Da Vinci Design

Greetings Designers and Design Families,

This short week has been another exciting week at Da Vinci Design! Our 11th graders toured local colleges to get them thinking about colleges they might apply to in the Fall. Our 9th graders had a work day focused on their game designs for their Spring Exhibition. And our 10th graders had a very special field trip to The Great Wall of Los Angeles and LACMA. In the morning 10th grade students worked with Judy Baca’s non-profit SPARC doing a historical scavenger hunt while they walked the Great Wall of Los Angeles painted by Judy Baca in 1974 along the Tujunga greenbelt. After the Great Wall, students traveled to LACMA where they met with Judy Baca, her mural team and the SPARC team. Students had the opportunity to learn history of the Great Wall not readily found online and ask Judy Questions directly. See photos of the 10th grade field trip below!

Progress reports are being mailed home today, February 23rd. The purpose of this is to give families the opportunity to have a snapshot of student progress, and to be able to have a conversation at home with students about how to stay successful in school. This information will also be used by teachers and counselors in their plans to support all students. Please follow up with your child’s teachers directly with any questions about assignments or grades.

SLC week at Da Vinci Design is coming soon! SLCs are an important time when parents and teachers come together for a meeting led by the student. It is a time to highlight a student’s strengths and hard work, to encourage students to set new goals, and to ask guiding questions so students can take ownership of their learning. Every student is expected to participate in leading an SLC this semester. SLCs will happen in-person. SLC schedules and overviews will be released early next week – stay tuned!

Here is the Bell Schedule for Week 25 at Da Vinci Design:

Upcoming Events and Other Key Dates:

• Friday, March 1st: Community Dialogue (CD) honoring Women’s History Month
• Mon, Mar. 11th – Thurs, Mar. 14th: Student Led Conferences (SLCs)
• Thursday, Mar. 21st: Exhibition Night! (9th/10th/11th Grades)

Week 24 Campus Highlight: 10th Grade Art Field Trip

Greetings Designers and Design Families!

Wishing you all a safe, fun and restful holiday weekend ahead! School will not be in session on Monday, February 19th in honor of President’s Day Holiday; school will resume on Tuesday, February 20th with an all periods schedule day.

This week was spirit week! We wore pink on Wednesday (Valentine’s Day) and handed out valentine’s grams, got comfy on Thursday, and wrapped up with Twins Day. See some of our favorite twins in the pics below!

Next week, we are looking forward to lots of fun activities! Our 11th grade students are going on college field trips on Tuesday, our 10th graders are going on a field trip to the “Great Wall of LA” mural also on Tuesday, and then we have a our Spring Dance on Friday!

Here is the Week 24 Bell Schedule for DVD:

Upcoming Events and Other Key Dates:

• Mon, Feb. 19th: NO SCHOOL – PRESIDENTS DAY HOLIDAY
• Tues, Feb. 20th: 11th grade College Field Trip / 10th grade field trip to SPARC
• Wed, Feb. 21st: Parent Advisory Committee Meeting #2
  • 5pm-6pm in-person OR via Zoom
  • Agenda: 1) Public Comment, 2) School Safety Plan Review, 3) LCAP: Goal 2 Review, 4) Meeting Reflections
  • Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/8331212069
• Fri, Feb. 23rd: Progress Reports Sent Home
• Fri, Feb. 23rd 6pm-9pm: Spring Dance *NEW DATE*
• Mon, Mar. 11th – Thurs, Mar. 14th: Student Led Conferences (SLCs)
• Thursday, Mar. 21st: Exhibition Night! (9th/10th/11th Grades)

Week 23 Campus Highlight: Twin Day!

Greetings Designers and Design Families,

This week at DVD, we celebrated National School Counseling Week! The purpose of National School Counseling Week is to focus public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems. National School Counseling Week, sponsored by ASCA, highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career. We are so grateful to our amazing team of school counselors at DVD and recognize them for all they do! Thank you to Ms. Pam Baker, Ms. Nicole Tafoya, and Mr. Omar Sanchez!

