Dragon Tales
December 1st, 2023
Principal's Message
It is so great to have the staff and students back in the building. The past few weeks have been hard on everyone. The return of students and teachers has recharged my batteries and reminded me of the many great things we do as a da Vinci community. Watching students catch up with friends during lunch and between classes was also a reflection of the power of our community.
We welcomed staff back with morning refreshments, preparation time and a short meeting to reconnect and ground ourselves for the weeks ahead. We sought our their feedback on their appreciations, supports they needed from colleagues and administrators and supports they believed students needed as we return to school.
To remind students of the many great things we do at da Vinci and of the many great things we're going to go on to do the rest of this year, we asked first period teachers on Monday to show this short welcome back video.
Admittedly, I think everyone was a bit tired the second half of the week, but that was to be expected. It will be important for students to rest up this weekend as the next two weeks will be full of academics, performances and the general exhaustion that comes with this time of year. Please check in with your students about their work and what assignments they have coming up. Additionally, please make sure they are charging their chromebooks every night as we have a limited number of chargers and loaner computers.
Wednesday's PTSA Meeting was also refreshing. The family support of all things da Vinci is so impactful and I cannot thank you all enough. The Dine for da Vinci evenings, the poinsettias and
pie sales, assistance with the upcoming Art Fair, and the volunteer support during our performances, are all reflections of how amazing our families are. For all that, I say thank you!
I hope you all find ways to stay dry and warm this weekend. Please never hesitate to reach out (sroosevelt@pps.net).
Mr. Roosevelt
Weekly Updates
Fall Shakespeare Play Resumes Tonight
Our long-awaited Fall performances of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night are back on!
We will have two performances for you to come watch. We really hope to pack the house, and are welcoming EVERYONE to come enjoy. Both shows will be performed each night, and we encourage the audience to stay for both shows. There will be a 15 minute intermission in between the two shows, but at this time we cannot predict when the first show will end and intermission will begin.
Show Times:
Friday, December 1st, in our auditorium at 7 PM. House opens at 6:40pm
Tuesday, December 5th, in our auditorium at 7 PM. House opens at 6:40pm
Tickets:
There is a suggested donation of $10 for each ticket per night. Your donation gets you into both shows that night. For these shows, we will only be accepting donations at the box office the night of the show via cash or check (made out to da Vinci Arts Middle School).
These shows are general admissions as there are no reserved seats. Seats are on a first come first serve basis. We will stop selling tickets 5-minutes before the show starts.
Flowers:
PTSA will have flowers for sale outside the theater to support our hardworking performers and techies at tonight's (Friday) show only.
Parking:
Our main parking lot will be available for parking. We will also be opening up the lot by the playground for parking or you may park in the neighborhood.
We hope to see all of you there and we are grateful we will be able to hold this performance after all.
Changes to Building Entrance Policy - Beginning Monday, December 4th
Starting this coming Monday, all students will enter through the main doors. We have been wanting to make this shift for sometime and had planned to do so at the start of Quarter 2. The three entrance policy was put in place as we returned to school during the pandemic. However, we can now return to one entrance which allows us better supervision of who enters our building, will eventually relieve teachers from covering entrances and exits, and allows us to have a bit of fun each morning.
Pre-Arranged Absence Forms During Make-up School Days - December 18th-22nd
I know all of us were a bit caught off guard by the notification that additional school days would be added to the school calendar during the week of December 18th. While I understand the need for school days to be made up during the 1st semester, I also recognize the impact this may have on some families who planned to be out of town. If you know your student will not be at school this week, we encourage you to enter your students absences through the ParentVue app or call the main office as soon as possible.
I want to be clear that these are regular school days, even though we recognize there may be a number of students out of the building those days. We ask that students complete this Pre-Arranged Absence Form (available across from the main office) if they are going to miss more than two school days that week.
Although our teachers will be accommodating to any student who misses work that week, this form will help students develop forward thinking and planning skills which will be tremendously important as they transition to high school.
Student Gmail Access Change
In response to Google Workspace security breaches experienced by school districts across the country, OTIS is restricting access to PPS student accounts to US IP addresses. This means that students traveling outside of the United States will be unable to login to or access their PPS Gmail, Google Drive, or any other Google service.
Students who are traveling abroad and need to maintain access to Google resources for legitimate educational purposes may request a temporary exemption for the duration of their travel by contacting support@pps.net.
Family-Teacher Conference Make-ups
As part of the agreement that was reached between PAT and the District, family-parent conferences will be made up over four separate evenings. At least two of those dates will be in January. We are currently working with our staff to determine when the other two evenings will be. When we get that feedback from our staff and some additional clarity from the district, we will communicate with families about our plans moving forward. Please be on the lookout for further information.
Counselors' Corner
Please take a moment to read through the newest edition of the Counselors' Corner.
High School Information Nights
Due to the strike, the 8th grade family information nights at many of our PPS high schools have had to change. If you are interested in learning more about a particular high school, please visit their website for the most up to date information.