The Flores Flyer
October 6, 2022 Volume 5, Issue 3
Principal's Post
Dear Davis Ducks,
I must admit that compiling this month’s Flores Flyer took a considerable amount of time. When I thought I had included the details of all of our upcoming events, I would receive a reminder for another. Although the time and effort behind organizing this month’s newsletter was extensive, the content provided me with such joy as I thought about the opportunities available for our students, the collaboration among our staff, and the commitment from our parent community.
Thank you for your continued support, enthusiasm, and dedication to making our school what it is today. It takes each of us to make a difference in the lives of our students. Thank you!
Now, make sure you have your calendars and notebooks ready. We have a great month ahead of us!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Flores,
Principal
#ThinkFeelThrive
#davisduckspride
Think ~ Feel ~ Thrive
THINK
Thinking Maps includes 8 visual tools that assist specific cognitive processes. All teachers have received professional development in Thinking Maps and use them within their instruction throughout the day. Thinking Maps build critical thinking, problem solving, comprehension, and communication. Here is a one minute video that summarizes the potential use of Thinking Maps in the classroom. The first two maps, Circle and Bubble, are included below with examples of application at home.FEEL
All students have been learning about the Mood Meter and applying the skills included within our RULER Curriculum. Check out the RULER poster below or click here and practice these skills at home as a family.
THRIVE
Please read below to learn about our Davis Parent Book Club focusing on the research of Dr. Michele Borba in her latest book, "Thrivers." Within the introduction, Dr. Borba states, "Thrivers feel 'We've got this'; they meet the world on their own terms because they know they can control their own destiny. And they keep trying, despite challenges, and are more likely to rebound from those challenges and overcome adversity with confidence." Each month I will include key ideas from the chapter we read as a book club.
The Davis Parent Book Club is Back!
It is helpful for my planning if I have an idea as to how many parents/guardians will be joining me. Thank you in advance for completing the RSVP form. Please don't let resources be an excuse not to attend. Books may be provided for anyone who needs assistance.
Feel free to email me at cflores@nmusd.us with any questions or concerns. The entire schedule is included below and the RSVP form is available for our first meeting on October 26. Thank you, in advance, for your participation and contribution to our parent book club community.
Parking Lot Reminders
When our campus was built, it was not designed to be a commuter school. Bussing was the primary mode of transportation. Fast forward to today where bussing is only available for the 38 students in our ABA preschool program, leaving 572 PreK to 6th grade students to their own transportation. We have a lot of students to keep safe and every adult who enters our parking lots contributes to the safety of our students. Thank you for your cooperation, mindfulness, patience, and modeling of responsible and respectful behavior in all three of our parking lots. We want everyone to arrive and leave safely. You can help us by cooperating with the follow guidelines.
Do not call your child across the street/lot. Meet your child on the sidewalk of the school building and cross together using the crosswalk at Gates 1, 2, and 3.
Names should be placed on the placards within the windshields of cars at Gates 1, 2, and 3.
Continue to pull forward so that we may load as many children into their cars as quickly as possible. Students at Gate 3, should enter their cars once car is within the yellow painted curb. Stopping in the middle only slows the entire process for everyone else.
During dismissal, enter Gate 2 from the middle turn lane on Arlington.
When exiting Gate 1 at dismissal, turn right.
Dogs are not allowed on all public school campuses. Please leave your furry family member home when picking up your Davis Duck.
Below are the slides that were sent to all parents/guardians in August.
Safety Update
Safety is always our top priority at Davis Magnet School. Safety encompasses multiple components. This past month we have covered the following topics to teach and reinforce safe practices.
Safety Drills
All students and staff participated in three different safety drills including fire, lockdown, and earthquake drills. Procedures, expectations, and support were covered throughout the drills. This month we will participate in the Great Shakeout on October 20. This large drill will give our students and staff the opportunity to practice procedures in case of an earthquake and necessary evacuation.
