Da Vinci Science

Location: Galileo Room

This week is a short week for students, with a pupil-free Friday Professional Development day. Teachers will be collaborating to create and refine honors projects, which will be shared with students next week, and continuing our work to provide academic supports for students.

Students’ grades will be updated in Powerschool in all of their classes by the end of the week, and grade reports will be mailed home in week 6. Also in week 6, students will learn from their teachers how they can earn honors credit in their classes this semester, and we will be presenting a Zoom webinar explaining how mastery-based grading and honors credit works at DVS on Wednesday 9/22 at 5:00pm.

Our first School Site Council meeting of the year will take place via Zoom this Wednesday from 4:30-5:30pm. Our new School Site Council parent members Kim Beard, Leslie Ponciano, Lynnette Tucker, and Felicia Villareal will join our student and staff SSC members along with any of you who wish to attend the meeting! It’s the same link as the one we use for office hours: https://tinyurl.com/SteveGraceOfficeHours (no password required). We’d love to see you there!

Dear Parents/Guardians and Students of Da Vinci Communications, Design, Science and Connect High Schools:

Earlier this week we became aware of a threat based on postings on social media that warned of a possible shooting at our campus on Wednesday, September 8th. We immediately contacted our School Resource Officers from the El Segundo Police Department (ESPD) who initiated an immediate investigation into the matter, in collaboration with Da Vinci Schools. Thanks in large part to the volume of information received from parents, students, staff, and community members, both DV and ESPD were able to successfully investigate and identify the students involved in the incident. We followed up with communication early Wednesday morning to inform all DVC, DVD, DVS and Connect High families that our schools would be open on Wednesday after having verified that the threat was deemed not to be credible.

Here are a few updates that we would like to share with you based on follow-up questions that we have received from families after the last notification went out:

– School has continued this week safely and without any further interruptions

– ESPD and DV continue to investigate the incident in order to ensure that all the issues that came to our attention this week are fully addressed

– ESPD has continued to provide their assistance as a resource to our schools

– Students at DVC, DVD, and DVS who were present on Wednesday participated in an activity that morning provided by DVC Principal Erin D’Souza that gave the students an opportunity to discuss the incident and address it in a focused and healthy manner. Connect HS students will also have this resource available to them. > School Safety Update

– All Counselors and mental health staff have been made available to students and staff to assist in any way possible to help with any anxiety, stress, and trauma generated by this incident

– Our Critical Incident Drill which was being planned for late September/early October will be moved up to be conducted as soon as possible in collaboration with ESPD and the El Segundo Fire Department

– We will continue to review and improve our critical incident communication and procedures. Thank you to the many people who have submitted suggestions and recommendations.

Lastly, many questions were posed regarding specific information about the students involved. This type of information is referred to as Personally Identifiable Information (PII) as defined in Title 34 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 99.3. and also relates to the type of information that is categorized as a student record. Both at the state level (California Education Code 49061(b), 49076, and Title 5 California Code of Regulations 430 (b)), and the federal level through the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 34 CFR 99.31, student records are protected as confidential records and can only be accessed as provided in law.

Thank you for your support. We will continue to provide updates as needed. Our goal remains to provide the highest level of safety possible for our students and staff.

Be well and be safe,

Vicente Bravo

Chief Administrative Officer
Da Vinci Schools
201 N. Douglas Street
Office – #1308-Musician
El Segundo, CA 90245

(424) 290-3244 direct
(310) 725-5800, Ext. 1308 main
vbravo@davincischools.org

I am grateful and proud of our entire school community as we complete this week! We shared this school safety slide deck with students on Wednesday morning to debrief the situation regarding a concerning social media post that was investigated by our law enforcement partners, and our counselors have been available throughout the week to support students as a resource to help them process their thoughts and concerns and will continue to do so moving forward.

Week 5 will be a busy four-day week, including lunchtime guest speakers from 4 colleges, tryouts for girls and boys basketball, and a girls home volleyball game on Thursday afternoon! In addition, we will hold our first School Site Council meeting via Zoom in place of our regular Wednesday Parent Office Hours on Wednesday at 4:30pm. (We would appreciate you taking a moment to vote on our School Site Council members using this link!)

Students’ grades will be updated in Powerschool in all of their classes by the end of our Professional Development Day on Friday 9/17, and grade reports will be mailed home in week 6. Also in week 6, students will learn from their teachers how they can earn honors credit in their classes this semester, and we will be presenting a Zoom webinar explaining how mastery-based grading and honors credit works at DVS on Wednesday 9/22 at 5:00pm.

