Dragon Tales
November 1st - November 4th (no school on Friday!)
Spoiler Alert: Teacher Planning Day (11/5), A Message from Nurse Cam, Affinity Groups and Highlights from Spirit Week...
Good day Dragon Families,
As you know, last week was jammed packed! Our students completed both English Language Arts and Math MAP testing, Talent Show, among a few other things. This week will be a shorter one for students, as Friday, November 4th is Teacher Planning Day. With the planning day being on Friday, this gives teachers an opportunity to complete their grades and for students to reset and prepare for the upcoming quarter.
Moreover, conferences are coming up, November 22nd -23rd. Our conference sign-up for virtual conferences will go live on November 4th at 4 PM. More info will be posted on the website on how to sign up.
Have a happy 3-day weekend,
Principal Davis
Spirit Week at da Vinci
Halloween costumes
Our Dragon Bench is a popular spot
Lunch time
A message from Nurse Cam
Hello families!
Many families are choosing to COVID test their children with any signs of illness. You may, however, be wondering when a COVID test is REQUIRED in order to return to school. Please read on for the answer and for a link for the latest OHA/ODE exclusion criteria.
When your child presents with any primary COVID symptom, they are excluded from school for 10 days. HOWEVER, this exclusion can be canceled with a negative COVID test. Primary COVID symptoms are fever, cough, chills, loss of taste/sense smell, or shortness of breath/difficulty breathing.
Where to find testing?
A link to the most current OHA/ODE exclusion criteria can be found HERE. Please reference pages 8, 9, 10, and 12 for the exclusion information.
Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or need more information about testing.
-Nurse Cam
Calendar Highlights
November 4, Last day of Quarter 1
November 5, Teacher Planning/Grading Day, no classes for students
November 11, Veteran’s Day Holiday, no school
November 12, APPROVED, Teacher Planning Day, NO SCHOOL for students
November 19, NEW DATE, Picture Retakes
November 22 and 23, Teacher/Family Conferences, details soon
November 24-26, Thanksgiving Holiday, No School
November 29- December 19, Enrollment and Transfer Lottery Window for middle and high school next year. Information about the lottery for da Vinci for next year will be updated on our website
Picture Ordering and Retake Day -RESCHEDULED
We will automatically include any student not present on our original picture day. If you are not happy with your pictures and want your student to do retakes, please fill out THIS FORM.
Reminders
Family/Teacher Virtual Conferences
Conferences will be held on November 22nd and 23rd. Our conference sign-up will go live, November 4th at 4:00 PM.
Tents!
Our tents are on the way! We will receive 6 tents that will be placed on our blacktop within the next few weeks. Once they arrive, we will share photos of our kids enjoying them.
Drama Full-day Rehearsals
If your student is participating in our upcoming production, Monday is a full day rehearsal for them. Students will be with Heidi and Mr. Garcia all day rehearsing; however, we will continue to take attendance throughout the day, as usual.
Before and After School Expectations
Please remember, students should not be in the building before school begins and should leave campus immediately. Teachers make time to meet with students; however, this is done ahead of time, thus, if your student is meeting with a teacher, they will need a pass. Otherwise, the expectation is that they do not linger on campus before or after school.
Absence and Illness reporting
If your student is going to be late or absent for any reason, please notify us by email.
If your student is ill, notify the health assistant, Tul Laffitte, AND the attendance secretary, Sheli Byran. Tul will need to know the symptoms your student is experiencing and the best call-back number for follow-up if needed. If your student will be taking a vacation day, has an appointment, there is a family emergency, or needs a mental health day, you can email only Sheli Bryan.
Student Phones - Off and Away
Please remind your children that personal electronic devices such as cell phones and smartwatches should be off and away during the day, including lunch. If you need to reach your student, call the office and we can relay a message or call them to the office so they can call you. If students are on their phones during the day without permission, we will ask them to keep their phones in the office until the end of the day.
Prepare for the weather
We will be outside enjoying lunch recess as much as our weather will permit. Please be sure to send your student with gear suitable for the weather elements. When not pouring down, we will be outside - since we are entering fall, it will be colder.
Parking and Traffic Flow
There are still occasional jams and horns in the morning. Please remember to only travel headed east on Everett St. Pull over to the curb to let passengers out. Drive with care and yield to pedestrians. Also, please be courteous to our neighbors and do not block driveways, corners or the fire hydrant zone.
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 at 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.
From our Library Staff- OBOB and Computers
OBOB (Oregon Battle of the Books) is coming to da Vinci! Information on sign-ups will be posted on the Library Canvas page (available soon). OBOB is a reading competition. Teams of five members read 16 books and answer questions in a "jeopardy style" format to win battles against other teams. Winning the school battles earns their spot to compete in the regional battles, and then hopefully to the state competition. Regional battles will be virtual this year. Students can begin forming teams of 4-5 teammates from grades 6-8 grades. The 16 titles are in our library now. Please look for more information during the first weeks of November.
Chromebooks ~ Please help students to bring their new Chromebooks to school each day. Make a habit of charging it at night and make sure you are plugging it in on the side with the button and the tiny light. No light = no charge. There are some available in the library but they must be returned at the end of each day.
Counselor Corner
High School Forecasting Time
Hello, 8th-grade students and families!
