Archives for 2022

Hello DVC,

Here are the list of colleges that will be visiting DVC during lunch this week:

• Monday, September 19th @ 11:45 am: Grand Canyon University
• Friday September 23rd @ 11:45 am: California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona)

All college rep visits will take place in Mr. Jackson’s room (3203), no sign-up is required to attend. As a reminder, food is not allowed during the college rep visits. Students are able to grab lunch after the presentation as I will give out excuse slips to extend their lunch time.

Students of all grade levels (9-12) can attend the college rep visits.

If you have any more questions, please feel free to email me or stop by my office,

Ms. Aldrete

maldrete@davincischools.org

College & Career Counselor

Dear DVC Students and Families,

We had a terrific week at DVC! We were thrilled to welcome parents and guardians to DVC on Thursday night for Back to School Night, and we had a terrific club fair on Thursday afternoon! Shoutouts to all the club leaders who did a great job organizing and recruiting members for their clubs.

Back to School Night Follow-Up: If you weren’t able to attend Back to School Night, please watch this short video from the principals about the basics of DVC: Back to School Night Message from the Principals

PowerSchool Access: All parents and guardians at Back to School Night received PowerSchool login information. PowerSchool is our student information system, and you can find information on both grades and attendance there. We do not mail home progress reports; we ask you to check your student’s grades regularly and join us for Student-Led Conferences (SLCs) during the week of October 7th. The semester ends on Thursday, December 15, 2022, and final grades earned at this time will be recorded on the student’s high school transcript. If you have any questions regarding PowerSchool access, please contact Office Manager Jackie Martinez at jmartinez@davincischools.org. 

Canvas Access: Several teachers at DVC are using Canvas as their learning management platform. This is our first year with this new platform, so we are learning about it as we use it. It is our hope that  all teachers will transition to Canvas as our learning management platform in January. We will be issuing logins for Canvas to all parents and guardians soon; the logins will be emailed to you as soon as they are available.

Picture Day Makeups: We request that all students who have yet to take a school picture this year arrive at school ready to be photographed on Tuesday, 9/20. Students in Ms. Regina’s Period 3B, Ms. Flower’s Period 3B, and Ms. Hapner’s Period 3B will be photographed during Period 3B in the afternoon with their classes.

School Site Council: Thank you to the parents and guardians who indicated interest in the School Site Council! We have five candidates for three positions; please vote using this form: 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 Wednesday, 9/28 at 5pm on Zoom. 

Here’s what’s coming up:

• Tuesday, 9/20: Picture Day Makeups
• Wednesday, 9/28: School Site Council Meeting #1 @ 5pm via Zoom
• Wednesday, 10/12: PSAT for Grades 9, 10, & 11 / 12th Grade College Trip
• 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 (1:45pm dismissal)
• Friday, 11/11: No School – Veterans Day Holiday
• Thursday, 11/17: Exhibition Night (grades 10 & 12)
• Monday, 11/21 – Friday, 11/25: No School – Thanksgiving Break
• Thursday, 12/8 – Thursday, 12/15: Presentations of Learning – POLs (1:50pm dismissal)

Please bookmark this school calendar for the most up to date information. For all weekly schedules, please bookmark this link: DVC Weekly Schedules Year 10 (2022-2023)

Happy weekend,

Erin D’Souza, Principal

Welcome to the 2022-23 school year! We are excited to have you as a part of the Da Vinci Schools community and are looking forward to a great year together.  

We view your mental health and well-being as a priority for your success at this school. In support of this, we have invested in several resources that you can access whenever you need help. Remember, you are not alone and it is a true act of bravery and strength to seek help.  

We encourage you to visit the on-campus resources, and save the community resources so you can easily find them if you or someone you know needs help.

On campus:

• You can access help by visiting the counselors’ office.
• By signing up for support with a counselor.
• You can email your counselor.

In our community:

Da Vinci Schools has partnered with Care Solace to support our community’s mental health.

If you or a family member is looking for help with mental health or substance use, Care Solace can quickly find treatment options matched to your needs, regardless of the circumstance.

Care Solace’s care navigation services are confidential and complimentary to  Da Vinci Schools’s students, staff, and their families. Care Solace’s team is available 24/7/365 and can support you in any language.

If you would like to use Care Solace to help you find a provider:

• Call 888-515-0595 available 24/7/365
• Visit www.caresolace.com/davincischools and either search on your own OR click “Book Appointment” for assistance by video chat, email, or phone.

