Da Vinci Science

We had another great week at DVS! Students started seminars this week and are enjoying the opportunity to explore unique interests. Thank you for a great Back to School Night! It was to see families on campus, and hopefully, parents and guardians could get a taste of their student’s daily experience here at DVS. If you were unable to make it, here are some links that may be helpful (these links are also on the DVS blog site): 

DVS Course Syllabi 

Staff Office Hours and Email Addresses

Directions for Parent & Guardian Access to Canvas and PowerSchool 

We hope all students and families enjoy the well-deserved Labor Day weekend! No School, Monday, September 2nd.

Announcements & Reminders for Week 3:

• Seminars started on Wednesday, 8/28! Students have until Friday, 9/6 at 2:30pm to submit a seminar change request using this form (requires a student Da Vinci Google account). Please note that submitting a seminar change request does NOT guarantee fulfillment of the request; however, we will do our best to honor your interests as long as the request is received before the deadline. Requests received after that time will only be granted in special circumstances with counselor and/or admin approval. Please allow counselors two school days to process requests.

• Honors work is available for many courses at DVS. Most honors courses are not a separate period but are integrated into the regular coursework. This could look like additional assignments and projects or the requirement to demonstrate higher levels of mastery and understanding. Below is the timeline for the Fall 2024 semester:

• • Honors Launch Week: Week 3 (9/3-9/6)
  • Honors Contracts due: Week 5 Friday, 9/20
  • Honors Commitment Deadline: Week 9 Friday, 10/18
  • Specific honors requirements for each course can be found in this Honors Programs & Contracts doc. Contract links will be updated after the Honors Launch week. 

• DVS Family Coffee Time: Every first Wednesday of the month, we will have an open “Coffee Time” where parents, guardians, and students can drop in to ask administration and staff questions and receive updates on school happenings. These coffee times will be held on Zoom; parents are welcome to attend in person. We will have our first DVS Families Coffee Time this Wednesday, September 4th, from 4:15-5:15 using this Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/3108950461  

Week 3 Schedule: 

Important Upcoming Dates: 

• Monday, 9/2: Labor Day Holiday – No School
• Tuesday, 9/10: Advisory Leaders leave for Overnighter
• Wednenesday, 9/11 – Thursday, 9/12: Freshmen Overnighter
• Friday, 9/13: Professional Development Day – No School
• Friday, 9/20: Honors Contracts Due 
• Monday, 9/23: Blood Drive
• Wednesday, 9/25: 11th Grade NACAC Field Trip in Los Angeles 

Some Highlights from the Week: 

Youth and Government Office Retreat at Camp Whittle in Big Bear

 

Freshmen physicists looking for the relationship between shoe size and height

Chemistry students practice lab skills by making ice cream

Lunch Fun- Wolfie says hello!

 

   

Helpful Links:

DV/Wiseburn Athletics  

DVS Planning Calendar

DVS News YouTube Channel

DVS Photos Link

It was a great first week of school! Students were happy to see old friends, meet new friends, and jump right into learning and community building. It’s going to be a great school year! 

We are excited to invite parents and guardians to Back-to-School Night on Thursday, August 29th, 2024. Please note that this is an evening designed for parents and guardians to be in their children’s classrooms and learn about the courses they are taking. Students are not required to attend. Parents and guardians will go directly to classrooms for a meet and greet with teachers (there will be no whole school assembly). Since space in each classroom will be limited, some parents/guardians may need to stand when the room is full.

The schedule for this evening will be as follows:

5:30-5:40 Greetings and Welcome 

5:45-5:55 Period 1

6:00-6:10 Period 2

6:15-6:25 Period 3

6:30-6:40 Period 4

6:45-6:55 Period 5

7:00-7:10 Period 6 

7:15-7:30 Advisory

Please be on the lookout for an email next week with the Back to School Night (BTSN) information and your student’s schedule.

Week 2 Schedule (8/26-8/30):

Have a great weekend and we look forward to seeing you at BTSN next week! 

 

9th grade Physics – Design Your Own Experiment Vocabulary Activity

Advanced Physics- Frozen T-shirt Challenge 

9th Graders sharing what they want out of their high school experience at DVS

Sophomores racing to complete puzzles during Grade Level Time!

