Archives for 2021

Happy Saturday, DVC Families!

We had a great week at DVC! One of the highlights was the return of our Advisory class, where we were able to listen to students share the story of their name. We love learning more about our students and giving them the opportunity to learn more about each other!

A few updates:

Student-Led Conferences (SLCs): We are looking forward to connecting with our families during Student-Led Conferences. SLCs will take place from Monday, October 11 – Thursday, October 14. Students will be scheduling conferences with their advisory teacher so that each family gets a personalized experience. Stay tuned for more information about sign ups next week. We are still determining if the conferences will be in-person, via zoom, or both. It is always our goal to meet with 100% of our families. We appreciate you prioritizing this important conference with your student and your student’s advisory teacher.

PSAT & SAT Testing for All Students: On Wednesday, October 13, DVC will be administering the PSAT and the SAT on campus for all students (grades 9, 10, 11, and 12). We are happy to be able to provide this opportunity for our students to be college-ready at no cost to our families. Students will learn more information about this upcoming test in their classes. 

Makeup Picture Days: You can purchase your student’s school photo by checking in the folder of your student’s advisory teacher: DVC School Photos (need name of advisory teacher) Proceeds from the purchase of your student’s photo support DVC. For students who missed the photo day, makeup photos are scheduled for Thursday, 9/30 and Friday, 10/1.

College Visits: We continue to have college representatives visit DVC during lunchtime. Students are informed of the colleges and invited to attend through Google Classroom. Check out our Instagram page @dvchighschool for some student interviews after talking to the USC representative! If you would like to get more information about college, please contact our counselor who specializes in college readiness, Ms. Monique Aldrete at maldrete@davincischools.org.

Chromebooks for Home Use: If you are still in need of a chromebook for your student to use at home, please contact Ms. Jackie Martinez at jmartinez@davincischools.org. We have issued many chromebooks to students who have requested and filled out paperwork, and we would like to make sure that each student who needs access to a computer at home is able to have it. 

Emergency Lockdown Drill: Our DVC students did a fantastic job with the emergency lockdown drill we had on Thursday, 9/23. Though it saddens us to have to think about this kind of danger at a school, we are grateful to partner with the El Segundo Police Department to make DVC the safest environment it can be. We continue to urge students who have concerns regarding safety to report these concerns immediately to any DVC staff member (including me at 310-350-7192) or to use the Incident Reporting Form, which is linked on the blog (dvc.davincischools.org) and the website (tinyurl.com/dvcwebsite) and allows for complete anonymity if desired. 

Please see this week’s schedule at this post and also at tinyurl.com/dvcwebsite.

Wishing you an enjoyable weekend,

Erin D’Souza

Principal

Hello DVC Families!

We had a great club fair last week, with over two dozen clubs representing and promoting their groups. In case your student missed it, here is a list of the clubs for the 2021-22 school year, with descriptions and contact info for student leaders. Please note that students will need to be signed into DV accounts to view this list.

If you have any questions, please reach out to adaramola@davincischools.org.

Club List Link 

As previously mentioned, Da Vinci Communications, Da Vinci Design, Da Vinci Science, and Da Vinci Connect High School will be conducting a Critical Incident Drill on Thursday, September 23, 2021. This drill is an important part of our continued efforts each year to maintain a safe and secure school environment. The drill will take place at 10:10 a.m. and will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. Teachers have been working with students during classes to prepare for this drill.

As part of our safety and emergency procedures, Da Vinci Schools has adopted elements of the “Run-Hide-Fight” program designed to provide various options to our students and staff. Our drill will focus on the “HIDE” component which is also referred to as “shelter in place”. Other components will be practiced during our Fire Drills planned for next month. During tomorrow’s drill, students will have a chance to practice the proper response if a critical incident were to occur such as an intruder on campus or any other incident requiring a lockdown of the school. Please help us by reminding students to:

• Listen and Follow the instructions of their teacher or staff member in the room at the time of the drill
• Stay quiet during the duration of the drill
• Silence/turn off their cell phones and stay off their phone during the duration of the drill
• Wait for the “All Clear” announcement to indicate the drill has concluded

Our School Resource Officer, Officer Josh Gilberts will be joined by other officers from the El Segundo Police Department, members of the El Segundo Fire Department, and our site administrators in observing the drill and providing feedback on our emergency processes and procedures. Staff and students will also debrief after the drill to provide additional input and recommendations in order to continue to improve our response efforts.

Please keep in mind that in order for our schools to remain informed and responsive, parents/guardians and students are always encouraged to report any concerns or potential threats. If you have any questions regarding this drill or any of our other safety procedures, please reply to this email or contact the administration of your child’s school. Thank you for your continued cooperation and support in maintaining the safety and welfare of our students and staff.

Hello DVC Students,

DigiPen Institute of Technology will be visiting DVC today during lunch! Their majors include:

• Video Game Design
• Music/Sound Design
• Computer Science
• Computer Engineering
• Digital Art and Animation

If you’re interested in attending this rep visit, please come to my office at 12:00 pm and I will dismiss you for lunch 15 minutes early to grab food and eat outside before the presentation.

The Rep Visit will be taking place in Jackson’s room (3203) and all grades are welcome.

Ms. Aldrete

College & Career Counselor

Hello DVC Families,

We are currently in the midst of our Honors launch weeks! DVC offers many honors courses that challenge our students in grades 9-12. Please see the attached Honors document for more information on courses, policies, and GPA weighting.

DVC Honors Policy