Da Vinci Design

Greetings Designers and Design Families,

It was great to have so many of you on campus for Back To School Night on Tuesday! We began with a brief presentation in the BlackBox theater from grade-level teams, and then we headed up to the fourth floor to meet and greet teachers in classrooms. If you did not get a chance to meet with us this week, click here for the Back To School Night slides from Sept 4th 2024.

Here is the Bell Schedule for Week 5 at DVD:

Exciting News About School Attendance!
Thanks to recent updates in California’s education laws, students can now receive credit for attendance even if they miss a day of school, as long as they’re still engaged in learning. In other words: If your child participates in an educational activity or completes makeup work assigned by their teacher during an absence, they can still be marked “present” for that day. To avoid your child being marked “absent”, have your child fill out this simple form:

• 24-25 DV Short Term IS Reflection Form

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about attendance for parents/guardians:

• Q: Do I still need to report my child’s absence to the school?
  A: Yes please! Keep doing what you are doing by calling or emailing the front office any time your child is going to be absent.

• Q: If my child is out sick and they absolutely cannot do work, do they have to complete this form?
  A: No. They will be marked “excused absent” for that day.

• Q: Is this different from the Community Learning Days (aka: CLDs) that I am hearing about?
  A: Yes – this is is new, and different from CLDs. There will be a different but similar form that students will complete on Community Learning Days.
• Q: Why is this form called “independent study”?
  A: Thanks to new law signed into place in summer 2024, students at Da Vinci Schools are now able to participate in 15 days of short-term independent study that assists their school in recovering critical attendance funding for days missed. Being present on campus is still incredibly important to student learning, connectedness, and equity. School sites will continue to follow up with students who miss more than 10% of school days, but the new law helps to acknowledges that students sometimes need to miss school but can still engage in educational activities while they are not physically present on campus as well.

• Q: Is there anything I will have to do as a parent/guardian to approve this?
  A: Yes. A signature form will be sent home soon to each Da Vinci Schools family which will have even more information on Short Term Independent Study.

• Q: Who can I reach out to for more information about Short Term Independent Study or absences?
  A: Reach out to your DVD Admin team:
  Principal Russell Stoll (rstoll@davincischools.org) or Asst. Principal Kirk Takeyama (ktakeyama@davincischools.org)

Your involvement helps our school count these days as attendance. Thank you for supporting your child’s education!

Upcoming Events and Key Dates:

• Friday, Sept. 20th: Progress Reports Mailed Home
• Thursday, Sept. 26th: *NEW DATE* DV Club & Service Learning Fair
• Wednesday, Oct. 2nd: Coffee w/ Admin @8am and @5pm via Zoom
• Friday, Oct. 4th: NO SCHOOL – Local Holiday
• Friday, Oct. 11th: Community Learning Day
• Mon, Oct. 14th – Thurs, Oct. 17th: Student Led Conference (SLCs)

College Rep Visits (Week 5, 6 & 7): Seniors can sign up via Naviance

• University of Southern California – Tues, Sept. 17th
• John Hopkins University – Thurs, Sept. 19th
• University of California Irvine – Mon, Sept. 30th
• Boston University – Wed, Oct. 2nd

Greetings Designers and Design Families,

Next week is Back to School Night! Back to School Night is a great opportunity to hear about classes, make connections with your students teachers, and tour classrooms at DVD. Each grade level will begin with an assembly in the Blackbox theater from their grade-level teams, and then will head up to the fourth floor to meet and greet teachers in classrooms. Please note that the presentation for 9th and 10th grade families is at 5:30pm and the presentation for 11th and 12th grade families is at 6pm. See the schedule for Back to School Night here:

Thank you to the families who joined us for our first Coffee with Admin meeting of the school year! It is great getting the chance to meet with families, hear what is on your mind, and share the great things happening at DVD. If you did not get a chance to meet with us this week, click here for the Coffee with DVD Admin slides from Sept 2024..

Coffee with DVD Admin happens at 8am and 5pm via Zoom on the first Wednesday of every month.

Lastly, the DVD Admin team had an opportunity to push into classrooms with each student this week in order to present on schoolwide expectations. These presentations cover a wide range of topics in order to reiterate key policies and help student be ready for a successful year at Design. Click here to see the slides for the DVD Admin Class Visits (2024-2025) on Schoolwide Expectations.

Here is the Bell Schedule for Week 4 at DVD:

Upcoming Events and Key Dates:

• Tues, Sept. 10th: Back to School Night @ 5:30pm
• Fri, Sept. 13th: No School – Professional Development Day
• Friday, 9/20: Progress Reports Mailed Home
• Thurs, Sept. 26th: *NEW DATE* DV Club & Service Learning Fair

Good Evening DVD Parents and Guardians,

Tomorrow, Wednesday Sept. 4th, at 8am and 5pm join the DVD admin team for our monthly “Coffee with Admin” chat. Simply log on via Zoom and bring any school-related questions, or just sit back, relax, and hear about school updates. This will be our first Coffee with Admin of the 2024-25 school year. Hope to see you there!