Internet Safety
The following internet safety tips were shared and discussed with students in September.
Morning chromebook use on the blacktop is limited to educational games. No youtube. No cell phones.
Never share your password or personal information.
Do not download anything without permission.
If you get an odd message/picture from someone, report it right away to your teacher or parent.
Candy/Food Safety
With Halloween quickly approaching and recent news stories involving candy, all students have received the consistent message that they must check with their parents prior to eating candy or other treats provided by strangers. Additionally, due to the many food allergies on our campus, students have also been reminded that we do not share food with one another at the lunch tables.
Congratulations September Shout Out Award Recipients!
We are proud of our students and the work they do in developing as positive contributing citizens to our community. Congratulations to our first group of "Shout Out" Award winners!
Our Amazing Peer Preschool Program has Space within our Autism Classrooms
Grade Level of the Month: Preschool
We are having a blast learning and growing in preschool. Our theme in September focused on “Who We Are”. This theme allowed us to teach our students about self awareness and the importance of being in-tune with their emotions. During the month of October our preschoolers will learn about “Making Friends.” Children will learn how to make friends, and about the fun things friends do together. Our preschool team is highly focused on the development of social emotional awareness in our young students and have always exposed our students to lessons that teach emotional intelligence at an early age. In 2021 NMUSD adopted a new social emotional curriculum called RULERS. Our preschool team jumped right in to implementing this new curriculum that focuses on recognizing, understanding, labeling, expressing, and regulating emotions. Students are exposed to RULER activities throughout the day. As a team we have discussed that one of our favorite routine activities is our morning “check in” with our students. As a class it’s important to identify how we are all feeling and discuss why we might be feeling this way. We have also created classroom Charters that remind us of our classroom social emotional goals and focus. Thinking Maps is another important teaching tool that we have been incorporating into our daily teachings as a preschool team. Thinking maps allow us to provide our students with a visual model of a main idea that we are discussing and allow everyone to contribute in a fun way. These new teaching tools have really helped us to expand our lesson. We have really enjoyed seeing the success in our students.
Upcoming Events
Visit our website for complete schedules and details. Make it easy on yourself by clicking on the big grey button on the bottom of the website calendar to "Add this calendar to your phone or tablet." Don't forget to add the NMUSD calendar and activities are a part of your family calendar.
October 7 - Davis Spirt Wear available for sale at Flag Deck from 7:50 to 8:10 a.m.
- PTA General Meeting in the MPR immediately following flag deck.
- Elementary School Night at CMHS Football Game.
October 11 - NMUSD State of the District Breakfast at NHHS.
- Kindergarten ABC Bootcamp Fashion Show in the MPR.
October 14 - OCC Family Science Night.
October 17 - Red Ribbon Week Begins
October 19 - VIP Lunch. "VIPs" are invited to eat lunch with their Davis Ducks.
October 20 - California Great Shake-Out.
- Make-Up Picture Day.
- Trunk-Or-Treat on the Blacktop from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
October 24-28 - Soctober
October 26 - Thrivers Parent Book Club
- Lunch Art
October 28 - Shout Out Awards at Flag Deck.
October 31 - Happy Halloween! School appropriate costumes allowed on campus.
November 1 - No school for students. Teacher/Staff In-Service Day.
November 2 - PTA Dineout at Board & Brew.
November 3 - Lunch Art.
V.I.P. Lunch on October 19
We have a tight turnaround with seamless transitions in our lunch schedule with our students eating for 15 minutes and playing for 25 minutes. Thank you for your cooperation with our schedule so that we may continue to accommodate our large student population, along with the large number of VIPs I anticipate will be on our campus.
Our Wednesday lunch schedule is:
Kinder: 11:30 to 12:10 p.m.
Gr. 1 and 2: 11:40 to 12:20 p.m.
Gr. 3 and 4: 12:10 to 12:50 p.m.
Gr. 5 and 6: 12:35 to 1:15 p.m.