Pre-Calculus Students already grinding as they finish their summer packets! 

Welcome Back to School, DVS Families! We hope you had a wonderful summer!

Thank you for coming to our Welcome Orientation last night. It was so great to meet new families and reconnect with returning families. We are excited for a great school year!

For those of you who were unable to attend last night’s welcome orientation, the slide deck is available here: Welcome Orientation 2024

Our First Day of School is this Monday, August 19th! 

School start time is at 8:50am and dismissal is at 3:55pm. In the morning, students will be in the backyard until 8:50am. We will then have an all-school gathering outside before students head upstairs with their advisory teachers (students, be sure to stay with DVS as other schools will be going inside).

Week 1 Schedule:

A copy of students’ schedules will be given during Advisory at the beginning of the day. Schedule Change Requests are now open. If you would like to make a change to your schedule, please fill out this form Fall 2024 Schedule Change Request. Please allow your hard-working counselors 1-2 school days to process your request. Note that not all requests can be accommodated, but we will do the best we can. All course requests must be submitted by Friday, August 30th 2:30pm.

Have a great weekend and we will see you on Monday! 

Hello DVS Families! 

We are excited to invite you to the DVS Welcome Orientation on Thursday, August 15th! 

This will be a time for families (students and guardians) to come to campus by grade level to hear pertinent school information, receive student schedules, and tour the campus. Some staff and student leaders will be on campus to greet and help you. If students are unable to attend this event, they will receive their schedules on the first day of school, Monday, August 19th.  

Da Vinci Science’s Welcome Orientation will follow the schedule below:

9th Grade

3:00-3:30 9th Grade Presentation in the Black Box Theatre

3:30-4:00 Schedule Pick-up, Meet & Greet with teachers on the DVS floor (2nd floor)

10th Grade

4:00-4:30 10th Grade Presentation in the Black Box Theatre

4:30-5:00 Schedule Pick-up, Optional Self or Student-led Tour on campus floor (2nd floor)

11th Grade

4:30-5:00 11th Grade Presentation in the Black Box Theatre

5:00-5:30 Schedule Pick-up, Optional Self or Student-led Tour on campus floor (2nd floor)

12th Grade

5:00-5:30 12th Grade Presentation in the Black Box Theatre

5:30-6:00 Schedule Pick-up, Optional Self or Student-led Tour on campus floor (2nd floor)

We hope to see you there!

» Read more

Hello DVS Families,

We hope you are having a wonderful summer thus far. There is still a lot of summer left to be enjoyed! More information to come as we get ready for the 2024-2025 school year. For now, here are some important upcoming “Save the Dates” for your planning purposes: 

• Welcome Orientation – Thursday, August 15th
  • 9th Grade: 3:00-4:00 
  • 10th Grade: 4:00-5:00 
  • 11th Grade: 4:30-5:30
  • 12t Grade: 5:00-6:00
• First Day of School – Monday, August 19th 
• Back to School Night – Thursday, August 29th 
• Freshmen Overnighter- Wednesday-Thursday, September 11-12th

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

And that’s a wrap! We had a wonderful last day of school yesterday and a Graduation ceremony this morning. As the 2023-2024 school year officially comes to a close, we’d like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of you, parents, guardians, families, and community members. Your unwavering support this school year has been instrumental in our success, and we are truly grateful for it.

It was an honor to celebrate the Class of 2024 this morning. Congratulations to our DVS Class of 2024 Graduates! We wish you all the best in your next adventure in life. You are always welcome to come back “HOME” and visit! Graduation photos have been uploaded for families here – you may access and download them for FREE thanks to our incredible photographer Stacee Lianna: https://staceelianna.smugmug.com/DaVinciSchools/Da-Vinci-Science/

• Report Cards: will be sent out through mail early next week. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to front office manager, Liz Valle:  ediaz@davincischools.org.
• Summer School: (for credit recovery): Session 1: June 11-June 28, Session 2: July 9-July 25. For questions, please contact Summer School Coordinator, Ms. Lodhy: slodhy@davincischools.org.

