Da Vinci Science

Hope everyone had a great week! As always, lots of fun, learning, and things happening at DVS:

• Parent Office Hours with Grace: Parent Office Hours with administration will be held every even week. Since it is Week 8, we will be meeting at this zoom link this Thursday, October 6th from 4:30-5:30. This will be a casual time of updating, chatting, and Q&A.
• School Site Council: We had a great School Site Council meeting last week. Thank you and congratulations to SSC members: Shari Jones (parent), Anne Tittle (parent), Mark Zakrzewski (parent), Trinity Cauton(student), Emma Hattne (student), Adam Tittle (student), Saya Wai (staff), Jessi Snyder (staff), and Carolyn Ruiz (staff). SSC meetings are open to the public and we welcome you to join any of our meetings in the future. Next SSC Meeting will be 1/19.
• Student Board Members: Congratulations and thank you to student board members: Emma Enriquez (12th), Emma Hattne (11th), and Violet Pena Gomez(11th). Student board members will represent DVS at designated school board meetings. We look forward to their leadership and representation. 
• Student Cohesion Team: Congratulations and thank you to student cohesion team members: Harrison Fischer-Huber, Jay Clark, Malachi Smith, Amber Angel, Jasper Jordan, Kan Niya Lorenzo, Emma Hattne, Aiden Corral, Anaya Harrison. Student Cohesion team meets to discuss school programs and school issues, and provide insight from the student perspective to make recommendations for continued school improvement and enjoyment.
• PSAT/SAT Day: Testing day is coming up on October 12th. Although some colleges and universities may vary in the request for SAT scores, we would still like to provide free access and opportunity to these assessments. Test-taking skills continue to be utilized post-high school and it is our hope that students can learn and grow in these skills through their experiences in high school. It will be a long day of testing and our lunchtime will be pushed back to later than usual. If you are able and interested, we would greatly appreciate any healthy snack donations for students for testing day. Again, snack donations are completely optional. If you would like, please drop off healthy snack donations to the front office (granola bars, energy bars, easy-to-eat fruits, etc.) before Oct. 12th. Thank you! Students will also be asked to bring their own calculators. 
• DVS Academic Supports– We hope classes are going well for every student. Attendance, engagement, and feedback from teachers and peers are very important in the learning process. We have many academic supports in place including office hours, targeted support, and before and after school tutoring. We encourage all students to take advantage of these additional learning opportunities. For detailed information and availability please see this flyer: DVS Academic Supports. This information is also available under “Resources” on the DVS Blog page. Any questions about academic support, please contact our Academic Counselor, Ms. Valle, at cvalle@davincischools.org.
• Student Led Conferences: SLCs are coming up Week 10, Oct. 17-21. Please see Grade Level Team’s schedule for details on your student’s specific time and Zoom link. Also please note earlier dismissal times for Week 10.
• Canvas Support: Thank you again for your patience and support with transitioning to Canvas. If you have any technical questions or issues with Canvas, please contact our IT department at studentsupport@davinischools.org for assistance.
• Custodian Appreciation Day, 10/2 – We want to give a shout-out to all our DV custodians. They work so hard to keep our school clean and safe for our students. A special thank you to DVS custodian, Mr. Urbano!

Important Upcoming Dates:

• 10/12, Wednesday: PSAT/SAT Testing Day

• 10/13, Thursday: No School – Professional Development Day
• 10/14, Friday: No School – Professional Development Day
• 10/17-10/29, Monday – Thursday: Student-Led Conferences
• For SLC Week, Monday Dismissal will be at 2:55, T-Friday Dismissal will be at 2:25

• 11/1, Friday: No School – Veterans Day Holiday
• 11/10, Thursday: Exhibition Night (grades 10th, 12th, & Spanish Dept.)
• 11/21-11/25, Monday-Friday: No School – Thanksgiving Break
• 12/8-12/15, Thursday-Thursday: Presentations of Learning
• 12/16, Friday: Professional Development Day, No School

Week 8 Schedule: 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

PJ Test Prep, a boutique SAT, ACT,  and tutoring company, is offering FREE SAT/ACT Practice Test + Seminar on Oct 2nd (this weekend) and another on December 4th.  Details and sign-ups are here.

