Dragon Tales
September 20th - 24th, 2021
Spoiler Alert: Back to School Night, Celebrating Latinx Heritage Month, Order your School Pictures, Rainy Day Plan...
We completed our first full week of the school year! This week, our counselors worked with Leo Leaders, as they led lunch time activities. My heart has been so full seeing so many kids enjoying recess. Our Leo Leaders have introduced Circle Games, Chalk Drawing Club and Four -Square (which if I might toot my own horn, last Thursday I won about 4 matches against some of our 8th graders!). Our goals is to continue to build some sort of normalcy and community during this abnormal time. If you have a student who is still trying to find their place during recess, please encourage them to join one of the mentioned organized activities. Check out a few photos of the fun below this message.
Although the week was good, it was definitely interesting. Many of you may have heard about a TikTok trend and all of the havoc (and money) it has caused schools across the country. This week, da Vinci experienced vandalism in the restroom. We suspect the vandalism was part of the TikTok trend. Your student may have come home and shared that there was limited access to restrooms. Due to the restroom issues, we implemented a tighter hall pass system and our admin and office team monitored restrooms (and will continue to). Our restrooms will be back open as usual come Monday.
As we head into next week, we will continue to remind students about our community norms and expectations. Please join us virtually for Back-to-School Night (B2SN) this coming Thursday (9/23) at 6:00PM - 7:30PM (the livestream link will be shared on Wednesday, as well as posted on our da Vinci website). Among many other things, we will also share our community expectations with families.
See you at Back to School Night!
Until then,
Ms. Davis
Leo Leader Lunch Time Activities
Leo Leader Led Circle Games
Leo Leader Led Drawing Circle
Circle Games and 4- Square Matches!
Celebrating LatinX Heritage Month
Born: July 6, 1907, Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico
Died: July 13, 1954, Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico
Artistic Periods: Naïve art, Modern art, Surrealism, Magical Realism, Symbolism, Primitivism, Naturalism, Social realism, Cubism
Updates from Assistant Principal Ms. Wilson
Latinx Student Union
Please sign up using this quick form if you are interested in participating as a student and parent. Students, parents and teachers can join!
TAG (Talented and Gifted) Nominations start now!
- Sept 23rd 5:30-6:00 will be our TAG information Night where we will talk about how we serve currently TAG identified students and how to nominate your child. Link will be on the wesbite on Thursday afternoon.
- Here is our current dV TAG Plan.
- If you want to start the nomination form, please complete this form first
Save the Date
Back-to-School Night (B2SN)
When: September 23rd, 2021 at 6 PM - 7:30 PM
Where: Virtual via this Zoom link: the link will be sent out Wednesday evening and Thursday afternoon as a reminder. The link will also be posted on our website.
How: B2SN will be virtual again this year. Please join us for the livestream. Teachers have created information to share with families via a slide deck. The link to the presentation will be sent out on Thursday.
Dragon Bench Work Party 9-25-21, 10 am to 12 pm
Volunteers are invited to help restore the Dragon Bench on the playground. There are still several areas that need cement patch and texture. We have tools and materials but if you have gloves, please bring them. For questions, contact sbryan@pps.net.
Updates
Please send your students prepared for the day! This includes bringing their charged Chromebooks and a water bottle. We are going through a lot of cups! We do have filling stations, so they can refill bottles. Please reinforce the need to put caps firmly on bottles and use an exterior pocket on the backpack if possible to prevent the computers from getting water damaged.
LifeTouch Pictures!
Soon, you will be able to see the picture image online and order portrait packages online.
Order from https://my.lifetouch.com
School Name: da Vinci Arts Middle School
Picture Day Date: Friday, September 17
Picture Day ID: EVTNH78MV
The return of Trogdor! Da Vinci's own after school rock band, Trogdor, is having auditions next Thursday, September 23rd at 3:30pm in the music building. Bring your instrument or voice and have a piece ready to play for Mr. Gerolami and Ms. Daley that demonstrates your ability. Rehearsals will be on Thursdays from 3:30-4:30pm.
Rainy Day Lunch Plan
Much needed rain is here! With the rain comes implementation of our rainy day indoor lunch plan. We have 5 identified spaces that students will enjoy their lunch: cafeteria, library, two classrooms and hallway spaces (the gym will be used as a space for students to use for recess; however, students cannot eat in our gym space). Please know we are still honoring the spacing rules; students will need to use a color coded pass to enter each of these spaces, so that we can monitor the capacity of each space. Students will not be allowed to bounce around to the different spaces - once they choose a space for the day, they will remain there. HEPA filters and windows will remain open in order to promote proper air flow.
