Week 34 Schedule
What an eventful week last week! After much preparation and anticipation, Da Vinci Science completed the WASC visit last week. WASC committee members spent time with all stakeholders, including the Da Vinci Board, Central Office, parents, students, alumni, teachers, and staff. They spent the week observing our school and getting to know all that occurs in our school daily. The reviews were overwhelmingly positive and members shared comments such as, “students were so engaged in their learning,” “students were so respectful of all their teachers,” “such a supportive parent community,” and “kids are getting learning experiences we haven’t seen at other schools.” A heartfelt thank you to all of our students, families, and community members for all the support and hard work to make our school the best it can be for our students. We are very grateful and proud of the work we do here at DVS, and we couldn’t do it without your support.
Thank you, students and families, for a beautiful Teacher Appreciation Week! Teachers and Staff felt all the love and appreciation and received delicious meals, coffee, snacks, treats, notes, and gifts throughout the week. Thank you for your generosity, thoughtfulness, and time in making our teachers and staff feel special.
With less than five weeks of school left and three weeks of instruction before POL week, we encourage students to finish the semester strong and to keep striving for excellence.
DVS also wants to wish our special, loving, hard-working, amazing, wonderful moms out there a very Happy Mother’s Day!
Week 34 Schedule:
Week 34 Announcements:
- Progress Reports: The last grade update of the semester before final report cards happened earlier this week. Please check your snail mail boxes in a week or so for progress reports that were just mailed home. All coursework and grading information will continue to be through Canvas.Student and Parent/Guardian Canvas Link: https://davincischools.instructure.com. Additional Canvas resources are available at the bottom of the Academics page on our blog
- Course Selection for 2025-2026 School Year: Students will be hearing about the course selection process for next school year’s classes this week in their English classes. The 25-26 Course Selection Form will be posted on Canvas at the end of the week. Here is a list of 25-26 courses (some courses subject to change based on enrollment).
- 2025-2026 Calendar: Posted on Da Vinci Schools Website
- Technology Reminder: It was brought to our attention this week that a concerning Tik Tok trend that encourages students to tamper with devices is circulating. Please remind students that any attempts to tamper with school technology or bypass restrictions (such as filters, network settings, or device configurations) are strictly prohibited and may result in disciplinary action. Thank you for helping us maintain a safe and secure learning environment.
- 11th Grade CHYA Refresh Presentations: Dr. Emily Green and Nurse Titsyana Lucero will be presenting a refresh of the health & sexual education curriculum (“CHYA”, or “California Healthy Youth Act”) during 11th grade biology classes Monday-Wednesday, May 12th-14th. 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.
- Junior College Planning Meetings: Ms. Marquez is hosting the Individual Post-DVS Planning Meetings with juniors and their parent/guardian. Every Junior is expected to schedule a meeting and have at least one parent/guardian present. However, if a parent/guardian is unable to attend, students are still expected to sign up. This meeting can be in person, over the phone or via Zoom. These meetings can also be conducted in Spanish, if needed. Meeting information:
- Meeting sign-up
- Meeting Agenda
- Complete the Parent/Guardian Letter
- Build a college list using your A-G GPA as your baseline and SAT/ACT test scores, if applicable. For your reference, here is the Just for Juniors presentation Ms. Valle and Ms. Marquez did prior to spring break which will support in GPA calculations and building college lists.
- If you have any questions about the Individual Junior College Planning Meeting, please reach out to Ms. Marquez, College and Career Counselor, directly (fmarquez@davincischools.org). If you have questions about your transcript, please reach out to Ms. Valle, Academic and Wellness Counselor for the Class of 2026 (cvalle@davincischools.org). We look forward to meeting with each of you to discuss your Post-DVS Plans!
- 2025 DVS Yearbook: The 2025 yearbook is ready to purchase at the school yearbook at Varsity Press. Click here for link. Prices start at $55 and are soon to change.
- Spring Parent Survey: Your feedback is important to us. All families should have received a survey in their email inbox from Kelvin Education.
- Subject: We Want to Hear From You – Take the Da Vinci Family Survey! This spring survey includes questions about school culture, teaching and learning, student experiences, and overall satisfaction. Please take the survey by Friday, May 21. Your voice is essential, and every voice counts!
- Parent Association
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- You all – DVS Families – made a huge impact this week for Teacher and Staff Appreciation week. A sincere thank you to everyone who donated items, time, money or sent in words of appreciation and/or supported their students to say “thank you” to someone on campus this week. We also thank the Second Wind restaurant who graciously donated lunch for teachers and staff this past Monday.
- It’s been great to see students and parents wearing their new DVS gear from the DVSPA fundraiser. Wednesday, 5/21 will be the last day to ORDER DVSPA MERCH for this school year. Get your order in today for distribution before the end of the school year. Images and more details in this DVSPA Spring Merch flyer.
- Let’s Celebrate – Join fellow DVS parents for dinner and connection at the DVSPA meeting/social Wed 5/21 at 5:30pm. We will be meeting at Terra Coffee and Boba/The Second Wind restaurant, 747 N Douglas St, to reflect and celebrate. Please come and bring any ideas you have for service projects to support our DVS community
Important Upcoming Dates:
- Monday, 5/12 Senior Beach Day
- Monday, 5/12 9th Grade Fulcrum Day
- Wednesday, 5/21 DVS Parent Association Meeting at 5:30pm
- Monday, 5/26 Memorial Day Holiday – No School
- Tuesday, 5/27 Last Day of TTh Seminar
- Wednesday, 5/28 Last Day of MW Seminar
- Tuesday, 6/3 9th Grade POLs Begin
- Wednesday, 6/4 10th Grade POLs and 12th Grade SRPs Begin
- Thursday, 6/5 11th Grade POLs Begin
- Friday, 6/6 Disneyland Grad Nite
- Tuesday, 6/10 Senior Breakfast & Grad Rehearsal
- Wednesday, 6/11 Last Day of the 2024-2025 School Year
- Thursday, 6/12 Class of 2025 Graduation at 1:00pm
- 2025-2026 School Year: First Day of School, Monday, August 18th
Helpful Links:
Some Highlights from the Week:
Advanced Physics calculating the thickness of their hair using laser diffraction patterns
HBS Juniors got a visit from doctors from Torrance Memorial Community Center and learned about the pharmacy profession. They practiced injecting an intramuscular vaccine to Patient Orange. Thank you, TMMC!
Students in HBS – hands-on learning with lungs
11th-grade pathway students and SWE visited Cal Poly SLO to experience their “Learn By Doing” philosophy at the college level.
Thank you for a beautiful Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week! We are so grateful to our parents and students!