Trunk-Or-Treat is Friday, October 21
Join us on Friday, October 21 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on the Davis blacktop for an absolutely ghoulish good time! DJ, costume parade, trunk prizes, photo booth, and candy! Mountain Mike's Pizza will be available for purchase from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m.
The event won't be successful without candy for our Trunk-Or-Treaters. We are collecting candy in the front office for the event from October 12 to the 19th.
We still have room for a few more cars. If you would like to decorate your Trunk, please read the details included within this form and then sign up if you're available.
Thank you to our PTA for organizing this fun family event.
Halloween Costume Guidelines for Monday, October 31
Rules for Monday, October 31:
Costumes must abide by school dress code policies.
No weapons of any kind are allowed.
Costume face masks are not allowed.
Students must be able to sit at their desks while wearing their costumes.
Students must be able to independently adjust their costumes when using the restroom, etc.
Participation is OPTIONAL.
If a student is not participating in Halloween, but still wants to dress up, the student may dress up as a character from their favorite book.
Get Ready to Run!
We're so excited to announce the return of our Davis Running Club! Fall practices are scheduled for October 12 to December 9 on Wednesday and Friday mornings from 7:20-8:00 AM. Our Fall race is: Run for a Claus on Saturday, December 10. This is a really fun run with participants having the option to wear Holiday costumes. Please use this link and be sure to select Davis Magnet School team when registering: https://runforaclaus.com/ $5 off promo code: KROC5OFF
Save the dates for Spring:
- March 12, 2023 - Newport Beach Spirit Run
- May 6, 2023 - Kids Run the OC
For more information, please follow @davisrunclub on Instagram and check the Davis Parents Facebook page.
Our School Garden Needs Help!!
Music Updates
The holidays will be here before you know it and you won't want to miss our fun and festive student holiday performances. Go ahead and add these dates to your calendars and plan to join us as we ring in the holidays together.
Thursday, December 15th
Primary Grade Concert – 8:30-9:30 a.m. - MPR
- Kinder
- 1st Grade
- 2nd Grade
- 3rd Grade
Upper Grade Concert – 9:40-10:40 a.m. - MPR
- 4th Grade
- 5th Grade
- 6th Grade
Friday, December 16th
Flag Deck Performance – 8:15-8:40 a.m. – BLACKTOP
- Band
Tuesday, December 20th
Flag Deck Performance – 8:15-8:30 a.m. – BLACKTOP
- Choir
Book your holiday family photo shoot and support the Davis PTA at the same time!
- 100% of the $50 session fee goes to the Davis PTA.
- Package includes choice of 2 images from your family photo shoot in hi-res digital format with the option to purchase additional pictures.
- Each 15 minute session will include 15-40 images to choose from.
- If more than 40 families book the photo shoot, then an additional donation will be made to the Davis PTA.
We Love Our Volunteers!
We greatly depend on our volunteers and hope that you will consider volunteering on our campus. There are multiple opportunities to get involved and make a difference.
All volunteers must do the following:
All details involved in NMUSD’s volunteer process may be found on the District’s website.
School Site Council
We are looking for additional parents to serve as our five-parent-members of our Davis Magnet School, School Site Council (SSC). The SSC meets approximately five times per year, on a Monday, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. via Zoom.
The ten-member SSC includes five parents plus five school staff members: the principal, three teachers, and one classified employee. The goal of the SSC is to work together for the constant improvement of teaching and learning at Davis Magnet School.
The three main responsibilities of the SSC are: 1) Update the school plan and recommend approval to the local governing board, 2) Review implementation of the plan and periodically assess effectiveness, and 3) Provide input on school safety plan.
SSC is an elected position. Election is for a two-year term. Parents vote for parents, teachers vote for teachers, and classified employees vote for the classified employee representative.
Parents, if you are interested in running for the SSC, please complete this form no later than Wednesday, October 12.
