For students who missed the photo day, makeup photos are scheduled for the mornings of Thursday, 9/30 and Friday, 10/1. Students will be notified ahead of time which day they will be taking their photo.
To request a make-up picture, please fill out this short Google Form: Students must use their Da Vinci email to fill out this form. DVD Make Up Picture Day Form
Happy Friday! This week, our classrooms were buzzing with great learning as we are fully getting into the swing of the school year. From drafting and peer reviewing personal memoirs, to travelling the world via music in Spanish 2’s “Musica en Español” (see picture below), so much good stuff was happening this week!
Also: Thank you to our students and staff for participating in our critical incident drill this week. We are grateful to our school community and ESPD for these efforts to ensure the safety of our schools.
This week, DVD started hosting virtual College Visits! Seniors: please check the list of upcoming college visits happening in the center quad. Upcoming college visits are also listed below.
Next week is a regular bell schedule week. See the Week 7 DVD Bell Schedule here, and other important upcoming dates.
Week 7 Announcements & Key Dates:
This week’s college visits:
UC Irvine: Wed, 9/29 @ 12:35pm
UC Santa Cruz: Thurs, 9/30 @ 12:35pm
UC Irvine: Fri, 10/1 @ 1:20pm
Student Led Conferences (SLCs): October 11th-October 14th
Schedules and grade level documents coming soon.
PSAT test day (11th Grade): October 13th
Next Professional Day: October 15th
Week 7 Classroom Highlight: “Musica en Español” from Ms. Wood’s Spanish 2
As previously mentioned, Da Vinci Communications, Da Vinci Design, Da Vinci Science, and Da Vinci Connect High School will be conducting a Critical Incident Drill on Thursday, September 23, 2021. This drill is an important part of our continued efforts each year to maintain a safe and secure school environment. The drill will take place at 10:10 a.m. and will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. Teachers have been working with students during Advisory classes to prepare for this drill.
As part of our safety and emergency procedures, Da Vinci Schools has adopted elements of the “Run-Hide-Fight” program designed to provide various options to our students and staff. Our drill will focus on the “HIDE” component which is also referred to as “shelter in place”. Other components will be practiced during our Fire Drills planned for next month. During tomorrow’s drill, students will have a chance to practice the proper response if a critical incident were to occur such as an intruder on campus or any other incident requiring a lockdown of the school. Please help us by reminding students to:
Listen and Follow the instructions of their teacher or staff member in the room at the time of the drill
Stay quiet during the duration of the drill
Silence/turn off their cell phones and stay off their phone during the duration of the drill
Wait for the “All Clear” announcement to indicate the drill has concluded
Our School Resource Officer, Officer Josh Gilberts will be joined by other officers from the El Segundo Police Department, members of the El Segundo Fire Department, and our site administrators in observing the drill and providing feedback on our emergency processes and procedures. Staff and students will also debrief after the drill to provide additional input and recommendations in order to continue to improve our response efforts.
Please keep in mind that in order for our schools to remain informed and responsive, parents/guardians and students are always encouraged to report any concerns or potential threats. If you have any questions regarding this drill or any of our other safety procedures, please reply to this email or contact the administration of your child’s school. Thank you for your continued cooperation and support in maintaining the safety and welfare of our students and staff.
Para obtener este anuncio en español por favor mande un correo electrónico con su solicitud a info@davincischools.org. Gracias!
The California State University, University of California and Association of Independent California College and Universities are partnering together to provide virtual college fairs this October. All UC and CSU campuses, and a majority of independent colleges and universities from the AICCU, will participate.
All events are free, and students are encouraged to attend and explore these colleges and universities!
Students can register by visiting CACollegeFairs.org and creating an account on Visit Days. The fairs for Southern California high schools are scheduled for:
This is a quick announcement to let you all know that we have some virtual college rep visits lined up for you!
Who: Seniors
Please look below for a quick glance at some of the colleges and universities that will be visiting Design virtually and in-person! Majority of visits will be virtual. Students can register for these visits via their Naviance homepage, on the day of the event students will report to the College and Career Readiness Class – Room 4304 at lunch. The visits that are in-person will show when you register on Naviance.
University of Southern California Tue September 21, 2021 @ 12:45 PM
University of California-Santa Cruz Thu September 30, 2021 @ 12:35 PM
Art Center College of Design Tue October 5, 2021 @ 12:45 PM
University of New Mexico Fri October 8, 2021 @ 1:20 PM
Chapman University Fri October 1, 2021 @ 1:20 PM
Pacific Northwest College of Art Thu October 21, 2021 @ 12:35 PM
Emmanuel College Thu October 28, 2021 @ 12:35 PM
All visits will be at lunch.