I wish you all a happy and safe weekend!

Many of our students have shared that they feel overwhelmed. They have ongoing concerns about COVID. They feel exhausted at the end of the day and understandably so considering they are still getting used to the transition between virtual school and school in person all day. Some feel enormous pressure surrounding college applications. Others feel anxious about their safety at school especially after the social media post earlier this week. Many of our students feel overwhelmed by a combination of the situations above. Feeling overwhelmed given the circumstances is understandable and we welcome students to talk about it.

The counselors are available to meet with students to provide support and to discuss their concerns. We also invite reaching out to us to share celebrations 😊. Students can meet with us on a drop in basis during office hours (M-F 8-8:15am, Tu: 2:15-3:20pm) or by sending us an email to schedule an appointment.

Ms. Valle (A-F), cvalle@davincischools.org

Ms. Ruiz (G-M), cruiz@davincischools.org

Ms. Rodriguez (N-Z), frodriguez@davincischools.org

Attention Seniors and their families/guardians!

The counselors would love to meet with the seniors and their family/guardians to discuss post-DVS plans which can include college, work, or taking a gap year. Please use the links below to sign up for a 30 minute time slot. The meetings will be held on Zoom. Students will go to their counselor’s office during the meeting time and families/guardians will join on Zoom. We look forward to meeting with you. – Ms. Valle, Ms. Ruiz & Ms. Rodriguez

Senior Individual Planning Meetings Sign Up

Ms. Valle (A-F)

https://calendly.com/cvalle-dvs/individual-senior-meeting

Ms. Ruiz (G-M)

https://calendly.com/carolynruiz/individual-senior-meeting

Ms. Rodriguez (N-Z)

https://calendly.com/frodriguez-01/individual-senior-meetings

Just a reminder that our weekly Parent Office Hours meeting is today at 4:30pm at this Zoom link: https://tinyurl.com/SteveGraceOfficeHours (no password required). All are welcome to drop in anytime between 4:30-5:30 to ask us questions and share your perspectives and experiences with us, and you don’t need to stay the whole time!

Dear Parents/Guardians and Students of Da Vinci Communications, Design, Science and Connect High Schools:

Last night some of you may have received texts, emails and/or calls from students, parents and community members about a threat to our schools posted on a social media platform that was then further disseminated on other social media sites.

After having received the initial notification about the threat, the El Segundo Police Department (ESPD) was contacted and they immediately launched an investigation in collaboration with Da Vinci Schools regarding this matter. They were provided with all necessary information including information that we received last night from students, parents, and DV staff members. Thanks to everyone’s assistance and cooperation, the individual(s) involved were identified and the matter has been dealt with safely.

Having verified that the threat was deemed not to be credible, has been neutralized, and that those involved have been dealt with, the affected schools, DV Communications, Design, Science and Connect high schools will be open and in session today, Wednesday, September 8, 2021.

All of our safety measures will be in place as always and we will make sure to do everything possible to continue to provide a safe learning environment for our students and staff. In an abundance of caution, ESPD will have officers present on site throughout the day.

If you have any questions or further concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

Be well and be safe,

Vicente Bravo
Chief Administrative Officer
Da Vinci Schools
201 N. Douglas Street
Office – #1308-Musician
El Segundo, CA 90245
(424) 290-3244 direct
(310) 725-5800, Ext. 1308 main
vbravo@davincischools.org

This week, we have college reps doing Zoom visits with DVS students at lunchtime from UCSB, USC, the University of New Mexico, and the University of Redlands! Students from all grades are invited to attend, learn about the schools, and ask their questions. See Steve or Grace or a counselor if you have any questions. We encourage all students to begin thinking about college options right from the start!

Our 2021-2022 Calendar has several updates, including our first School Site Council meeting next Wednesday 9/15 (please fill out this short form if you are interested in joining our School Site Council!), the Student Club Fair and rollout of Honors options for students in week 6, and webinars in weeks 6-8 with information for parents on our Mastery-Based Grading system and our College Counseling plans for each grade level. Zoom links to those webinars will be coming soon!

On October 13, we will host an “SAT School Day” in which all DVS students will take the SAT (12th graders), PSAT (10th & 11th graders), or PSAT 8/9 (9th graders) free of charge during the school day. More information about the SAT School Day will be shared at the college counseling webinars in weeks 7 and 8. You can also access more information about our college counseling resources on this page of the Counseling Corner!