Wed, Sept. 4th: Coffee w/ Admin

• All DVD parents and guardians welcome! Join for brief school updates and open Q&A with the DVD admin team.
• 8am or 5pm, via Zoom
• Agenda: 1) Campus Updates, Highlights & CCSA Recognition 2) Upcoming Calendar Events, 3) Classroom Expectations, 4) Q&A
• Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/8331212069

Greetings Designers and Design Families!

This week, our 9th graders participated in our annual Freshmen Overnighter Camp! 9th grade students, student leaders and staff got to connect with each other in the great outdoors. Everyone participated in fun activities, team building games, and important discussions that help prepare our 9th graders to make new friends and to transition into high school. See some pictures from the 2024 Overnighter Camp below! More photos will also be made available to 9th grade families next week!

Next week, we have a modified bell schedule due to the holiday weekend. And, all students will be participating in Picture Day to take their photos for school IDs and the Yearbook on 9/4 and 9/5. See the Week 3 bell schedule below for more details.

Welcome Back Designers and Design Families!

It feels great to be back to kick-off the new school year. Day One started as it traditionally does with staff cheering in students and gathering together for an assembly, and then heading off to Advisory for games and introductions. This week students got right into the kind of fun and engaging work we do at DVD: team building challenges in Entrepreneurship, relay games in Advisory, a “frozen t-shirt lab” in Physics, illustrated stories in English 9, and so much more! See pictures below from our First Day of School celebration!

This week, students also had a chance to select their Seminar classes. Seminars are classes at the end of the day where students may choose a class based on their interest like a sports/fitness seminar or a fun skill-building seminar like crochet or music appreciation. Student may also be enrolled in an academic support seminar to get extra help or tutoring. Seminars begin on Tuesday, Sept 3rd.

Each week, you can expect to see a blog post here wrapping up the previous week (often with shout-outs, highlights and photos) and announcing the upcoming week’s bell schedule along with other important dates. Here is the Week 2 Bell Schedule for DVD:

Dual Enrollment College Course Announcement: 

This fall semester, Da Vinci Schools is offering 4 dual enrollment partnership courses with El Camino College. All courses are asynchronous online and start next week! Click here for more details and course descriptions.

IMPORTANT: In order to enroll in these classes, Da Vinci Schools will be hosting an application workshop in the RWL Center computer lab (1st floor) on Monday 8/26 from 3:00pm-4:30pm. Students should know their SSN# (if they have one) and whether or not their family is considered a military family when they come.

Key Dates and Upcoming Events:

• Wed, Aug. 28th: 9th graders leave for Overnighter @ 8:40am
• Thurs, Aug. 29th: 9th graders return from Overnighter @ approx. 2:30pm
• Mon, Sept. 2nd: NO SCHOOL – LABOR DAY HOLIDAY
• Week of Mon, Sept. 2nd: Seminars (P7 & P8) Begin
• Wed, Sept. 4th & Thurs, Sept. 5th: Picture Day (during English classes)
• Wed, Sept. 4th: Coffee w/ Admin @8am and @5pm via Zoom
• Tues, Sept. 10th: Back to School Night @ 5:30pm
• Fri, Sept. 13th: No School – Professional Development Day
• Thurs, Sept. 19th: DV Club & Service Learning Fair

Week 1 DVD Campus Highlight: First Day of School Welcome Assembly

Greetings Designers and Design Families!

Hope you all are enjoying the tail end of a fun, safe, and restful summer. We are officially just a few days away from the new school year, and we are so excited to be back! The first day of school is Monday, August 19th, 2024. Our staff has been back on campus and hard at work preparing to welcome students back for an excellent year.

For important updates and reminders for the 2024-2025 school year, click here to check out the “DVD New School Year FAQs for Families” page.

Additional important info including the 2024-2025 school calendar, the updated Student and Family Handbook, and New Family Info can also be found in the “Resources” section (to the right via computer, or at the very of this webpage via mobile phone). You can also find highlights of important upcoming dates below.

Welcome back Designers! We look forward to making this year the best one yet!

Sincerely,
Team DVD

***

First Day of School Info: Monday, August 19th

On Monday, August 19th, students will first meet outside near the bike racks, then be welcomed into the Black Box theater. Students walk through a tunnel of cheering teachers to the black box, where the whole school gathers before meeting in small groups within the classrooms. All students will begin the day in Advisory, and will receive their class schedules in Advisory. PowerSchool access is temporarily locked while we upload student schedules – but will be accessible on the first day of school. If a student believes there is an error in their school schedule, students should go to the front office during passing period after Advisory.

Remember: traffic during the first two weeks of school is busier than usual; we recommend you arrive in the parking lot at least 15 minutes before your school start time to ensure your child makes it on time. See parking lot reminders below.

This is the DVD Week One Bell Schedule:

For the 2023-2024 school year, the start time for Da Vinci Design will remain the same at 8:40am Monday-Thursday and the traditional “late start” for Friday is 9:45am. The end time for the school day in 3:45pm each day.

