Dear da Vinci Families,

I hope you are enjoying these brisk mornings, that warm up to be beautiful warm and sunny days.

Over the past bit of time, I have been connecting with PPS Facilities Supervisors about murals and locker painting. Unfortunately, I have been told that da Vinci will not be approved for locker painting this school year. Facilities understands that locker painting has been a long standing tradition and that we very much so would like to continue this tradition. However, should I choose to ignore their approval, they will no longer restore, repair or help us with locker specific issues. Our lockers are already old and sometimes sticky - they will need repairs throughout the school year and beyond (until replaced with newer better functioning lockers). For this reason, we are suspending our locker painting tradition for now.

I know this will leave our community with big feelings. If you would like to advocate with me to bring this tradition back, please send me an email: rdavis@pps.net or you are welcome to send your email directly to the Facilities Department.

Back to School Night (B2SN) Materials

In case you were not able to attend this year's Back-to-School Night. Here is a document with slide decks from some of our teachers.

Our Foundation Gifting Season; our goal is to raise $75,000!

Please review the dV Foundation section of this newsletter for more information on how to support staff and programs at da Vinci.

If you have not yet, and you might qualify, please sign up for Free/Reduced meals using the link below, or we have paper copies of the application in the office. The grace period for those who were enrolled last year ends this week.

Enjoy the week,

Principal Davis

PS -

Don't forget to check out the PTSA section of this letter and/or head to our PTSA specific website.

• 10/12- Latinx Heritage Month Assembly, special schedule
• 10/12- Dine Out at Por Que No, PTSA fundraiser, see below
• 10/14- No School, State Educator In-Service Day
  
• 10/19- PTSA Meeting, 6 PM Cafeteria, all welcome, RSVP below for dinner
• 10/28- Picture retakes with LifeTouch
• 10/31- Spooky Talent Show, special schedule
• 10/31 - 11/4- Spirit Week
• 11/ 9 & 10, 17 & 18- Fall Festival of Shakespeare shows at 6:30 PM
• 11/18- Fun for the Arts, Fundraiser/Dance Party
• 11/19- Festival with da Vinci and BES students at da Vinci, 2:00 PM Matinee
• 11/21 & 22- Conferences, no classes for students, signup info coming soon
• 11/23 - 25- Thanksgiving Holiday Vacation, no school

OBOB (Oregon Battle of the Books) is a reading competition where teams of 4-5 students will read 16 preselected titles and then answer "Jeopardy" style questions in head to head battles against other teams.

OBOB Team Signs-ups are OPEN: from October 4th-31st. Teams must be registered through the Library Canvas page under OBOB and click on the Google Form link. All members of each team must register themselves. Teams can be mixed grades, everyone does need to be a student of da Vinci.

All 16 OBOB titles are currently available for checkout in the library.

The Regional Battles will be held in-person from February 25 – March 18, 2023, we will learn our exact dates closer to the spring. Our school battle date will be determined once we have our Regional date set. The state battle is scheduled for Saturday, April 15, 2023, at Chemeketa Community College in Salem.

Students should talk with the library staff if they have questions.

23 - 24 Lottery Dates

Though we are still in the first quarter of this school year, planning starts soon for next year.

We will be holding two in-person events for new families intersted in applying to the lottery for next year. There will be one virtual option that will be recorded. If you have a 5th grade student, you will need to enter the lottery for admission. Current students do not need to do anything to contine through 8th grade. There is sibling priority for students concurrently enrolled. If you have friends who might be interested in da Vinci, encourage them to attend an info session. The Lottery through Enrollment and Transfer opens on November 15th at 8 AM and closes December 16th at 5 PM.

Eighth Graders and High School Forecasting Season

Our current 8th-grade families will be receiving information soon on high school planning. Please make sure your current address is listed in Synergy for your student. If your student shares time in two households, the address listed first will be considered the primary address and used to determine which high school they are forecasted for. Read THIS LETTER from our Counselors with more details.

AAPI- NEW- Every 1st and 3rd Monday, from 3:20 - 4:20 PM

BSU- Every 1st and 3rd Friday, from 3:20 - 4:00 PM

QSA- Every 1st & 3rd Wednesday of the month. 3:15 - 4:15 PM

Latinx- Meets every Wednesday There will be a back to School Virtual Meeting with Latino Network on October 13th from 6 pm-7 pm. Ms. Wilson, our Assistant Principal will oversee this partnership. If there are any questions, please don’t hesitate to email her at mwilson5@pps.net. Please sign up on this form if you are interested in joining the Latinx Club: Latinx Sign Up Link

The da Vinci PTSA has been busy planning some great events and fundraisers and looks forward to the da Vinci community enjoying these together.

• Dine for da Vinci is this Wednesday at Por Que No, Mississippi location.

• Poinsettia Sales: The PTSA is selling Poinsettias again this year and they are gorgeous! There are two sizes to choose from (6” and 8”) and available in red, pink or white. Order now HERE.

• The Arts Fair is coming back! Save the date for Saturday, December 3rd from 9 AM – 2 PM. The event will feature student artists. Stay tuned for more information on student applications and volunteer opportunities. Now we are looking for artwork for our event promotion. See the flyer below for details.

