I hope your families are all healthy and well-rested from our break! We are excited to welcome students back to campus for school on Monday morning. Students will begin the day in their Period 1A classes where they will receive their class schedules and important information related to updated COVID safety protocols and practices. Please note that students’ schedules may have changed for second semester as we balance classes. Our schedule for the first week of second semester is shown here. We encourage students to select their FLEX Block assignments before 11:59pm at DVC FLEX Block Website.
For students who are unable to come to school, class information and assignments will continue to be available via Google Classroom. All students who are feeling healthy and who are at home are encouraged to keep up digitally with assignments and videoconference during their teachers’ scheduled virtual office hours. Please see this link for virtual office hours information: DVC Zooms for Students in Quarantine Please contact Pattie Foxman in our office at pfoxman@davincischools.org to notify us if your child is going to be absent from school.
Grade-Level Time: We are not beginning seminar classes this week. Instead, we have a variety of grade-level activities planned. Each grade level is following a different schedule for the afternoon. Here are the four sessions:
- Culture-Building Activities: This will be time for small grade-level groups to do team-building activities and build connections with their peers.
- Sexual Education Webinar: This is a webinar led by Dr. Emily Green in accordance with the California Healthy Youth Act (CHYA). Content from Sessions 2, 4, 5 and 6 will be covered in this session. Parents and guardians wanting to opt their students out of this presentation should email Erin D’Souza at edsouza@davincischools.org as soon as possible and prior to the session.
- Sexual Consent Lesson: This is a lesson led by DVC Staff in accordance with the California Healthy Youth Act (CHYA). Content from Session 8 will be covered in this session. Parents and guardians wanting to opt their students out of this presentation should email Erin D’Souza at edsouza@davincischools.org as soon as possible and prior to the session.
- Bystander Intervention Training: This is a webinar led by Hollaback! to help students learn what to do when they witness harassment of any kind.
COVID-19 Health & Safety Information
As we prepare for the return to school next week, we are cognizant of the spread of COVID-19, and in particular, the Omicron variant. We strongly encourage students to take a COVID test prior to returning to campus beginning Monday, January 10, 2022. When you complete the test, please report at-home test results here. A negative test is not required for students and staff to return to school on January 10, but in the event your child exhibits any flu-like or cold symptoms, your child should get tested and remain at home.
The following safety measures are now in place at all Da Vinci schools:
- On-site rapid testing for students with exposure or symptoms will resume for Da Vinci students January 10, 2022 during regular testing hours 8:15am-3:45pm daily. Students are not allowed to leave class to test and must use time before school, during lunch, and after school. Students should pre-register here if this is their first time testing at school.
- Masking is now required for all outdoor activities where physical distancing is not feasible, except while eating or drinking, due to the new health order from the LACDPH. Students are strongly recommended to wear masks that are well-fitting, non-cloth masks of multiple layers of non-woven material with a nose wire.
- COVID-19 testing is required for all students and staff who are close contacts of a person who has tested positive for COVID due to a school-based exposure, regardless of vaccination or booster status. Affected employees and students may participate in testing at their school site (more info below)
Staff are required to wear upgraded masks (three-ply surgical masks or higher-level PPE)We continue to monitor the new protocols for TK-12 schools in a health order and a new exposure management plan from the Los Angeles County Public Health officials to ensure appropriate mitigation strategies are in place during this surge in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant.
This is a challenging and uncertain time, and we appreciate your support as we work to keep school open safely for our kids to learn!
Sincerely,
Erin D’Souza
Principal
