Dear DVC Students and Families,

We had a great week at DVC and we’re looking forward to week 8! Please see some notes below – be sure to look out for Student-Led Conference (SLC) sign ups on Monday, 10/3. Students will be receiving sign-up links and information during grade-level homeroom.

Canvas Access: Canvas is our new learning management platform. All parents/guardians should have received an email with access to Canvas this week. One of the reasons we adopted Canvas is because parents and students did not have a single place where they could access both assignments and grades. With Canvas, both assignments and grades can be accessed with the same login. We are excited for all teachers to use Canvas in January, and we have a brave team of teachers who have been working this semester on the best way to use this awesome new platform. The list of teachers currently using Canvas this semester is as follows:

• Ms. Noemy Carrillo, Spanish 1
• Mr. David Wilson, Algebra 1 & Data Science
• Ms. Regina Flores, English 9
• Mr. Andy Galbraith, Computer Science
• Mr. Einstein Lopez, Physics
• Ms. Dani Guerrero, World History
• Ms. Lolita Go, Biology
• Mr. Tim Regalado, Government
• Mr. Christopher Jackson, College & Career Readiness
• Mr. Gerardo Sandoval, Geometry, PreCalculus & Calculus

PowerSchool Access: PowerSchool remains our student information system, and you can access your student’s attendance records from PowerSchool. Many parents/guardians received login information for PowerSchool at Back to School Night. If you don’t have access to PowerSchool, please know that an email with instructions about how to set up a parent/guardian account is coming soon.

PSAT for Grades 9, 10, & 11: Please note that 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students will take the PSAT on Wednesday, October 12th. It is important that all students bring a calculator to school with them as there are parts of the test that allow for calculators and we do not have enough calculators for every student at the same time. The start time of the test is 8:30am; please make every effort to arrive at school on time. A late arrival may mean that a student is not able to participate in this college-entrance preparation test.

Student-Led Conferences (SLCs): Parents & guardians are expected to attend their student’s conference during the week of 10/17. Signups will be made available to students on Monday, 10/3 during Grade-Level Homeroom. The first two days (10/17 and 10/18) will be in person, on campus conferences. The next two days (10/19 and 10/20) will be virtual conferences through Zoom. Please reserve the Zoom options for families that have no other option and need a Zoom meeting. Here is a recap of the information below:

• Monday, October 17th from 2:00 – 3:30 PM (In person, on campus conferences)
• Tuesday, October 18th from 2:00 – 3:30 PM (In person, on campus conferences)
• Wednesday, October 19th from 2:00 – 3:30 PM (Virtual conferences through Zoom)
• Thursday, October 20th from 2:00 – 3:30 PM (Virtual conferences through Zoom)

Here’s what’s coming up:

• 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 (1:50pm 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)

Sincerely,

Erin D’Souza, Principal

Dear DVC Students and Families,

We’ve had so many terrific colleges and universities come to visit us so far this year, and there are 4 great opportunities for students of all grade levels to meet with admissions representatives this week! Here is the list of colleges that will be visiting DVC during lunch this week:

• Monday, September 26th @ 11:45 am: Stony Brook University
• Tuesday, September 27th @ 11:45 am: U.S. Marine Corps
• Thursday, September 29th @ 11:45 am: University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC)
• Friday, September 30th @ 11:45 am: California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) *VIRTUAL*

All college rep visits will take place in Mr. Jackson’s room (3203), no sign-up is required to attend. 

School Site Council: Please join me in congratulating our 2022-2023 Parent/Guardian Members of the DVC School Site Council! Our first meeting will be held virtually at 5pm on Wednesday, 9/28. All meetings are open to the students and families of DVC with the first 5 minutes reserved for public comment. The agenda for our first meeting is also below.

School Site Council Parent/Guardian Members 2022-2023

• Liza Somilleda
• Debbie Felt
• Stacie Ottley

Agenda for Meeting on Wednesday, 9/28 at 5pm (Zoom Link Here)

1. Welcome + What’s New @ DVC
2. Review Bylaws + Robert’s Rules 
3. Elect Officers
4. LCAP Review
5. Update Proposed Agendas for 2022-2023

Here’s what’s coming up:

• 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 (1:50pm 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)

Sincerely,

Erin D’Souza, Principal

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

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

Dear DVC Students and Families,

I hope you are enjoying the Labor Day holiday and trying to stay cool and healthy this weekend! Last week, the Class of 2026 had a terrific time at The Overnighter. Students were immersed in DVC culture by building relationships, having fun, playing games, and engaging in meaningful discussions about the type of school they want to have, and the type of people they want to be. Thank you to all the parents, students, and staff that made this event possible! We are especially grateful to the Da Vinci Schools Board of Trustees for approving this special trip.

Week 4 Schedule: We have a busy four-day week ahead of us, including the launch of FLEX Block, Honors, and our School Picture Days!

• FLEX Block: FLEX Block is a time for all students to choose which class they’d like to attend for extra help and support. Students will be presented with their options on the first day of the week during Grade-Level Homeroom. During that time, they will select their FLEX Blocks for the remainder of the week. 
• Honors: The purpose of the honors program at DVC is to allow all students the opportunity to demonstrate deeper learning in a subject area, emulating conditions that best prepare students for a rigorous college or university program upon high school graduation. Students who successfully meet the honors requirements in a course earn an honors designation in that course on their transcript as well as an additional point added to their GPA. Teachers will be explaining how honors will work in their classes starting this week.
• Picture Days: Students will be taking pictures in their English classes on Thursday, 9/8 and Friday, 9/9. Your picture day is whichever day you have English class.
• School Site Council Meeting: We have rescheduled our first School Site Council Meeting and the new date is Wednesday, 9/28. Stay tuned for more information about participating in our School Site Council this year!

Here’s what’s coming up:

• Tuesday, 9/6: FLEX Block Begins
• Thursday, 9/8: DVC Picture Day (during English class)
• Friday, 9/9: DVC Picture Day  (during English class)
• Thursday, 9/15: Club Fair
• Thursday, 9/15: Back to School Night @ 5:30pm
• Friday, 9/16: No School – Professional Development Day
• Wednesday, 9/28: School Site Council Meeting #1 
• 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)

Sincerely,

Erin D’Souza, Principal