Da Vinci Design

Greetings Designers and Design Families,

This week, we have a special schedule to accommodate our all-school community dialogue this week! And, we are looking forward to sending our 10th graders on the all-day Camp Retreat this Friday. See the bell schedule for the week below:

10th Grade Retreat to Running Springs (Friday, 4/22): Our 10th grade students are scheduled to spend all day Friday, April 22nd in Running Springs, California (near Big Bear Lake)! We are asking all 10th grade students to arrive at DVD by 8:30am on Friday so that we can board buses and leave by 9am. We will be returning to DVD around 9:00pm that evening. Please see information about what to bring (and what not to bring) at this link:

• DVD 10th Grade Camp Retreat Information for Students and Families
• DVD Permission Slip
• Camp Pondo Permission Slip

Greetings Designers and Design Families,

It was so great to see all of you this week at Exhibition Night! We are so proud of the work of our amazing students: from the incredible designs of zines and posters, to the thought provoking photography and spoken word, and of course to the awesome displays of architectural models and art work – we celebrate it all! Hats off to our excellent and collaborative teaching staff for the hard work and coordination it took to help our Design students shine so brightly. See some highlights below!

Wishing all of our students, families and staff a restful and amazing Spring Break! School resumes on Monday, April 18th.

Good Afternoon Designers and Design Families,

Thank you to everyone, including our students, staff leaders and families, who made the CARnival event such a great success last week! Can’t wait to do it again next year.

Next week, Exhibition week is finally here! All families and community guests are welcome to come see all of the amazing work that students have been doing. DVD Exhibition night is from 5:30pm-7:00pm on Wednesday 4/6 for grades 11 & 12, and Thursday 4/7 for grades 9 & 10.

Lastly, here is an important message from our Da Vinci Schools CEO & Superintendent, Dr. Matt Wunder:

Dear Design Families, Students, and Staff,

Here is a video message regarding the incident that took place at the Design Black History assembly on March 4.

Families, if you are interested in joining the Family Equity Council, please email Dr. Allegra Johnson, Executive Director of Educational Services, at ajohnson@davincischools.org.

The council will meet twice a semester and share insights and recommendations around curriculum, creating inclusive school cultures, and supportive programming for students.

Thank you for your time, your honesty, and your commitment to the well-being and growth of the Da Vinci community.

Gratefully,

Matt

Key Dates & Upcoming Events at Da Vinci Design:

• DVD Exhibition Nights:
  • Wednesday, April 6th (for Grades 11 & 12)
  • Thursday, April 7th (for Grades 9 & 10)
• Friday, April 8th: NO CLASSES (Staff Development)
• Monday, April 11th – Friday, April 15th: NO CLASSES (Spring Break)

Greetings Designers and Design Families,

Tomorrow is the big “CARnival” event here at Da Vinci – hope you can join us!

In two weeks, we’re excited to be bringing back our Exhibition Night tradition! DVD Exhibition night is from 5:30pm-7:00pm on Wednesday 4/6 for grades 11 & 12, and Thursday 4/7 for grades 9 & 10. We look forward to welcoming you to campus and giving you an opportunity to see what our students have been doing and learning this year! See the bell schedule for the next two weeks, leading up to Exhibition, here:

This semester, our Exhibition Nights will be “open-house” style, and masks will be required of all participants as these are large indoor events with students, families, staff and community stakeholders present. Please see this email for the comprehensive update on masking.

Finally, we are thrilled to be able to bring back the spirit of the “Overnighter” tradition this year with “Camp Retreats” for our 9th and 10th grade students! These will be full-day (but not overnight) retreats at Camp Pondo, with students leaving the Da Vinci campus at 9am and returning at 9pm. The DVD Camp Retreat days are:

• Friday, April 22nd for 10th graders
• Wednesday, May 19th for 9th graders

The retreats will include a wide variety events including team-building, meaningful dialogue, and recreational activities including a zipline, skate park, climbing wall, and more! Details of the retreats will be coming soon, but for now you can mark the dates in your calendar if you have a 9th or 10th grade student!

Key Dates & Upcoming Events

• DVD Exhibition Nights:
  • Wednesday, April 6th (for Grades 11 & 12)
  • Thursday, April 7th (for Grades 9 & 10)
• Friday, April 8th: NO CLASSES (Staff Development)
• Monday, April 11th – Friday, April 15th: NO CLASSES (Spring Break)

Designers and DVD Families:

You are cordially invited to the Da Vinci Schools’ first CARnival! We invite you to a day of fun, games, food, and CARS!

This unique show will feature cars from the Automobile Museum, the Corvette of Choice Club, Army Armored Vehicles, and more. We will also have dunk tanks, carnival games, and many local food trucks. It will be an event you won’t want to miss!

The funds raised at the event will be used to support our senior class across all Da Vinci Schools (Science, Communications, Design, Connect, and RISE) and support our prom, Grad Nite, and graduation. Since many of our school activities were placed on hold during the pandemic, we would like for this event to be a way to bring our community together and celebrate our graduating class of 2022!

EVENT TIME:

Saturday, March 26 from 10am to 5pm

LOCATION:

201 N. El Segundo, CA 90245

Good Morning Designers and Design Families,

DVD is happy to announce that we are offering free, in-person tutoring after school starting this week! Tutoring will be offered on the 4th floor, Mon-Thurs, from 4pm-5pm.

Tutoring is being provided by an experienced tutoring team from Gravity Assist. Students can come after school for help with math skills, test taking, writing help, general homework help, and more! All students are welcome via appointment or drop in.

Here is a short video to meet our tutor:

Click here for a short intro video to meet DVD after-school tutor, Jay!

Greetings Designers and Design Families,

Week 27 is well under way, and this week is COLLEGE AND CAREER WEEK! A huge shout out goes to our counselors for organizing some outstanding activities and visitors for us during advisory this week!

Monday was all about college: college knowledge trivia, a March Madness door decorating contest, and alumni visitors to share their experiences with students!

Tuesday is all about career: we’ve got different career day speakers, again including DVD alumni, visiting classrooms during advisory. So much good stuff!

See the Week 27 Bell Schedule below, as well as some important announcements:

Key Events and Updates:

• Seniors: the deadline to purchase tickets for Grad Nite has been extended until further notice. Tickets for Grad Nite (at Disneyland) may be purchased online via www.MySchoolBucks.com.
• Da Vinci Design is offering FREE, in-person, after-school tutoring starting THIS WEEK! Tutor Jay Mitsch will be available for appointment and drop-ins Monday-Thursday, 4pm-5pm. All are welcome!

Week 26 On-Campus Highlight: Spring Dance “A Night Under the Lanterns”!

Last Friday, we were so excited to be able to bring back our Spring semi-formal dance! Congratulations to the student Leadership teams from all of the high schools who helped host the dance last Friday. It was so much fun to dance and be with friends under the stars! Here a few photos from the night of the dance: