Hello da Vinci Families,

This is a short letter with a reminder about conferences this week. Enjoy your Thanksgiving Holiday and we'll look forward to seeing students back on November 28th! We are thankful for all of the family support and appreciate you all. Please do read the updates from our PTSA leaders. They are working hard on various events, including taking care of our teachers during conference days. Please see the sign up below if you can bring in items for breakfast or snacks. Take good care.

Go, team da Vinci

8th Grade Transition Parent Meetings

• In person @ da Vinci 6:00-7:00 PM on Monday

• Tuesday, November 22 · 10:00 – 11:00am Google Meet joining info: Video call link, https://meet.google.com/vff-nskg-fqe

The signup for conference slots is now closed so teachers had time to print reports and prepare before the two, twelve hour days and many consecutive conversations.

Reminders if you are signed up:

MONDAY CONFERENCES ARE IN PERSON AT DA VINCI IN CLASSROOMS

TUESDAY CONFERENCES ARE ON ZOOM - some Zoom meeting codes have been updated. Please note the links in the reminder email that will be sent on Monday. Times will not change.

• Each conference slot is 10 minutes. It is imperative to start and end promptly. If you miss your time for any reason, we will not be able to accommodate schedule changes or walk in appointments.
• Your student should attend! We want them to be part of the conversation.
• The main doors in front will be open for the day. Parking is available on the blacktop.
• While you are in the building, please check out your student's locker and the lost and found. Take home any items.

Cheers to productive conversations!

Thank you to everyone who attended our PTSA meeting on Wednesday! We really appreciate everyone’s time and encourage any feedback and suggestions for our next meeting by emailing davinciptsa.president@gmail.com. Our next meeting is on December 14th at 6pm and we will again have two options available to attend; in person (dinner included!) and on zoom. We hope to see you there!

Arts Fair Update

There was a fantastic response to the Student Applications to participate in the da Vinci Arts Fair and we will have 52 student Artists at the event this year! We have many fun things planned along with some great da Vinci Swag featuring the Arts Fair logo that will be available to purchase that includes brand new hoodies, tees, zip hoodies, pencil pouches, stickers and trucker hats. Stay tuned for more about the Arts Fair!

IMMEDIATE VOLUNTEER NEEDS! -

*Advertising for the Arts Fair needs YOUR help! We have flyers in the School Main Office and we encourage the da Vinci community to distribute flyers to businesses in your neighborhood to place in their shop window. With the students out of school this week and participating in School Conferences on Monday and Tuesday, this is a great opportunity to grab a stack of flyers and help our community with this amazing event for our students.

Please click HERE to sign up to find a volunteer time available. We really appreciate the help!

* Last minute call for support! The PTSA is seeking support from the da Vinci community for our teachers and staff during conferences on Monday and Tuesday. We are providing breakfast and lunch for our teachers and need help keeping our teachers fueled up! Please help show your support by using the signup link to donate food, beverages, and/or time for conferences next week!

Please click HERE to sign up

We had a great Poinsettia Sale and we need help sorting and distributing poinsettias on 11/29 and 11/30. Sign up HERE or Scan the QR code on the flyer.

Other PTSA Events

Holiday Give BottleDrop program -

Between November 15th and December 1st, BottleDrop will be matching 20% to all our filled blue bags with recyclable cans and bottles during their special Holiday Give program. Get your blue Bottle Drop bags at school, fill them with all your returnable cans and bottles and take them to one of the many BottleDrop Centers or bring them to da Vinci on the special dropoff days. See flyer for more information.

Dine for da Vinci

Our next Dine for da Vinci is on Thursday, December 8th for lunch and dinner at Pambiche. 15% of their net sales will go to da Vinci. Add the date to your calendar!

Membership and next PTSA Meeting

If you haven’t already, please consider joining the da Vinci PTSA to help strengthen our school and support our children's education. If you are ready to sign up, please click HERE to register! 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.

We had a fun event on Friday and students had multiple options to participate. We still have a ways to go to reach our goal is $10,000, which about $23 per student. You can still donate to team da Vinci, or support one of the students who made a fundraising page on the link below. The monies raised through Young Audiences are an important part of how we enrich our Arts Education program at da Vinci. This is how we cover guest artists including bringing in directors from Portland Playhouse, musical artists to perform at our recent Latin Heritage Assembly, guest choreographers, and more. We'll share some fun pictures next week, taken by our Yearbook students.

Donate HERE.

The lottery to apply for PPS Focus Option schools, middle and high school grades is open through December 16th. For those with 5th graders, you must apply through the lottery for da Vinci admission.

For our current 8th graders, this is the time to apply if you are interested in a spot at Benson, MLC or the Jefferson High School - Middle College for Advanced Studies.

8th grade families that reside in a dual assignment area will be asked to choose between attending the Jefferson Middle College Program and their neighborhood comprehensive high school.

See the PPS Enrollment and Transfer page to apply and for more information and our Counseling website for more information about the high school transition for our 8th graders.

Brrr- it's getting cold. Wondering where your student's coat went? It could be in our lost and found. Here is a sample of the growing collection of jackets, water bottles and lunch boxes, now located in the cafeteria. Encourage your students to go look and bring their items home. Also, parents and guardians are welcome to come in at pickup time and take a look. This would also be a great time to check your students locker and help them take home any unnecessary items. Unclaimed items will be donated before winter break.

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.