On February 7th, we had our February edition of “Coffee with Admin”, our monthly check-in for parents/guardians with the DVD admin team. If you’d like to see the updates shared during our meeting, click here or see the “DVD Parent Info Sessions & Coffee with Admin Slides” link on the right side of our blog.

Here is the Bell Schedule for Week 23:

Upcoming Events and Other Key Dates:

• Mon, Feb. 12th: Blood Drive (DVC + American Red Cross)
  • On Monday, February 12th, the DVC National Honor Society is proud to pay it forward and strengthen our community by helping to save lives. We are partnering with the American Red Cross to hold a blood drive, and we need your help to make it a success.
  • We invite you to join us. If you can help, please visit the link below:
    https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=davincischools
• Mon, Feb. 19th: NO SCHOOL – PRESIDENTS DAY HOLIDAY
• Fri, Feb. 23rd: Progress Reports Sent Home
• Fri, Feb. 23rd 6pm-9pm: Spring Dance *NEW DATE*

Greetings Designers and Design Families,

What an exciting and fun end to our week! Today, we celebrated the start of Black History Month with our annual community dialogue celebration hosted by the DVD Black Student Union (BSU). The whole school community shared in the joy as students did a series of fantastic celebrity impersonations during the assembly today: we had dance performances from everyone from Drake to Nicki Minaj, from Rihanna to Ciara, and we even had a round of Family Feud hosted by Steve Harvey. See pictures below!

We started our morning today recognizing a stellar group of students at our first ever POL Excellence Awards Breakfast in the Black Box Theater. At this event, students who were nominated for exceptional performances on their Fall 2023 Presentations of Learning got to do a “victory lap” presentation in a TedTalk-style format for families, friends and staff. Students presented websites, architectural designs, stories, and so much more. Congrats again to our POL Excellence Awards Winners! Kinnon Palmer (9), Sarah Arambula (9), Sophia Julin (9), Ethan Dupree (10), Allison Campbell (10), Adan Barbosa (11), Isabelle Ibarra & Sandra Medina (11), Kylie Charfen-Horvath (11), Michael Garcia (12), Sophia Quintanilla (12), and Adan Victoria (12). See more pictures below!

Here is the Week 22 Bell Schedule:

Senior Activities 2024: Prom, Grad Nite, and Graduation

Seniors and Senior Families: This week in English class, DVD Dean Ms. B presented important information for the Class of 2024. See the link here for important dates and ticket regarding Senior Activities!

• Senior Activities One-Sheet: Class of 2024

Important Class of 2024 Dates:

• Prom – Friday, May 3, 2024
• Disneyland Grad Nite – Friday, May 31, 2024
• Graduation Ceremony – Thursday, June 6, 2024 @1pm

Upcoming Events and Other Key Dates:

• Wed, Feb. 7th: Coffee w/ Admin:
  • 8am or 5pm, in-person OR via Zoom
  • Agenda: 1) Semester 2 Updates, 2) Fall 2023 Survey Data Share-Out, 3) Q&A with Admin
  • Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/8331212069
• Thursday, Feb. 8th: Senior Project Meeting for Families
• Fri, Feb. 9th: NO SCHOOL – STAFF DEVELOPMENT
• Fri, Feb. 9th 6pm-9pm: Spring Dance!
• Mon, Feb. 12th: Blood Drive (DVC + American Red Cross)
  • On Monday, February 12th, the DVC National Honor Society is proud to pay it forward and strengthen our community by helping to save lives. We are partnering with the American Red Cross to hold a blood drive, and we need your help to make it a success.
  • We invite you to join us. If you can help, please visit the link below:
    https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=davincischools
• Mon, Feb. 19th: NO SCHOOL – PRESIDENTS DAY HOLIDAY
• Fri, Feb. 23rd: Progress Reports Sent Home

Week 21 Highlights: Black History Month Celebration and POL Excellence Awards