On behalf of Emily Green, School Nurse:
We were just notified the Wiseburn School COVID testing site(s) is now unavailable for Da Vinci students and Wiseburn community members for the foreseeable future. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. Da Vinci Schools will be sending out more information today regarding testing options prior to returning to campus Monday. Thank you and again, apologies for any confusion/inconvenience.
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:
Congratulations to our winners!
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:
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.
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
Greetings Designers and Design Families,
On behalf of the staff at Da Vinci Design, we want to return and express our deep gratitude for our community of students and families. Thank you to everyone who made our staff feel so appreciated with contributions of treats, gifts, and messages of gratitude. DVD was full of smiles today!
In addition to the gratitude bags shared with the staff today, our students also contributed to a tree mural full of messages of gratitude for their friends and staff at Da Vinci Design. We truly have so much to be thankful for here!
See the Week 15, 16 and 17 bell schedules below. When we return from our Holiday Break (on Monday 11/29), we will be just eight school days away from POLs! Stay tuned for more details about POLs after the break. Have a safe, lovely and restful break everyone!
Week 15-17 DVD Bell Schedules (Fall 2021)
Seniors’ Cap & Gown photos are now available for viewing and purchase! You can access them here: https://staceelianna.smugmug.com/DaVinciSchools/Class-of-2022
Galleries are all password protected and the passwords are their student ID numbers.
Make-up appointments for cap & gown photos are available during our winter break on January 6-8, 2022. Students can sign up for a makeup appointment using this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F45AFAF28A64-class
If you have any questions specific to your cap & gown photo order, please contact the photographer Stacee Lianna directly at seniors@staceelianna.com. Thank you!
Greetings Designers and Design Families,
We are just one week away from Fall Break and from our Thanksgiving Holiday! In the spirit of the season, please see the reminder below about opportunities to support and show gratitude for Da Vinci Design and our staff. Next week is a short week: students will only be on campus Monday-Thursday next week.
Also, please don’t forget to fill-out the Fall 2021 Parent Survey:
Fall 2021 Da Vinci Parent/Guardian Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RBRSKZG
Staff Thanksgiving Baskets
To show our appreciation, we are organizing Thanksgiving baskets to deliver to our school staff on Thursday, November 18th. The idea is that each staff member will receive one basket containing treats and words of appreciation from students and parents/guardians.
Here is how you can contribute to the baskets of Thanksgiving:
1. Items: If you are interested and able to purchase something to show your appreciation, please consider non-perishable items such as: individually wrapped : pop corn, gummies, trail mix, chips, hot chocolate, pretzels, candy, cookies, gift cards ($5) to target, Starbucks, coffee, sparkling water, tea, and any non-perishable snacks.
We need donated items collected by: Tuesday November 16th. All items can be left on the first floor front office.
2. Words of Appreciation: There is nothing that means more to school staff than words of appreciation or encouragement. Please consider handwriting a note of thanks or typing one digitally here: DVD Staff Appreciation Notes. We will be printing these digital messages and including all words of appreciation in the baskets. Handwritten notes can be dropped off by Tuesday November 16.
End of Semester Calendar:
Lastly, a note about Exhibition: One of Da Vinci’s Signature Practices is Exhibition Night, an evening event for our community to come together to witness and celebrate how much our students have learned and grown in the project-based environment. Though we originally planned to hold an Exhibition Night this semester, we have decided to allow our teachers and students additional time to prepare for this important showcase. As a result, we will be rescheduling our Exhibition Night for second semester (January – June). We look forward to showcasing our students’ terrific projects in the new year, and we will let you know as soon as we decide on our new dates. See our updated calendar for first semester in the Resources bar, and below.
Hello Designers and Design Families,
Happy Friday! We wrapped up Week 8 with an amazing Community Dialogue in honor of Latinx Heritage Month! Things for spicy during a hot sauce challenge, and we had a special performance from a troupe that displayed traditional Aztec dance (see photo below). Many thanks goes out to our Latinx Student Union and their advisor Sr. Villanueva for putting together this special event.
The coming week is Week 9 and SLCs are from 10/11-10/14. SLCs are happening via Zoom this semester. Check the DVD Grade Level Google Sites and refer to the post from earlier in the week for SLC schedules and documents for your grade level.
Please remember that during SLCs, we have a minimum day schedule. This means that drop-off times stay the same, however school pick-up from school will happen at 1:55pm for Da Vinci Design Mon-Thurs this week, unless your student is staying for their SLC. See the schedule below:
Week 9 Classroom Highlight: Latinx Heritage Month CD!
Good Morning DVD Families,
Next week, we are hosting Student Led Conferences via Zoom. This means that we will have an early release schedule next week, where students will be released at 1:55pm each day, so that from 2pm-4pm teachers can meet with families over Zoom. The schedule for the next two weeks is posted below.
Please see the attached SLC letters for parents/guardians from each grade level team for more information:
Please contact grade level teachers with any questions regarding SLCs.
