We’re thrilled to be bringing back our Exhibition Night tradition beginning tonight!! DVS Exhibition night is 5:30pm-7:00pm tonight for grades 11 & 12, and tomorrow night for grades 9 & 10! We look forward to welcoming you to campus and giving you an opportunity to see what your students have been doing and learning this year! Our Exhibition Nights will be “open-house” style so you don’t need to arrive right at 5:30pm. Please note that all participants will be required to wear face coverings.
Students are also preparing digital portfolios with samples of the work and projects they have done this year, so parents and guardians who are unable to attend Exhibition Night can still see and celebrate their students’ learning. To prepare, students will have Exhibition/DP prep time next week in place of advisory, office hours, and seminars.
The Knowledge House is seeking high school youth interested in learning code and design skills! The Karim Kharbouch Coding Fellowship (KKCF) is cofounded by Hip Hop Artist French Montana and supports youth interested in STEM. The fellowship is a 12-month program, starting with paid, virtual summer training, followed by monthly career & college access workshops and coaching. Graduates are matched to summer internships and college STEM programs. You must be 16 years old to apply.
The Knowledge House is also seeking candidates for the 2021 Innovation Fellowship, a 12-month program starting in the fall to promote technology-based opportunities in web development, data science, cyber security, and usability design. To be eligible you must earn less than $50,000 a year and possess a high school diploma.
If you are interested in either of these opportunities, you can attend our information session on Tuesday, April 5 at 6:00 pm. To register, please email Crissel Rodriguez at crodriguez@davincischools.org
Tomorrow is the big “CARnival” event here at Da Vinci, and then next week we’re thrilled to be bringing back our Exhibition Night tradition!! DVS Exhibition night is from 5:30pm-7:00pm on Wednesday 3/30 for grades 11 & 12, and Thursday 3/31 for grades 9 & 11. We look forward to welcoming you to campus and giving you an opportunity to see what your students have been doing and learning this year! Our Exhibition Nights will be “open-house” style so you don’t need to arrive right at 5:30pm. Please note that all participants will be required to wear face coverings.
Students will also be preparing digital portfolios with samples of the work and projects they have done this year, so parents and guardians who are unable to attend Exhibition Night can still see and celebrate their students’ learning. To prepare, students will have Exhibition/DP prep time next week in place of advisory, office hours, and seminars.
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 DVS Camp Retreat days are Monday, May 2nd for 10th graders and Tuesday, May 3rd for 9th graders. The retreats will include a wide variety of recreational and team-building games and activities including a zipline, skate park, climbing wall, and more! Details of the retreats will be coming next week, but for now you can mark the dates in your calendar if you have a 9th or 10th grade student!
Have a great weekend, and come join us at the CARnival tomorrow if you can!
The first 50 young ladies will receive four tickets to LA Galaxy’s match against Nashville SC at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday, April 23rd.
This event will give young ladies the opportunity to look through hundreds of donated selections to find their perfect prom dress for free regardless of their socioeconomic status.
Volunteers will assist those in attendance with finding the perfect fit for their personality, frame and style. Once they select their free dress, they each will have the opportunity to do a photoshoot in a mirrored photo booth.
All students in attendance that are claiming a dress must have their student ID and sign a photo release waiver at check-in. Please RSVP if you plan on attending.
Just a reminder, our weekly parent office hours will be today at 4:30pm on this Zoom link: http://tinyurl.com/SteveGraceOfficeHours – all are welcome to drop in and share your ideas and questions!
Here is some information about the upcoming college & career planning events that are being hosted by the DVS counseling team! You can download the pdf here: College and Career Planning Meetings
Thank you to all the parents and guardians who participated in Student-Led Conferences last week! We appreciate your involvement and participation in your child’s education! If you did not have a chance to complete the DVS Parent Survey at the end of the SLC, we would appreciate it if you would take a moment to do so using this DVS Parent Survey link. Thank you!
We also hope you have all had a chance to see the new Disney Plus documentary “More Than Robots,” which was just released last Friday! The film follows four teams from around the world including our own Team 4201: The Vitruvian Bots as they prepare for the 2020 FIRST® Robotics Competition!
This week we have a regular schedule, and then next week features the long-awaited return of our Exhibition night!