 

Hello Da Vinci Scholars and Families,

Check out the new RWL opportunities below:

For students interested in health and vision care:
Cal State LA is having a Vision Fair on October 15. Students will have an opportunity to learn about careers and majors related to vision and medicine, as well as free vision screenings. The organization Guide Dogs will also be bringing dogs who are in training to help visually impaired folks. For more information visit: https://www.visionfair.org/ 

For students interested in advertising:
T.E.A.M. Woo (Teens Engaged in Advertising Mentorship) is a customized mentorship program aimed to help expose students who have a passion for creativity to the possibilities of pursuing a career in a creative field!  You’ll get a chance to team up with fellow creatives and work on a real-world advertising campaign for Supergoop! while being mentored by seasoned professionals along the way. You’ll also walk away with tons of knowledge on strategy, branding, conception/execution, and presentation skills. The program includes 5 sessions held over 4-6 weeks, each session being three hours (6 PM-9 PM). The program will begin on Monday, January 16th and there are 18 spots available. The deadline is October 15. Apply here.

For students interested in animation:
The deadline to sign up for Story Xperiential is fast approaching! This program starts on October 3rd. Story Xperiential is offering a 9-week online experience that takes you behind the scenes at Pixar and introduces you to world-class storytellers. You’ll follow the Pixar process to create a storyreel of your own short story. You’ll livestream with different Pixar storytellers every Monday, submit your work to a gallery and receive ongoing feedback. At the end, your work will be showcased in an online exhibition. Artistic experience is not required, the program is all about story. The program costs $25 for youth ages (13-18) and $250 for youth ages 18+. To learn more & register, click here.

Good morning! We’ve added a few more College Rep Visits for this week.

Tuesday, 9/27: UC Merced (Lunch Time)
Thursday, 9/29: UC Santa Cruz (8:15am)
Thursday, 9/29: Beloit College (Lunch Time)
Thursday, 9/29: Dartmouth College (4:00pm)
Friday, 9/30: Boston University (Lunch Time)

All presentations take place in Mr. Perez’s classroom and open to all grade levels. We hope to see you there!

 

El Camino College’s Financial Aid Office presents a free scholarship webinar

This free webinar will introduce families to the Sallie Mae scholarship database, provide key tips on applying for scholarships, how to create a winning scholarship essay, and more!

Click here to register and select a date: https://elcamino-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAvcOisrDwrGdyhCPD519TFZGrzcN2tD9aM

Did you know that Da Vinci Schools are a South Bay Families Connected (SBFC) Partner District? SBFC is a youth mental health and social emotional wellness non-profit providing free online resources, support groups, educational videos and more to families at 115 schools in the South Bay. SBFC has resources, tips, articles, videos and more for both parents and teens regarding issues of stress management, depression, body image, substance abuse, social media and more. All Da Vinci Schools parents, guardians and teens are invited to visit our unique Da Vinci Schools Families Connected to access this resource, free of charge.

Thank you, all for another successful week at DVS! Students continued to celebrate Hispanic Heritage month during their advisories and enjoyed making pinatas to represent their advisory family. College visits continue to be offered during lunchtime in Mr. Perez’s classroom, and senior meetings continue to occur with our college counselor, Ms. Marquez. It was also nice to see some of you during parent office hours! Parent office hours will be held every even week. Updates for this week:

• School photos from DVS Picture Day- Student photos have been uploaded for families to purchase here: https://staceelianna.smugmug.com/DaVinciSchools/DVS-Picture-Day-2022. Students are sorted by Advisory so families can navigate to their child’s Advisory and make any purchases they’d like through the gallery.
• Canvas -Thank you for your continued patience and support as we transition to Canvas. Parents & guardians should have received an email with parent login information. We will also be sending a hard copy of your Canvas Parent Portal information with progress reports this week. Grades can be viewed through Canvas and PowerSchool.
• Progress Reports– This week, we will be sending progress reports home and any CAASPP scores from 21-22 (State Testing results for current 12th graders).
• Academic Supports- We hope classes are going well for every student. Attendance, engagement, and feedback from teachers and peers are very important in the learning process. We have many academic supports in place; including office hours, targeted support, and before and after school tutoring. We encourage all students to take advantage of these additional learning opportunities. For detailed information and availability please see this flyer: DVS Academic Supports. This information is also available under “Resources” on the DVS Blog page. Any questions about academic support, please contact our Academic Counselor, Ms. Valle, at cvalle@davincischools.org.
• School Site Council – First SSC meeting will be held this week, Thursday, Sept. 29th at 4:30 via zoom. Please use this zoom link for the meeting: SSC Zoom Link

Important Upcoming Dates:

• Wednesday, 10/12: PSAT/SAT Testing Day
• Thursday, 10/13: No School – Professional Development Day
• Friday, 10/14: No School – Professional Development Day
• Monday, 10/17 – Thursday, 10/20: Student-Led Conferences
  • For SLC Week, Monday Dismissal will be at 2:55, Tuesday-Friday Dismissal will be at 2:25
• Thursday, 11/10: Exhibition Night (grades 10th, 12th, & Spanish Dept.)
• Friday, 11/11: No School – Veterans Day Holiday
• Monday, 11/21 – Friday, 11/25: No School – Thanksgiving Break

 

Week 7 Schedule:

Hello Da Vinci Scholars and Families,

Check out the new RWL opportunities below: 

For students interested in the environment: 

SOAR Green Leadership Academy is a forward-thinking program that empowers motivated high school students to lead with an environmental mindset.  With mentorship and real-world guidance from Grades of Green staff and corporate partners, these students will collaborate together to help develop and drive better environmental standards and outcomes for industries today and for generations to come. Students will emerge from the program with a broad view of global environmental issues through a corporate lens and will prepare to enter college or the workforce with diverse, sustainable, and innovative perspectives. 

