

May 22 Class of 2020 Graduation Cap and Gown Pick-Up DVD seniors may pick up their graduation caps, gowns, tassels, diploma covers, and a yard sign celebrating their graduation. 

This will be done in a “drive-through” setup in Lane 4 (lane nearest to Douglas St.) at the following designated times based on students’ last names:

    • Last names A-E  →  8:00am-10:00am
    • Last names F-L   → 10:00am-12:00pm 
    • Last names M-Q  → 12:00pm-2:00pm
    • Last names R-Z   → 2:00pm-4:00pm
May 27 Senior Awards Night The Senior Awards Night will be streamed on May 27th at 5 pm. We will provide a link on our blog and on the Senior Google Classroom page as we move closer to the event date.
June 11 Virtual Graduation The Virtual Graduation Celebration will be streamed on June 11th @ 11:30 am. We will provide a link on our blog and on the Senior Google Classroom page the week of the event date.
June 12 Diploma Pick-Up and Return of School Equipment Class of 2020 graduated seniors will return their graduation gowns and any other school-owned materials. Once they have returned all items and cleared all balances, they will receive their DVD diploma! 

The DVD Staff team misses all of you and understands how important senior year is. We want to make sure, given the circumstances, we can still celebrate you virtually through some fun events!  

Senior Committee and your teachers are hard at work and will be announcing additional events coming your way. Stay tuned!

Best, 

Veronica Rodriguez

Summer Internship Update

Hello Da Vinci Students and Families,

Thank you for your patience as we’ve been exploring summer internship options in light of Covid-19.  There will still be options for students to gain career training and experience!  Please see below and keep an eye out for application updates/timelines.

Summer Career Development Options:

(Students will receive 5 summer school credits for any of these options)

  • Internship through the LA Chamber of Commerce Bixel Exchange LA Tech Talent Pipeline: Apply for an internship through this incredible program by June 26th.  They have internship positions (paid and unpaid) at companies like Snapchat, Fox Sports West, and Boingo Wireless.  Find out more information HERE.
  • Virtual consulting internship (project consultancy):  Work with a team of other Da Vinci students and corporate mentors on several real projects for real companies. More application details will be released soon.  The project consultancies will run from July 6th-August 14th and be 5-10 hours/week of work.
  • Outside internship: Do you already have an internship secured?  Let Natasha know so she can make sure you earn summer school credit for it!

Other details:

  • ELIGIBILITY:
    • Open to all grade levels, but students are expected to communicate with industry partners and Natasha independently of parents/guardians.  Students are expected to communicate promptly and professionally via email.
    • All students applying for project consultancies or Bixel Exchange internships must have an up-to-date, error-free resume.
    • Application review will include a historical grades review

Questions or Concerns?  Reach out to Natasha Morrison, Director of Real World Learning, at nmorrison@davincischools.org

Student Progress Reports

Dear DVD families,

Student progress reports were mailed home yesterday and should arrive at your home no later than Friday. These progress reports include your child’s current grades in their classes as well as their Powerschool login information you can use to access their grades 24/7.

I also wanted to remind everyone that tomorrow is the deadline for students to request to change to a credit/no credit grading scale for this term. In order to help all of our students and families understand the changes we’ve made to our grading policies for this semester, we have created these videos explaining the changes and the options we are providing to students:

English version: https://youtu.be/GZ4U0TzaiaM

Spanish version: https://youtu.be/3PmlM2XgMHA

The detailed letters previously posted are also linked here:

Virtual Instruction Grading Options (English)

Virtual Instruction Grading Options (Spanish)

If a student would like to switch to the Credit / No Credit grade scale for this semester, please have the student complete this form: Request to Switch to Credit / No Credit Grade Scale

Please feel free to contact our counselors or school administrators if you have any questions or concerns.

Ms. Pam Baker, Counselor, pbaker@davincischools.org

Ms. Rachel Fusco, Counselor, rfusco@davincischools.org

Mr. Russell Stoll, Assistant Principal, rstoll@davincischools.org

Ms. Veronica Rodriguez, Principal, vrodriguez@davincischools.org

Thank you for all you are doing to support your students and our teachers during this time!

Take care,

Veronica

Week 33 Schedule and Announcements

Greetings DVD families!

We hope everyone is doing well this week! As a reminder, we will be starting off our week with Student Outreach Days! On Monday, May 4th, and Tuesday, May 5th, teachers will be contacting students individually. During these two days, there will not be any class meetings. Students can use this time to catch up on assignments.

week 33

We will also be mailing out grade updates early next week, along with information regarding Virtual Grading options for Spring (click here for a video which explains the changes and options we are providing our students – English/Spanish)

If a student would like to switch to the Credit / No Credit grade scale for this semester, please have the student complete this form: Request to Switch to Credit / No Credit Grade Scale. The last day to request a change is May 6th.

Next week, we will be celebrating TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK! Don’t forget to thank your teachers when they reach out next week! Please take a moment to celebrate as many of our fantastic teachers as possible with a short written message of appreciation. Your words of gratitude and encouragement for the Design staff will mean the world to them. Teachers help uplift us every day, and we are grateful to you for taking the time to help lift them up during this special week! Click here to submit messages of appreciation for our DVD staff

Want to do something EXTRA special to show our staff that you care? Make a video! Make a TikTok, recite a poem, or just share your smiling faces addressed to all of your teachers and send it to cnoyola@davincischools.org.

Messages and videos will be collected on Monday, 5/4. Don’t delay – send them in now!

Last but not least, here is a short video from Veronica and Russell for our students.

We miss you and hope you are staying safe.

Take care,

Veronica