Please write a campaign statement of 50-words or less, describing why you are interested in serving on our Davis Magnet School SSC. This campaign statement will appear on the SSC ballot to your fellow parents.
Google form ballots will be emailed within the Thursday, October 13 Weekly Update email. The deadline to submit the electronic ballot is Monday, October 17. Candidates will be notified by Wednesday, October 19 of their standings on the SSC.
Thank you for your interest and support of Davis Magnet School. Please email me at cflores@nmusd.us with any questions.
Meeting Dates for the 2022-23 School Year:
Monday, October 24
Monday, December 5
Monday, January 30
Monday, March 27
Monday, May 15
All meetings are scheduled for 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. and will be conducted via Zoom.
Parent Organizations Update
We are grateful for the strong, positive support from our parent community. If you are not already involved, I encourage you to find a way that meets your availability to connect with one, or all, of our parent organizations. Thank you SO much to the parent leaders who are already involved and contributing to our community.
Foundation:
The Davis Magnet School Education Foundation provides important financial support for our students and staff. We are grateful for all of our donations as they have made a significant difference across our campus. Donations directly impacted our students with the following:
- Hourly Support Teacher
- Instructional Assistant
- Software utilized by all students in grades K-6
- New stage microphones in our MPR
- Murals across our campus
- STEM Bins
- STEAM Lab materials
- Assemblies
- Field Trips
- Robotics equipment
- Guest Speakers such as University Professors who lead our 4th & 6th grade students in eyeball and heart dissections
- Science materials
- Art supplies for classroom projects
- Create-A-Skate Project Materials
- Book sets for novel studies and book clubs
- Library books
- Gardening supplies
- Playground games and equipment
PTA:
Davis PTA is run by volunteering parents and grandparents. We organize and host fundraiser events throughout the school year to raise monies for Davis Magnet School. Davis PTA uses those monies to help support, fund and host many programs & events like:
- Field Trips for all grade levels
- Classroom Supplies for all classes
- Art Masters for all grade levels
- Assemblies for all grade levels
- Band/Choir/Music Supports for all grades
- Walk-throughs - 4th, 5th & 6th Grade
- Library Needs & Support
- Campus Beautification
- Reflections Art Program
- Eco/Recycling Team
- School Garden
- Science Needs & support
- Technology support
- Enrichment programs
- Book Fairs (Fall & Spring)
- Halloween Trunk or Treat
- Roller Skating Nights
- Staff Appreciation Week
- Family Craft Night
- Family Movie Nights
- Family Spring Dance
- Family Dine-Outs
- 6th Grade Promotion
- Red Ribbon Week
- School Musical
- Talent Show
- And so much more!
If you’re interested in joining our PTA Board, or helping at events or programs next year, let us know! Flyers with volunteer opportunities and info will also be sent home the first week of school.
PTA’s Website: www.DavisMagnetPTA.com
PTA’s Email: DavisMagnetSchoolPTA@gmail.com
PTA’s Instagram: DavisMagnetPTA
The generous donations help to enrich and support the education of all of our students. Thank you for your continued support. You make a difference by supporting both our Foundation and PTA.
The Davis Magnet School Five Core Values
At Davis Magnet School, we have Five Core Values while also expecting our students to demonstrate integrity, leadership, and responsibility. Every day students will be provided opportunities to learn and model these values. As adults, we frequently have conversations about modeling, teaching, and supporting the Core Values. Consistent and clear communication is important. Every classroom contains a Behavior Matrix that is regularly referenced. Set your child up for success by reviewing the matrix and brainstorm what these expectations look like and sound like on our campus.
Davis Magnet School
Instagram @davis_magnet_school
Facebook @facebook.com/DavisMagnetSchoolDucks
Twitter @DavisMagnet
Email: cflores@nmusd.us
Website: http://davismagnet.nmusd.us/
Location: 1050 Arlington Drive, Costa Mesa, CA, USA
Phone: (714)424-7930
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavisMagnetSchoolDucks/
Twitter: @DavisMagnet