SOAR is taking off! Join a diverse group of eco-conscious high school peers in the Los Angeles area who can dedicate 5-10 hours per month to this academy. Discover a vast array of industries and the environmental impact they make and gain knowledge to develop and drive better environmental standards, impacts and outcomes. To learn more, click here. You must apply before September 30th.

For students interested in film:

Learn all the ins and outs of filmmaking as you produce short films, music videos, documentaries, and more! You will get hands-on experience with professional film equipment and be mentored by Hollywood pros at Sony, Paramount, Discovery Networks, Roku, and more! The program is 100% FREE and no experience is necessary! After the weekly program, you can intern with Fresh Films! Take your skills to the next level and work on set of TV shows & films (where 93 youth did that this summer!) Classes are available in person at The Boys and Girls Club of Los Angeles Harbor, as well as virtually. Space is limited so apply now. Registration ends October 20. To learn more, click here. 

To see a complete list of Real World Learning opportunities, please click here. 

School Site Council: Thank you to the parents and guardians who indicated an interest in the School Site Council! A reminder to all parents and guardians, please vote for parent & guardian members for our School Site Council. Voting will close on 9/23 and we plan to inform candidate members by 9/24.  We have five candidates for three positions; please vote using this form: DVS School Site Council Election Form for Parent/Guardian Representation. The three candidates with the highest number of votes will be elected to the School Site Council for the 22-23 school year. The first School Site Council Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, 9/29 at 5pm on Zoom. 

Parent Office Hours with Administration: Parent Office Hours with administration will be held every even week. Since this week is Week 6, we will be meeting at this zoom link this Thursday, September 22nd from 4:30-5:30. This will be a casual time of updating, chatting, and Q&A. 

Canvas: Thank you for your patience as we adjust to Canvas. We are working on Canvas parent portals. Parent login information should be sent out this week, parents should then have setting options to adjust notifications. Thank you for your patience and apologies for the many emails you may have been receiving from Canvas.

Dear DVS Students and Families,

We had another great week at DVS! We hope students enjoyed the Friday off as staff had a very productive Professional Development Day. We had a wonderful Community Dialogue this week. The whole school gathered in the gym to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. Thank you, Latinos Unidos, Latinx Club, and Mecha Clubs for leading the school in this celebration by sharing their personal stories of what Hispanic Heritage means to them. 

Honors: Honors rollout in classes will continue this week. Honors is an option that is available to all students. Honors projects, assignments, and criteria may vary by course. Please note the Honors Signup Form has been extended to the end of Week 6 and is due Friday, September 23rd.    

Canvas Access: Thank you for your patience as we continue to adapt and transition to Canvas as the learning management platform. Parent and guardian logins for Canvas will be issued very soon. For now, we encourage you to use your student’s login information to view course information on Canvas.

Picture Day Makeups: Last call for picture makeups and retakes will be this Tuesday, 9/20 from 9:30-10:30 am. Student IDs will be issued soon. 

School Site Council: Thank you to the parents and guardians who indicated an interest in the School Site Council! We have five candidates for three positions; please vote using this form: DVS School Site Council Election Form for Parent/Guardian Representation The three candidates with the highest number of votes will be elected to the School Site Council for the 22-23 school year. The first School Site Council Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, 9/29 at 4:30 pm on Zoom. 

Important Upcoming Dates:

• Tuesday, 9/20: Picture Day Makeups
• Thursday, 9/29: School Site Council Meeting #1 @ 4:30pm via Zoom
• Wednesday, 10/12: PSAT/SAT Testing Day
• Thursday, 10/13: No School – Professional Development Day
• Friday, 10/14: No School – Professional Development Day
• Monday, 10/17 – Thursday, 10/20: Student-Led Conferences
• Friday, 11/11: No School – Veterans Day Holiday
• Thursday, 11/10: Exhibition Night (grades 10th, 12th, & Spanish Dept.)
• Monday, 11/21 – Friday, 11/25: No School – Thanksgiving Break

Week 6 Schedule:

Have a wonderful weekend!