Archive for December 14, 2021

Boys Volleyball Player Meeting

If you are interested in playing boys volleyball, there is a meeting this Thursday, December 16 at 3:30 p.m. It will be held in the Skybox in the Gym located at 201 N. Douglas from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Boys Volleyball Tryouts will take place January 11, 12 and 13 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. inside the gym at Del Aire Park. If you have any questions, please contact Coach John Wessels jwessels@davincischools.org

Week 17 Preview: Last Week of Semester 2

Greetings Designers and Design Families!

WOW – we are almost to the end of the Fall semester! This week, we kicked off POLs and we are so proud of all of our students as they complete these high stakes, end of semester presentations. Good luck on your coming presentations, Designers!

We will continue through next week with our POL schedule, and Friday 12/17 is a no school day for students.

The first day of classes for Semester 2 begins on January 10th, 2022. See the school calendar in the “Resources” section of the blog for more details.

T-Shirt Design Contest Winners announced!
Also – we want to give a BIG congratulations to the four students whose designs were chosen as our finalists for the 2021 T-Shirt Design Contest! Our finalist designers are:

  • 9th Grade: Tessa Yi
  • 10th Grade: Breanna McKelvin
  • 11th Grade: Sidney Talbert
  • 12th Grade: Deja Andrewin

Congratulations to our winners!

Dual Enrollment Spring Semester

Who:   Rising Juniors and Seniors from DVC, DVD, and DVS

What: College courses at Da Vinci, through El Camino College. Courses meet transfer requirements for all Cal State and U.C. campuses, as well as most private colleges and universities.

Why:   Get a start on your college credits! It looks great on your college applications.

Cost:   Free! The state of California and Da Vinci Schools pick up the costs, including textbook fees. Donations to help cover the cost of the textbooks from families that can are appreciated.

Where: Classes will be held virtually on the El Camino College student portal due to COVID-19.

If you are interested, make sure you apply to El Camino College Spring 2022 term and turn in the attached completed dual enrollment form with your student ID number and/or the application confirmation number to your school counselor by Thursday December 16th, 2021 by 12:00pm. Classes start on Tuesday February 15th, 2022. To be eligible to take a dual enrollment class, the student will need to pass all their academic classes, have no credit recovery for a-g classes, and be a rising senior or junior student. Space is limited and we are accepting forms on a first come first serve basis!

For more information click on the following links:

Spring 2022 DVD-DVC-DVS College Course

Applying to El Camino College

Do I Need to Apply Again?

Application for Admission Help

Dual Enrollment Application

DVD Student-Led Seminars & Seminar Interest Forms

Hello Designers!

If you are interested in leading a seminar for 2nd semester, as a Seminar Director you can find the application and instructions to do so here:

This an opportunity for students to bring their own passions and interests to our seminar programming! Leading a seminar looks great on resumes and applications, and is a great opportunity to show leadership on campus.

For second semester, some seminars that use specialized equipment will require students to complete an application prior. If you interested in Advanced CrossFit, Photography, or Ceramics & Pottery, please complete the interest forms below:

POL Schedules Begin Tomorrow at DVD

Good Afternoon Design Families,

POL’s at Da Vinci Design will begin this Thursday, December 9th and run until Thursday, December 16th. Please note that students will begin class at the regular time 8:55am but will be released at 1:55pm all these days. This includes the coming Friday, 12/10, which will start at 8:55am instead of the usual 9:25am.

Friday, December 17th is a PD day and school is not in session.

If you have any questions or concerns in regards to your students POL time(s) please reach out to their teachers via e-mail directly.

Last but not least, another friendly reminder to please make sure to e-mail Mrs. Irma Rodriguez at irodriguez@davincischools.org if your student will be absent on any given day.

POL Clothing Closet

Dear Design Families,
Presentations of Learning (POLs) begin this Thursday 12/9.

One of the expectations for a Presentation of Learning is that students come in professional dress. Professional dress is defined to including the following:

  • Button-down dress shirt (shirt must be tucked in) or non-revealing blouse        (must cover shoulders); Suit jacket (optional)
  • Khaki pants or dress pants (no jeans); Dress or skirt that touches tops of knees when standing up straight
  • Closed-toe dress shoes (no sneakers or excessively high heels)
  • Hair should not cover the face
  • Other clothing professional to students’ identity and/or culture

We understand that many families may not be able to put together attire that meets these standards in a short timeline. In order to help our families, the DVD staff is going through their closets in search of items that can be donated to students in need of professional attire. If you have clothing or shoes that meet these requirements and that you no longer need, please consider donating them to DVD. We will accept donations of professional clothing to the downstairs front office, and we welcome students to see if there is something donated that fits their need. We are hopeful that this professional clothing exchange helps us work together as a community to ensure that each student feels comfortable and confident in their presentation!

Students can contact their counselor for any questions.

Thank you for your support!

Week 16 Preview: Presentations of Learning (POLs)

Greetings Designers and Design Families,

We are officially in the final stretch of the Fall semester! See important information below regarding students grades and Presentations of Learning (aka: POLs) including grade level expectations and schedules.

Student Grades: This is an important time to sit down with your student and check their grades in their classes in PowerSchool. Click here for the PowerSchool website; login information was included on the grade reports that were sent home earlier this semester and you can email Maria Beltran at mbeltran@davincischools.org if you need your child’s username and password.

Presentations of Learning: “POL” preparation begins next week for students in grades 9-12! The Presentation of Learning (“POL”) is a tradition at the Da Vinci Schools in which students prepare and deliver a formal presentations to their teachers and their peers. POLs give students the opportunity to develop their speaking and presentation skills, are an opportunity for students to reflect publicly on their learning, and in some cases are a final opportunity for students to demonstrate their understanding and mastery of a topic. Because these are formal presentations, students are expected to wear formal attire.

All POLs will be scheduled between Thursday 12/9 and Thursday 12/16.

GRADE 9 POL Resources:

GRADE 10 POL Resources:

GRADE 11 POL Resources:

GRADE 12 POL Resources:

NOTE: Each student will earn a letter grade for their POL based on the total score and the grade scale shown. This letter grade will be reflected on the student’s transcript but is not calculated into their GPA. The POL is worth one credit, which is the same amount of credit earned for most seminar courses.

Fall 2021 Da Vinci Parent/Guardian Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RBRSKZG

Dear Design Parents and Families: It is time for us to do our bi-annual parent survey – and we need your feedback! We ask families and students to complete a survey twice each year about how things are going at DVD. Please use the link above or click here to share your experience and thoughts with us. We continually look for ways to improve, and value your assessment of how things are going so far this year. The data collected from parent surveys like this one determines our school goals for this year, and for years to come.