• Class of 2025 Senior Portraits: The class of 2025 should sign up to take their senior portrait with our photographer, Stacee Lianna, this summer at this link: https://book.usesession.com/i/BVNtg0TnF. Questions can be directed to seniors@staceelianna.com.

Monday, August 19th, is the first day of school for students in the 2024-2025 school year. We will see you in August!

From all of us at Da Vinci Science, we wish all of you a wonderful and safe summer break!

 

Last day of School:

Congratulations Class of 2024!

Happy last week of school! And just like that, we are at the last few days of the 2023-2024 school year! It is so true that time flies when you’re having fun. This is especially true in our case, as DVS students have been working hard, learning tons, and building and creating new learning experiences together all year. We are so proud of all of our students.  

We had a successful POL week this past week. Students did a fantastic job summarizing their learning, articulating their thinking, teaching a new skill, expressing their reflections and growth, and presenting their final research presentations. In addition, during extended learning room sessions, students learned more about the college application from UCLA ambassadors, discussed their leadership style and contributions to DVS school culture, participated in resume building and mock interview panels, received joy and mental health wellness from therapy dogs, and more! Thank you, students, staff, and community partners, for providing real-world learning experiences.

We are gearing up to send off and graduate the DVS Class of 2024! We had a wonderful time at Disneyland Grad Night 2024.

Week 38 Schedule: This is the last week of school! Please note the early dismissal time of 2:25 this week. The last day of school is Wednesday, June 5th.

Announcements & Reminders for Week 38:

• Grades and Report Cards: PowerSchool access has been turned off during final grade processing. Access will be returned, and report cards will be mailed home once grades are finalized for the Spring 2024 semester. Teachers will be working on final grades until Friday, June 7th. We appreciate your patience.

• Yearbook: Yearbooks have arrived and have been distributed to students who pre-ordered them. If you have not gotten your Yearbook yet, you can pick it up at the DVS front desk.

• Class of 2025 Senior Portraits: Rising seniors- it’s your turn!  The class of 2025 should sign up to take their senior portrait with our photographer, Stacee Lianna, this summer at this link: https://book.usesession.com/i/BVNtg0TnF. Questions can be directed to seniors@staceelianna.com.
• Summer School Notices: Summer School Notices were emailed and sent home with students last week if their grades and course status as of Week 36 demonstrated that they may benefit from attending Summer School. Once grades are finalized, another notice with an updated status will be sent. Please direct any course and summer school scheduling questions to academic counselors.
  • Classes of 2024 and 2026: Corinne Valle (cvalle@davincischools.org)  
  • Classes of 2025 and 2027: Carolyn Ruiz (cruiz@davincischools.org) 
• College Essay Writing Workshops: DVS is partnering with CollegeWise to provide College Essay Writing Workshops at DVS over the summer for the Class of 2025. This is a great opportunity for students to receive support in the most challenging part of the college application process- the essay questions. These workshops will be at no cost for families and will take place on June 24th or August 15th. Students can use this link to sign up for one 2-hour slot. Priority will go to rising 12th-grade students.  

• 24-25 Da Vinci Calendar can be found on the DV Website linked here: DV 24-25 Calendar 
• Graduation Ceremony: The DVS Class of 2024 Graduation Ceremony will be held on Thursday, June 6th at 9:00am. Details about the ceremony and guest registration were emailed to graduate families on Monday. Here is a copy of Graduation Ceremony Information.
• Yearbook

Important Upcoming Dates: 

• Monday, 6/3: 11th Grade This DV Life
• Tuesday, 6/4: Senior Breakfast & Grad Rehearsal
• Tuesday, 6/4: 11th Grade Park Field Trip
• Wednesday, 6/5: Last Day of School (minimum day)
• Thursday, 6/6: Class of 2024 Graduation Ceremony @ 9am
• First Day of School 2024-2025 School Year: August 19th 

 

Helpful Links:

DV/Wiseburn Athletics  

DVS Planning Calendar 

DVS Announcements Slidedeck  

DVS News YouTube Channel

DVS Photos Link

9th Grade Park Day

Great week of POLs

 

Thank you Paws-to-Share!

Mental Health Awareness Month- Lunchtime Yoga with Dr. Taube!