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, and mark your calendars with the dates and times listed below.:
Wednesday 3/30 for grades 11 & 12, 5:30pm – 7:00pm
Not only did they just win the Chairman’s Award at the Orange County Regional over the weekend which qualified them for the FIRST® Robotics World Championship next month in Houston, but they also are one of four teams featured in “More Than Robots,” a new original documentary that follows four teams from around the world as they prepare for the 2020 FIRST® Robotics Competition. Presented by Supper Club and Disney+ and made in partnership with FIRST®, “More Than Robots” is premiering today at the world-renowned SXSW (South by Southwest) Film Festival and will stream exclusively on Disney+ beginning March 18.
Check out Da Vinci’s 2020 Robotics Team up close in this exciting and inspiring documentary about taking their unique robot design “Jango” all the way to the highly competitive global championships. The film features three additional teams from Los Angeles, Mexico City, and Chiba, Japan. Although they are faced with overcoming challenges along the way, such as having limited resources or putting everything on hold because of a worldwide pandemic, the teams persevere and learn that there is a lot more to the competition than just robots. In 2020, Da Vinci’s Robotics Team took First Place at the L.A. Regional and went undefeated, 17-0, just days before our campuses closed due to COVID-19.
Team 4201: You are true STEM leaders and innovators! We are deeply grateful to all our students, mentors, sponsors, families and staff who support our award-winning robotics program!!
L.A. Regional FIRST Robotics Competition (March 31-April 3, 2022): We invite you to cheer on Da Vinci’s 2022 Robotics Team later this month. Da Vinci is hosting the L.A. Regional FIRST Robotics Competition at our Douglas campus, located at 201 N. Douglas Street in El Segundo. The event will be closed to spectators due to COVID, but you can stream it at The Blue Alliance. Go Team!
FIRST® continues to bring hands-on learning opportunities and mentorship to young people around the world, empowering them to not only think big, but to develop the science, engineering and technology skills needed to be the next generation of innovators.
We are happy to offer a number of exciting summer opportunities for students. In this document, you will find a running list of internships, volunteer, and college opportunities.
Some opportunities have fast-approaching deadlines! We will continue to make updates as more opportunities arise.
Students are eligible to receive 5 summer school credits for 60 hours of service. Opportunities can be combined to reach the 60 hours.
Outside internship: Do you already have an internship secured? Let Crissel know so she can make sure you earn summer school credit for it!
Other details:
ELIGIBILITY:
Unless otherwise stated, the opportunities are open to all grade levels.
In addition to the applications required by industry partners, students must provide the following:
A paragraph explaining why this internship is interesting to you and what you hope to gain from the experience. Please include if you have any other summer commitments (a summer job, taking care of siblings, planned vacations, etc.)
Students are expected to communicate with industry partners and Crissel independent of parents/guardians. Students are expected to communicate promptly and professionally via email.
We couldn’t be more proud of our FRC Robotics Team 4201, who competed in the Orange County Regional competition this weekend and won the coveted Chairman’s Award, earning a spot in the World Championships in Houston in April! Congrats, Vitruvian Bots!!!
This week is our Student-Led Conference (“SLC”) week, with early dismissal from school at the times shown. Participation in SLCs is expected for all parents/guardians. Please contact Brittany Alvarez at balvarez@davincischools.org if you have any questions about your SLC appointment. Because of our SLCs, we will not be holding parent office hours this week.
Masking Update: Effective Monday, March 14, all Da Vinci schools will no longer require masks indoors or outdoors regardless of vaccination status, but masks remain strongly recommended. Da Vinci will continue other protective strategies, including eating lunch outdoors on all campuses until further notice. Our existing visitor policy will remain in effect. Please note that masks will be required at all upcoming Exhibition Nights as these are large indoor events with students, families, staff and community stakeholders present. We encourage all students to be kind to one another through this transition and respect each other’s personal choice during this time. Please see this email for the comprehensive update.
In three weeks, DVS Exhibition Night returns! Exhibition Night will be from 5:30pm-7:00pm on Wednesday 3/30 for grades 11 & 12, and on Thursday 3/31 for grades 9 & 10. I encourage you to check the DVS Calendar which has been updated with upcoming events and information. Thank you and have a terrific week!