Membership

The PTSA is open for membership and we hope that families consider joining to help strengthen our school and supporting our children's education. If you are ready to sign up, please click HERE to register!

A few notes on membership

• The S in PTSA stands for students! The da Vinci PTSA encourages students to participate and share their voices on what they would like for their school. Students in the past have discussed the option of after school dances or help with their after school Club. We want to hear what our students want too! Click HERE to register to become a member and while you’re already on that page, also consider signing up your student so you can work together to help our teachers, students and our community.

• The PTSA is sponsoring scholarships for memberships. If paying for PTSA membership is a hardship at this time, request a scholarship HERE. All information will remain anonymous

Next PTSA Meeting

Our next PTSA meeting is on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 at 6:00pm both in person at da Vinci or on Zoom if that is more convenient. This year dinner will be provided in person so please RSVP (for dinner numbers) and JOIN so we can build our community and support our teachers and students.

PPS will once again partner with OHSU for weekly Covid screening tests. An email was sent last week from PPS Communications with details. Our collection date at da Vinci is on Thursdays if you are participating. Remind your student to drop off the sample in a red tub by the office door each Thursday morning.

Registration info: Parents/guardians can start enrolling their students through OHSU’s NEW Online Portal. If you are unable to enroll for any reason, please call OHSU Support at (503) 418-8500.​

Visit OHSU's K-12 Screening Program website at http://www.ohsu.edu/k12testing, contact the OHSU support team at k12covidtesting@ohsu.edu,​ or call (503) 418-8500 for more information.

Please see the following instructions for setting up your own account to track assignments and monitor progress. If you have multiple children in PPS, you can set up one account and then add additional students with a separate code for each student.

TAG Support- Parent Office Hours with the TAG Department

Ask questions and receive information related to TAG identification, services, processes, etc.

We will meet on Zoom, 6:00-7:00 PM on 10/26/22, 11/30/22, 1/25/23, 2/22/23, 3/22/23, 4/26/23, and 5/31/23.

Zoom link for Parent Office Hours with the TAG Department

We look forward to seeing you!

Attendance Reporting and Tardies

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. You can also call the main office at 503-916-5356 We receive a high volume of calls and email is preferred. If your student arrives after the tardy bell at 8:45 they need to check in at the main office for a tardy slip.

Breakfast times, and Entrance/Exit Routines

NEW- Students entering the building for breakfast should come to the front doors and ring the doorbell. Breakfast will now be available from 8:20 to 8:40 in the morning. After breakfast, students remain in the cafeteria until the bell. They should not be going to lockers or class until the 8:38 bell.

At 8:38, students can enter through the front doors and proceed to their lockers and class:

• 6th grade enters the building through the east doors, closest to the playground.

• 7th grade enters the building through the center/main doors.

• 8th grade enters through the west doors, closest to the driveway from the parking lot.

Cell Phone Policy

Phones and all personal electronic devices should be turned OFF and put AWAY during school hours. We do not want to see earbuds or headphones. The school is not responsible for these items if they are lost or stolen. They should be locked up in the locker. Please do not try to text your student during school hours. If you need to reach them or deliver a message, call the main office and we will give them a message or call them to the office to call you.

Doorbell and building access

For security purposes, the building is locked during school hours. If a student arrives outside of normal arrival hours, or you need to visit, the doorbell rings the main office phone line. We can answer on an intercom and release the door. There is a camera so we can see who is at the door. However, if we are on the phone or attending to a student, we may not be able to answer immediately. Please keep trying if we do not answer immediately.

Early Dismissals

If you need to pick up your student early, please let us know in advance and try to plan your pick-up between periods to reduce the disruptions of calling students from class. It can take a while to reach your student in class, and for them to go to their locker. If we are in an assembly, we cannot easily locate them.

Lockers

Students have been assigned a locker and should use it for their personal belongings during the day. Lockers should be kept secured and students should not share the combinations. The office does maintain a list of combinations. We are not responsible for valuables brought to school. If students bring phones or other electronic devices, they need to be powered off and remain in their lockers for the entire day (including lunch periods).

ParentVue and the Yearly Verification

If you have not yet done so, please complete the YEARLY VERIFICATION process on ParentVue to update your personal information. It is critical that we have current phone numbers, emergency contacts, relevant health information for your student, and your current address. ParentVue is where you see your student's schedules, attendance, and grade reports (once grades are recorded). If you need help accessing your account, please email sbryan@pps.net.

Traffic Pattern Highlights

We strongly encourage you to work with your community and arrange carpools to reduce congestion and help our environment. Additionally, please follow this guide if possible to help with the traffic flow in front of the school:

Everett St. in front of the school is for 6th graders. Travel EAST, from 24th to 28th Ave. Pull to the curb for your student(s) to get out of the car. Carefully enter the line of traffic.

7th graders can be dropped off and picked up from 24th Ave. Please be careful at the intersection of 24th and Everett and yield to pedestrians.

8th graders can be dropped off on Couch (a one-way headed east) and walk through the park beside the Coco-Cola building.

There is also a driveway entering from 24th and Davis that will exit onto Everett for buses and those with special needs. Parking in the neighborhood and behind the school is very limited.

Please be courteous of our neighbors at all times and do not idle as you are parked.