Key Dates and Upcoming Events:

• Mon, Aug. 19th: First Day of School!
• Wed, Aug. 21st: 12th & 11th graders sign-up for seminars
• Thurs, Aug. 22nd: 10th & 9th graders sign-up for seminars
• Wed, Aug. 28th: 9th graders leave for Overnighter @ 8:40am
• Thurs, Aug. 29th: 9th graders return from Overnighter @ approx. 2:30pm
• Mon, Sept. 2nd: NO SCHOOL – LABOR DAY HOLIDAY
• Week of Mon, Sept. 2nd: Seminars (P7 & P8) Begin
• Wed, Sept. 4th & Thurs, Sept. 5th: Picture Day (during English classes)
• Wed, Sept. 4th: Coffee w/ Admin @8am and @5pm via Zoom
• Tues, Sept. 10th: Back to School Night @ 5:30pm
• Fri, Sept. 13th: No School – Professional Development Day
• Thurs, Sept. 19th: DV Club & Service Learning Fair

Parking Lot Details and Reminders

• Please drive safely and patiently in the parking lot; this means entering and exiting through the properly marked areas, dropping students off only in marked areas, and following the directions of our grounds supervision crew
• Drop off areas are located 1) at 201 N. Douglas AND at 2) [East] Grand Avenue. Do NOT stop in traffic to drop off students across the street or anywhere along Duley Road.
• Remind your students to please stay on the designated pedestrian pathways in order to help maintain their safety as they enter the school campus.
• Remember: you don’t have to wait to get to the front of line of the drop off area to have your students exit the vehicle.  They should exit as soon as the vehicle has come to a safe, complete stop. This will help to make sure the drop off area is used as efficiently as possible.
• Students will not be allowed to enter or leave school through the gym or the pool deck at any time.

For updates every week, keep checking back here at the DVD blog!

Greetings Designers and Design Families!

From all of the faculty and staff at Da Vinci Design, we wish you a wonderful summer break! Monday, August 19th is the first day of school for students in the 2024-25 school year. We will see you in August!

Congratulations to the graduating Class of 2024! It was an honor and pleasure watching you walk the stage yesterday. Graduation photos from yesterday have been uploaded for families here – you may access and download them for FREE thanks to our incredible photographer Stacee:

• Da Vinci Design Graduation Ceremony – Class of 2024

Report cards: have been put into the mail today and will be arriving next week. If you have any questions or concerns, reach out to the Da Vinci Design Front Office and ask for Assistant Principal, or send an email to ktakeyama@davincischools.org for any questions regarding work permits, enrollment, summer dates, etc. The DVD Front Office is open Monday-Friday (except for holidays) from 8am to noon.

June 11th: Summer Session 1 begins (by referral from counselors)
Summer school forms were distributed to students last week. If your student received a summer school form, you must register for summer school. Please reach out to your child’s counselor for more information.

Please stay tuned over the summer! We will be making announcements for new families AND returning families here on the blog. See you in August!

Greetings Designers and Design Families,

Can you believe it? Next week is the LAST WEEK of the school year. And this week – students have been doing a phenomenal job with POLs. Presentations of Learning (POLs) wrap up on 6/3 and 6/4 for POLs in Period 5 and 6. POLs are performance based assessments which give students the opportunity to develop their speaking and presentation skills, and they give students space to reflect publicly on their learning.

Graduation Ceremony Info for 12th Grade Parents/Guardians and Families:

As graduation nears, we wanted to provide you with specific information regarding the day of the Graduation Ceremony. In order to accommodate everyone for this large gathering and celebration, please review this key information, and click here for more info:

DVD Graduation Parent Information (Spring 2024)

• DVD Graduation Ceremony Start Time: June 6th, 2024 at 1:00PM
• Guests Arrive and Doors Open: 12:00PM
• *All Graduates MUST arrive at 12:00PM*
• Address: 201 N. Douglas St. El Segundo, CA 90245
• Parking Main lot: 201 N. Douglas St. El Segundo, CA 90245 (passes required)
  • Graduates and families dropping off graduates will be allowed to drop-off graduates at noon; all other visitors are permitted to enter at 12:15pm.
• Parking Overflow Lot: 550 Continental, El Segundo, CA 90245
• Live Stream Link:  https://youtube.com/live/Vtq6_2HJy2Q

10th Grade Design Pathways Selection Resources

Greetings Designers and Design Families,

There have been so many great event happening at DVD this past week! On Saturday, 5/11, our 10th Grade Honors Art students participated in an Art Show called “Camp Kitsch” @ Indivisible Arts in Hermosa Beach. Students displayed paintings, sculptures, and multimedia work in a professional gallery space with live music. Then, on Wednesday 5/15, we celebrated Decision Day and Senior Awards Night with our Class of 2024! Seniors declared their post-high school plans, wore swag for the colleges they will attend, and were surprised by their parents and families with a celebratory potluck in the BlackBox. We wrapped up the week with a Career Day presentation in our 9th and 10th grade classrooms! Organized by a group of 12th grade students for their Senior Project, we had representatives from design industries present personal career experiences. See below for photos from the 10th grade Honors art show and 12th grade Decision Day!