While it may be hard to believe, high school will be here before we know it. As the school counselors for da Vinci Arts Middle School, one of our responsibilities is to help 8th graders get ready for high school, and answer any questions students and families may have. One of the most frequently asked questions we receive is, “Can I go to any high school I want to?” Just to clarify, a student is assigned to a neighborhood high school based on their primary address in Synergy, regardless of what middle school the student attends or which high school that middle school feeds into. High school forecasting will happen in January/February of 2022.
If a student wants to look into attending a high school other than their neighborhood high school, students/families can apply online during the open enrollment timeframe. This year's open enrollment is from November 29 – December 17.
In the coming weeks, you will receive notification in the mail from PPS identifying what neighborhood high school your student is slated to attend. The address that we have in synergy identifies what high school your student will be attending. If your student lives in two households that are within the boundaries of different high schools, please ensure that the address of the high school you’d like your child to attend is the one in Synergy. Make sure your address is correct and verified in ParentVue. Check-in with Sheli in the office about how to change addresses if there are two addresses and one or the other should be the primary one.
Very Important -If you live in the Jefferson HS neighborhood, you will be tagged "dual-assignment." This means that students get to choose which high school they want to attend: Jefferson High School or another identified PPS high school - Grant, McDaniels, or Roosevelt. Very soon, you will receive a letter in the mail from PPS regarding dual-assignment and families will be asked to choose one of these two high schools. If families do not choose by the requested date, the district will choose for families. It is your right to choose which of the two high schools is the right fit. Please be sure to fill out the form with your choice!
If your child is planning on attending a private high school, please forecast for your neighborhood school - this allows for any potential issue if they choose not to attend the private school. If you want to explore transferring to a non-neighborhood PPS high school, please contact enrollment and transfer directly.
Please feel free to reach out anytime with questions, especially regarding transitioning to high school.
Ms. Shannon (A - La) can be reached at sfoxley@pps.net, 503-916-5356, or texts to 971-231-5337
Counselor Heather (Le- Z) can be reached at: hmathewson@pps.net Google Voice: 971-245-2727 (call/text), or 503-916-5356 (call only)
Thank you!
Ms. Shannon & Counselor Heather
PTSA Corner
Poinsettia Sales to Benefit the PTSA and da Vinci Staff and Students- ORDER NOW
We are pleased to announce a partnership with New Leaf Greenhouse as our Poinsettia provider for the holiday season. For each Poinsettia plant sold, da Vinci will receive a portion of the sales which will be used for the general PTSA fund. The PTSA fund is used to directly support our students and teachers and is necessary to sponsor the unique, arts-focused learning at da Vinci Arts Middle School. Please order today and share the news with family and friends. Orders are due by next Thursday, November 4th, and plant pick-up will be held on the da Vinci campus on Friday, December 3rd.
Please visit our ordering site HERE.
With gratitude,
Da Vinci PTSA
Sign up and JOIN US - In an attempt to foster community you will find sign-ups for the 4 PDX quadrants on the volunteer sign-up list HERE. I encourage those of you with time to consider signing up to volunteer! Opportunities and other school needs are listed HERE.
Please review the updated PPS guidelines for volunteering HERE.
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.
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.
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.
Follow the PPS COVID-19 dashboard HERE for real-time data.
Student Clubs and Affinity Groups
Latinx Student Union, Sponsored by Ms. Wilson
Please sign up using this quick form if you are interested in participating as a student and parent. Students, parents, and teachers can join!
QSA, Sponsored by Counselor Foxley
QSA will meet on the 1st & 3rd Thursday of each month from 3:15 - 4:00 pm, starting November 4th in room 102. Students can also find more information on the bulletin board across from Ms. Shannon's office (room 202).
Yearbook Club with Ms. Staurseth
Our Ceramics teacher, Ms. Staurseth will be starting a lunch club for students to work on planning our Yearbook. We’re looking for students that are organized and detail-oriented. Does your student love taking photos and making memories? If so, ask them if they might be interested and encourage them to talk to Ms. Staurseth.
BSU
Our BSU is starting soon!
November Art Opening
November will bring the first opening of Visual Artworks presented in over a year and a half! Here is the poster, designed by 6th-grader, Lila V. We look forward to sharing more of the works in weeks to come.
2023 Travel Opportunities
Hello families! Are you looking for travel opportunities for your student? Heidi Sprecher, the drama tech teacher, leads trips during the summer through a company called EF. These trips are open to students at the middle and high school level, whether or not they attend da Vinci.
There is an info session coming up soon for an exciting theater-based trip to New York in the summer of 2023. Some of the exciting opportunities on the trip are that travelers will see multiple Broadway shows, participate in drama workshops, and have a meet-and-greet with a real Broadway professional.
If you are interested in learning more, please click on this link to be taken to a flyer with information on how to RSVP for the info session! Your student can also pick up physical flyers from room 106 (the drama tech room) at da Vinci. All questions should be directed to Heidi Sprecher (HSprecher@pps.net). Looking forward to seeing you there!
Please note: This is a non-district sponsored event. The school and the district are not responsible for conducting or supervising this trip."
Updates from Assistant Principal Ms. Wilson
TAG (Talented and Gifted) Nominations start now!
- Here is our current dV TAG Plan.
- If you want to start the nomination form, please complete this form first
In case you were not able to attend da Vinci's TAG Info Night, here is the recording.
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.