I am also pleased to share with you that our district is investigating the use of tents and outdoor coverings. Last week I responded to a survey asking principals if they would be interested in receiving tents. da Vinci has requested that we be included in receiving tents at our site.
Volunteering Opportunities
We are ready to invite a few volunteers to help us out with lunch and recess duty. In order to volunteer, you must complete the PPS COVID-19 Vaccination survey (connect with Ms. Sheli and we will share information about how to receive your unique survey link) and be able to commit to consistent volunteer shifts throughout the week (doesn't need to be everyday but could be something like, every Tuesday, etc.). If you are interested, please email Ms. Sheli at sbryan@pps.net.
Covid Testing Consent- NEW FORM LINK
Dear Parents,
We have been getting lots of invalid COVID testing consent forms. This is mainly due to the fact that there has been an updated form released in August that reflects the option to opt-in for weekly COVID screening. This makes the previous form invalid. If you know or are not sure if you have completed the correct form, please resubmit the form. No harm in doing it twice! Thank you and please let me know if you have any questions. - Nurse Cam
General COVID Testing Consent Form
Formulario de consentimiento general para pruebas de COVID-19
Weekly vaccine clinics at the Multnomah County Student Health Centers:
EnglishSpanish
Attendance Reporting
If your student will be absent from school for any reason, please notify sbryan@pps.net with their name and the reason for the absence. If your student is ill, please keep them home. We will need to ask questions to screen for specific symptoms. You can also call the main office at 503-916-5356 but we receive a high volume of calls and email is preferred.
Traffic Pattern Reminder
Please remember to travel headed east on Everett St. in front of the school at drop-off and pick-up times. Drive safely and be courteous of our neighbors. Never block driveways or the fire hydrant zone.
Additionally, the have been reports about families blocking the bike lane on Couch. Please remember that many of our students bike to school. Please do not idle and block the bike lanes.
Drop-off/Pick-up
We understand that families have different balls to juggle. However, we ask, if possible, please be mindful of how early students arrive to school, as we have limited adult support to monitor students in the morning. The first bell rings at 8:40 AM and the late bell rings at 8:45 AM. Students who are grabbing breakfast should arrive between 8:20 AM - 8:40 AM. As a reminder, breakfast is served through the doors nearest to the courtyard and is to be eaten outside.
Thank you for helping us with discouraging students from crowding, by not having students arrive too early to school.
Counselor Corner
If your students’ last name is A - La - Ms Shannon
My full name is Shannon Foxley but I go by Ms. Shannon with the students (I tell them Ms. Foxley is my mom). I am so excited about all the things this school year is going to bring.
Phone: 503-916-5358
Email: sfoxley@pps.net
Google Voice (call/text): 971-231-5337
If your student's last name is Le - Z - Counselor Heather
My name is Heather Mathewson, but I go by Counselor Heather. I hope everyone had a marvelous summer and is having a smooth transition into this school year.
Phone: 503-916-5356
Email: hmathewson@pps.net
Google Voice (call/text): 971-245-2727
PTSA Corner
PTSA News
Save the Date
Da Vinci Fall Community Field Day is right around the corner!
Please block your calendar for Saturday October 16 from 2pm - 5pm. The goal of this event is to build community, have some safe fun and raise funds for our school. This event will be completely volunteer organized and executed so if you are looking for ways to get involved NOW IS YOUR CHANCE! We are in the greatest need for support with set up, tear down and acquiring local raffle prizes. Please sign up to volunteer HERE.
Important note, if we do not see an increase in the number of volunteer signups, particularly for raffle prizes, we will have to HOLD on the event until the Spring. The final decision will be made on Monday, 9/27.
Thank you to all those who have joined the PTSA, we are halfway to our goal of becoming 100 members strong. Click HERE to join us.
Questions? Please reach out to davinciptsa@gmail.com
Carpool List and Family Directory
Carpool List and Family Directory If you want to be added to the directory, fill out this form. The sheet is only shared with those families that opt-in.
Need a Device?
We are asking that students bring their chromebooks to school each day. Please be sure to send your student to school with a fully charged device each day.
PPS 1:1 Tech Program Family Flyer: English, Spanish, Mandarin, Somali, Russian, Vietnamese