Da Vinci Design

• Seminar Offerings (DVD Spring 2022)

Greetings Designers and Design Families!

We hope your families are all healthy and well-rested from our break! We are excited to welcome students back to campus for school on Monday morning. Students will begin the day in their Period 1 classes where they will receive important information related to updated COVID safety protocols and practices. Our schedule for the first week of second semester is shown here. Please note that students will not start Seminar classes until week three of the new semester.

For students who are unable to come to school, class information and assignments will continue to be available via Google Classroom. Students can also contact their teachers about their availability for virtual office hours via Zoom. 

Per usual, if you know that your child will be absent for any reason, please call the front office or send an email to Irma Rodriguez, irodriguez@davincischools.org to notify us of the absence.

COVID-19 Health & Safety Information

As we prepare for the return to school next week, we are cognizant of the spread of COVID-19, and in particular, the Omicron variant. We strongly encourage students to take a COVID test prior to returning to campus beginning Monday, January 10, 2022. When you complete the test, please report at-home test results here. A negative test is not required for students and staff to return to school on January 10, but in the event your child exhibits any flu-like or cold symptoms, your child should get tested and remain at home. 

The following safety measures are now in place at all Da Vinci schools:

• On-site rapid testing for students with exposure or symptoms will resume for Da Vinci students January 10, 2022 during regular testing hours 8:15am-3:45pm daily. Students are not allowed to leave class to test and must use time before school, during lunch, and after school. Students should pre-register here if this is their first time testing at school.
• Masking is now required for all outdoor activities where physical distancing is not feasible, except while eating or drinking, due to the new health order from the LACDPH. Students are strongly recommended to wear masks that are well-fitting, non-cloth masks of multiple layers of non-woven material with a nose wire.
• COVID-19 testing is required for all students and staff who are close contacts of a person who has tested positive for COVID due to a school-based exposure, regardless of vaccination or booster status. Affected employees and students may participate in testing at their school site (more info below)

Staff are required to wear upgraded masks (three-ply surgical masks or higher-level PPE)We continue to monitor the  new protocols for TK-12 schools in a health order and a new exposure management plan from the Los Angeles County Public Health officials to ensure appropriate mitigation strategies are in place during this surge in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant.

MAP Testing Starts Week 18

MAP Growth tests helps teachers understand what students know today, so goals can be set to improve growth throughout the year. Students cannot pass or fail this test, and this test will not affect grades. This is an adaptive test that changes as students complete it. And, it is good practice for computer-based state assessments in the Fall. Given the challenges of learning from home last year, MAP Growth test results are especially helpful for us this year. These results will help us know what students are ready to learn.

Here are some other details to know about MAP testing during the school day:

1. Students will follow a normal schedule and will take the MAP test in their English classes.
2. Students will complete the test on a school issued Chromebook; personal devices may or may not be compatible with the test.
3. It is important that students complete the test; teachers and students will only receive data if a test is completed.

This is a challenging and uncertain time, and we appreciate your support as we work to keep school open safely for our kids to learn!

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

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!