Virtual College Visits
Students! Please continue to check your Naviance accounts regularly as more colleges and universities will be added to the list as the weeks progress. Some of these visits are as soon as this coming week so don’t forget to sign up!
This week came to an exciting and fun conclusion with our annual Club Fair! Students presented colorful booth displays and got lots of new members to join during this special event in Advisory. Thank you to all of our hard working club leaders for adding space on campus for students connect over their passions, their academic growth, and pride in their cultures and identities.
Next week, parents/guardians can expect to begin receiving automated calls home regarding attendance and absences. If a student is marked absent in any class, automated calls will be going home at two different times of the day in order to update parents/guardians. If you feel that you receive a call in error, please follow up with DVD’s Attendance Manager Irma Rodriguez by calling the DVD front office or sending her an email at irodriguez@davincischools.org .
Next week, we are having a regular bell schedule week. See below.
What an AMAZING first CD today! The signs, the swag, the spirit – some of the greatest in DVD history! A big shout out to Mr. Itow, Ms. Stone, and the Leadership team for bringing so much positive energy to our school this morning. What a fantastic way to end the week!
Next week, our schedule will be a block schedule with the DVD Club Fair happening during a special Thursday afternoon Advisory instead of P8 Seminar. Friday, 9/17 is a professional development day which means that students do not attend school. See here:
Club leaders will be notified on Monday that their clubs are approved and to prepare for the club fair.
Thank you to all of you who attended the Coffee with Admin sessions this week. It was a pleasure to meet some of our awesome parent community, and to get your feedback. If you did not get to attend, you can click here to see the slides shared:
Dear Parents/Guardians and Students of Da Vinci Communications, Design, Science and Connect High Schools:
Earlier this week we became aware of a threat based on postings on social media that warned of a possible shooting at our campus on Wednesday, September 8th. We immediately contacted our School Resource Officers from the El Segundo Police Department (ESPD) who initiated an immediate investigation into the matter, in collaboration with Da Vinci Schools. Thanks in large part to the volume of information received from parents, students, staff, and community members, both DV and ESPD were able to successfully investigate and identify the students involved in the incident. We followed up with communication early Wednesday morning to inform all DVC, DVD, DVS and Connect High families that our schools would be open on Wednesday after having verified that the threat was deemed not to be credible.
Here are a few updates that we would like to share with you based on follow-up questions that we have received from families after the last notification went out:
– School has continued this week safely and without any further interruptions
– ESPD and DV continue to investigate the incident in order to ensure that all the issues that came to our attention this week are fully addressed
– ESPD has continued to provide their assistance as a resource to our schools
– Students at DVC, DVD, and DVS who were present on Wednesday participated in an activity that morning provided by DVC Principal Erin D’Souza that gave the students an opportunity to discuss the incident and address it in a focused and healthy manner. Connect HS students will also have this resource available to them. > School Safety Update
– All Counselors and mental health staff have been made available to students and staff to assist in any way possible to help with any anxiety, stress, and trauma generated by this incident
– Our Critical Incident Drill which was being planned for late September/early October will be moved up to be conducted as soon as possible in collaboration with ESPD and the El Segundo Fire Department
– We will continue to review and improve our critical incident communication and procedures. Thank you to the many people who have submitted suggestions and recommendations.
Lastly, many questions were posed regarding specific information about the students involved. This type of information is referred to as Personally Identifiable Information (PII) as defined in Title 34 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 99.3. and also relates to the type of information that is categorized as a student record. Both at the state level (California Education Code 49061(b), 49076, and Title 5 California Code of Regulations 430 (b)), and the federal level through the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 34 CFR 99.31, student records are protected as confidential records and can only be accessed as provided in law.
Thank you for your support. We will continue to provide updates as needed. Our goal remains to provide the highest level of safety possible for our students and staff.
Be well and be safe,
Vicente Bravo
Chief Administrative Officer
Da Vinci Schools
201 N. Douglas Street
Office – #1308-Musician
El Segundo, CA 90245
Coffee with Admin #1: Tomorrow, 9/9/21 at 8am and 5pm via Zoom.
Ms. Acuña and I would like to invite you to join us for virtual coffee tomorrow, Thursday Sept. 9th! This will be the first “Coffee with Admin” session for the 2021-2022 school year. There will be two sessions held: one at 8am and one at 5pm. Both sessions will be held via zoom using this link:
This month, we will be talking about: a) Introductions, b) Emergency Procedures and Preparedness, and c) Resources on DVD Website. ALL members of the DVD learning community are welcome, but these meetings are specifically dedicated to parents and guardians.
