Happy Women's History Month, da Vinci Families!

The next two weeks before Spring Break are going to be busy! We've mostly wrapped up forecasting with our current students and are now assisting the incoming students with the process. This week we will celebrate with the winners of our Black History Month Door Decorating Contest. On Monday and Tuesday, actors and technicians for the play will be rehearsing until 6 pm. Send them with a snack for after school! On Wednesday all of the students involved in the Spring Musical Revue will be engaged in an all-day pullout for their final rehearsal. The show opens on Thursday night. See ticket information below. After school rehearsals are sounding great and we can't wait to see the production. On Thursday our Advanced Band students will be attending a Band Festival at Jackson Middle School. Our students are working hard. Please help them at home to stay healthy with good sleep habits and take good care.

Masking updates

As announced last week by PPS, on March 14th, masks indoors will be optional for staff and students in all PPS buildings. Here is the announcement if you did not yet see it. As stated, we will continue with our OHSU screening program and provide rapid testing for school-based cases if students are symptomatic. We will continue to use air filters and have windows open to promote airflow. And we will notify the community if someone is positive for Covid-19 during their contagious period on-site. If your student is ill, please keep them home.

Finally, please check out the PTSA section. We have several events coming up and ways for you to get involved. We need you!

All the very best,

Principal Davis

Tickets are now on sale for the Spring Musical Review! Because seating is still limited, (50% capacity), the priority is for the cast and crew to invite family and friends. Six tickets are allotted for each student in the production. If you have a student in the show, purchase your tickets in advance on SchoolPay and then have your student pick up paper tickets from Heidi. Any remaining tickets will be sold at the box office starting one hour before the show.

SchoolPay link.

Volunteer Signup link. Thanks to the folks that have signed up already!

Beverly Cleary, née Beverly Atlee Bunn, (born April 12, 1916, McMinnville, Oregon, U.S.—died March 25, 2021, Carmel, California), American children’s writer whose award-winning books are lively, humorous portrayals of problems and events faced in real life by school-aged girls and boys.

Source:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Beverly-Cleary

Title link source:

https://www.beverlycleary.com/about

March 9th, All day pullout for Musical cast and crew

March 10, 11, and 12, Spring Musical Revue

March 10th, PPS Middle School Band Festival, Advanced Band trip

March 16th, PTSA Meeting

March 18, Spring Talent Show

March 23rd, Dine for da Vinci at Ankeny Tap and Table

March 21-25, Spring Break!

April 7th, Last day of Quarter 3

April 8th, No school for students, teacher grading/planning day

April 8 and 9, All-City Honor Band, invitation

April 16th, da Vinci @ Amalfi's fundraiser

April 27th, PPS Choir Festival

May 2-6, Teacher Appreciation Week

May 30, Memorial Day Holiday

June 8th, 8th Grade Promotion, 6:00 at McDaniel HS

June 8th, Portland Jr. Rose Festival Parade, Band students

June 10, Last Day of School

Call for Spring Talent Show Acts

Spring is just around the corner, which means it's time for another talent show! Upload show-ready acts through this link The audition window will close on Friday, March 11th. Start rehearsing!

Dine for da Vinci

On March 23rd Ankeny Tap and Table will be donating 10% of their total profits to da Vinci.

Take out or eat in from 4pm - 8pm and support a local restaurant and our school!

Da Vinci at Amalfi’s

Ticket selling is LIVE for da Vinci @ Amalfi’s! Join the da Vinci community on April 16th from noon - 3 pm for live music and food. This will be a fun outdoor fundraiser with live music from Grateful Dead cover band Big Foot Country, featuring da Vinci alumni Tage Gavin (class of 2018). Can't make the event but want to contribute? Purchase a ticket for a teacher or community member HERE!

April Auction

The PTSA is planning for an April online auction and we need your help! Do you or someone you know own a service-based business, retail store, or restaurant in town that would be willing to donate a gift card or package to support da Vinci Arts Middle School? Or how about a vacation home or cabin in Oregon or elsewhere that you or a friend would be willing to donate as an auction item?

Please email davinciptsa@gmail.com with donations or leads. Volunteers are still needed to make this event a success.

In the Community

Check out the Children’s Book Band Project through Positive Charge PDX

Passive Fundraising through Fred Meyer Community Rewards

If you have a Fred Meyer Rewards Card, you may link it to da Vinci PTSA and help raise funds for our school at no additional cost to you. In addition to still keeping your personal Fred Meyer Rewards, Fred Meyer will also donate to the charity of your choice. Learn how HERE.

BottleDrop

Did you know you can help raise money for da Vinci by recycling your bottles and cans without any extra cost to you? Learn how HERE. If you are in need of a blue bag, send your student to the office to pick one up!

Shop on Amazon & Support da Vinci Arts Middle School with Amazon Smile

Every time you purchase something off Amazon using the “smile” page, da Vinci Arts Middle School PTSA gets a 0.5% contribution, at no additional cost to you. Please take a few minutes to sign up using the instructions below and be a proud supporter of the da Vinci Arts Middle School PTSA today. Learn how HERE.

Thank you to everyone that has sent in cans of food so far! Our goal is to reach 1500 cans (which is about 3.5 cans a student). Collection boxes are located in 1st Period classrooms. The Drive will last until March 15th.

Grant's spring musical production returns! The Grant Performing Arts Department
presents The SpongeBob Musical, based on the popular Nickelodeon cartoon. This
colorful, energetic show about an impending apocalypse, which had a successful run on
Broadway in 2018, features songs from many popular artists and is great for the whole
family. The SpongeBob Musical runs Thursday, March 3rd through Saturday, March 5th
at 7 pm, with an additional matinee at 2:30 on the 5th. It continues the following weekend
on Thursday, March 10th, and Friday, March 11th at 7 pm. Please come support our
talented cast, crew, and orchestra students! Tickets are $10 and can be found at
www.granthigharts.com or directly in SchoolPay at https://pps.schoolpay.com/pay/for/The-Spongebob-Musical/MeaI

BSU Lunch Bunch

BSU is increasing our student-facing time (thanks to our community leaders at Urban League). BSU will now meet during lunch, every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month, as well as our previously scheduled times on every 1st and 3rd Wednesdays. After-school meetings will continue to be reserved for students who identify as Black; however, BSU Lunch Bunch is open to Black students and their conspirators.

SafeOregon is a program created for Oregon students, parents, school staff, community members and law enforcement officers to report and respond to student safety threats. Please see this brochure for information about how to share information.

OHSU Screening is available for all students unless they have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 90 days. Students can opt-in or out at any time. Participating students should have at least one test for Tuesday this week. Have your student stop by the office to pick one up if you do not. Remember to label the bag and the sample.

To opt-in, we need the OHSU form and the general consent form with the third box on the back page checked.

Sample collection instructions

Link for OHSU weekly screening

Link for information

Link for General Consent Form We need this form on file if you want your student tested in the event they become ill at school.

If your student will be late or absent for any reason, please notify the main office at 503-916-5356 or email the attendance secretary, Sheli Bryan at sbryan@pps.net. Because we receive a high volume of calls and the front doorbell also rings the front office, an email notification is preferred. Please let us know the reason for the absence and if your student is ill, a brief explanation of symptoms. We will follow up if needed.