In an emergency:

• Call 911 or and request a Crisis Intervention Trained (C.I.T.) response
• Go to the closest emergency room for support
• Call the National Suicide Prevention & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org
• Text “Hello” or “Home” to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor
• Trevor Lifeline LGBTQQ+ Crisis Support: 1-866-488-7386

Hello DVC,

Here are the list of colleges that will be visiting DVC during lunch this week:

• Monday, September 12th @ 11:45 am: California Lutheran University
• Tuesday, September 13th @ 11:45 am: University of Redlands
• Thursday, September 15th @ 11:45 am: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly SLO)

All college rep visits will take place in Mr. Jackson’s room (3203), no sign-up is required to attend. As a reminder, food is not allowed during the college rep visits. Students are able to grab lunch after the presentation as I will give out excuse slips to extend their lunch time.

Students of all grade levels (9-12) can attend the college rep visits.

If you have any more questions, please feel free to email me or stop by my office,

Ms. Aldrete

maldrete@davincischools.org

College & Career Counselor

Dear DVC Students and Families,

We had another great week at DVC, ending the week on Friday with our first school-wide CD (i.e. school-wide assembly) where we awarded 16 students with All-Star Awards for their contributions to our DVC community so far this academic year! We also enjoyed hosting lunch visits from the college admissions representatives from both USC and Stanford. These college admissions representative visits are open to all students grades 9 – 12, and the visits will take place in Mr. Jackson’s room (3203) during lunch; no sign-up is required to attend. If you subscribe to our blog/website (dvc.davincischools.org), you also noticed that our counseling team shared information about suicide prevention in recognition of National Suicide Prevention Week. Our counselors have also started an Instagram account and you can follow them @dvccounselors. We look forward to seeing you at Back to School Night on Thursday, 9/15! Please read below for more details about this coming week and beyond.

Picture Day Makeups: Students in Period 3B English with Ms. Regina, Ms. Flower, or Ms. Hapner’s classes were unable to take their pictures due to the high winds on Friday afternoon. These pictures have been rescheduled for Tuesday, September 13th during Period 3B. If your student was absent on Thursday or Friday and missed their scheduled picture time, makeups are scheduled for this Monday, September 12th from 8:45 – 9:15am.

Back to School Night: We are excited to welcome families to DVC this Thursday, September 15th. We will be handing out schedules and PowerSchool login information from 5:15 – 5:45pm in our Black Box Theater, and our schedule allows you to travel to each of your student’s core classes to hear from their teacher about class expectations. We look forward to having you on our campus for this important evening and we thank you for making the time to attend.

Incident Reporting Form: All members of the DVC community are encouraged to report anything that would contribute to an unsafe or unhealthy learning environment to a DVC staff member as soon as possible. We also wanted to draw your attention to this Incident Reporting Form so that students can anonymously report anything they’d like to the DVC principals. We receive an email when the form is completed, and the form is linked at dvc.davincischools.org. All DVC students, parents, and guardians are welcome to contact me (Erin D’Souza, Principal) via cell phone as well. My number is (310) 350-7192. Please save it in your phone.

School Site Council: The School Site Council is an opportunity for parents, students, & staff to work collaboratively to review the school program, review data and identify needs, and make recommendations for the Local Control and Accountability Plan. If you are interested in joining the DVC School Site Council, please fill out this School Site Council Parent interest form by Wednesday, 9/14: School Site Council Interest Form All submissions will be added to a voting form that will go out to the DVC parent community on Thursday, 9/15. School Site Council members will be notified on Tuesday, 9/20. The first School Site Council Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 9/28 at 5pm on Zoom. If you have any questions, feel free to send them to me at edsouza@davincischools.org.

Club Fair: Our Club Fair will be on Thursday, 9/15 from 2:40-3:35. Please encourage your student to get involved in one or more student clubs at DVC!

Here’s what’s coming up:

• Thursday, 9/15: Club Fair
• Thursday, 9/15: Back to School Night – schedules distributed starting at 5:15pm
• Friday, 9/16: No School – Professional Development Day
• Wednesday, 9/28: School Site Council Meeting #1 @ 5pm via Zoom
• Wednesday, 10/12: PSAT for Grades 9, 10, & 11 / 12th Grade College Trip
• Thursday, 10/13: No School – Professional Development Day
• Friday, 10/14: No School – Professional Development Day

Please bookmark this school calendar for the most up to date information. For all weekly schedules, please bookmark this link: DVC Weekly Schedules Year 10 (2022-2023)

Wishing you a safe and healthy weekend,

Erin D’Souza, Principal