 

Grad Night 2024

 

We had our last week of core instruction this week! The students did a great job presenting their final projects – Beats Project in Physics (9th grade), Chemistry of Coffee (10th grade), Biomimicry Prototypes (12th grade), and Civil Engineering Open House celebrating Tiny House 4.0! We are so proud of our student’s hard work and learning this school year. We still have a bit to go with POL week coming up.

We look forward to seeing our students’ Presentations of Learning! Parents are welcome and encouraged to see their student’s POL. We also planned Extended Learning Rooms on non-POL days, including learning activities such as resume building, hearing from college reps, interview skills, mental health workshops, school culture building workshops, Pawsitively Stress-Free Break (play or pet dogs from Paws-to-Share), and more. We expect and hope all students to be in attendance during POL week.    

In observance of Memorial Day Weekend, there will be no school on Monday, 5/27. Thank you to all veterans who served and sacrificed to serve our country. 

Announcements & Reminders for Week 37:

• Summer School Notices: Summer School Notices were emailed and sent home with students this week if their grades and course status as of Week 36 demonstrated that they may benefit from attending Summer School. Please direct any course and summer school scheduling questions to academic counselors.
  • Classes of 2024 and 2026: Corinne Valle (cvalle@davincischools.org)  
  • Classes of 2025 and 2027: Carolyn Ruiz (cruiz@davincischools.org) 
• College Essay Writing Workshops: DVS is partnering with CollegeWise to provide College Essay Writing Workshops at DVS over the summer for the Class of 2025. This is a great opportunity for students to receive support in the most challenging part of the college application process- the essay questions. These workshops will be at no cost for families and will take place on June 24th or August 15th. Students can use this link to sign up for one 2 hour slot. Priority will go to rising 12th grade students.  
• Course Requests for 2024-2025 School Year: It is that time of year to plan for the 2024-2025 school year. Students in 9th, 10th, and 11th grade were given this Course Planning Worksheet this week and instructions to submit this Course Request Form by Friday, May 31st (students should use their Da Vinci Google account to access the form).
• Presentations of Learning: Presentations of Learning (POLs) and Senior Research Presentations (SRPs) will begin the week of May 28th. Click here for an information sheet for families with details about presentations of learning. Specific information about the format, requirements, and preparation process for POLs and SRPs will be communicated from teachers.
• 11th Grade CHYA Presentations: Nurse Titsyana Lucero will be reviewing the health & sexual education curriculum (“CHYA”, or “California Healthy Youth Act”) with juniors in Extended Learning Rooms during POL week. Click this link to read the notification letter from Dr. Green. If you have any questions about the content that will be covered, please email Dr. Green at egreen@davincischools.org. Parents have the right to “opt-out” of this presentation for their child; if you wish to do so, please email Saya Wai, DVS Assistant Principal, at swai@davincischools.org. 

• 24-25 Da Vinci Calendar can be found on the DV Website linked here: DV 24-25 Calendar 
• Graduation Ceremony: The DVS Class of 2024 Graduation Ceremony will be held on Thursday, June 6th at 9:00am. Details about the ceremony and guest registration were emailed to graduate families on Monday. Here is a copy of Graduation Ceremony Information.

 

Week 37 Schedule:

Important Upcoming Dates: 

• Monday, 5/27: Memorial Day Holiday – No School
• Tuesday, 5/28 – Tuesday, 6/4: Presentations of Learning (minimum days)
• Wednesday, 5/29: 9th Grade Park Field Trip
• Friday, 5/31: Disneyland Grad Nite
• Monday, 6/3: 11th Grade This DV Life
• Tuesday, 6/4: Senior Breakfast & Grad Rehearsal
• Tuesday, 6/4: 11th Grade Park Field Trip
• Wednesday, 6/5: Last Day of School (minimum day)
• Thursday, 6/6: Class of 2024 Graduation Ceremony @ 9am
• First Day of School 2024-2025 School Year: August 19th 

 

Helpful Links:

DV/Wiseburn Athletics  

DVS Planning Calendar 

DVS Announcements Slidedeck  

DVS News YouTube Channel

DVS Photos Link