Dear Families,

We are halfway through the 3rd quarter already. At imes, it seemed slow but mostly it's been a whirlwind. I want to update you on Principal Robbie's return. She has been out dealing with a family situation and has been notifying us on a month by month basis as she sorts through all the things. We have been respecting her healing process and know that this is hard on our community, as we are all impacted by this situation.

I wanted to let you know that I have been leading the building on all the parts that include Principal and Assistant Principal duties with some help from retired administrators coming in to cover lunch supervision, evaluations and some discipline issues. Please be patient with me, as I will continue to do the best I can to be responsive while maintaining a calm, loving, healing and steady presence for our community.

Starting this week, once per month, I will be providing a Principal Coffee Time that is focused on certain topics. The first coffee time will be March 17th, 2023 from 9:00am-10:00am. This time is for us to come together to review our boy's bathroom concerns: specifically vaping, selling pills, selling clothes, selling edible marijuana gummies, major vandalism such as tearing off the toilet paper dispenser and unraveling toilet paper rolls in the middle of the boys restrooms. I am asking that parents talk to your children to see if they have anything to report as far as witnessing such activity. It is not helpful to share rumors or hearing second-hand about things happening. Anonymous reports can be made to Report a Tip | Safe Oregon.

You may be hearing that our bathrooms are locked and here is the update. All female restrooms are open, gender neutral single restrooms are open, and the second floor male restroom is open. We occasionally will have a staff member monitor them by taking names and reviewing the bathroom between uses. When we do this, the concerning activity stops. But, we don't have the staffing to maintain this everyday.

Unfortunately, this is not just occuring at da Vinci. I've checked with other middle schools who are reporting similar concerns. We all have done similar tier 1 and tier 2 interventions such as reviewing expectations three times a year that includes a tour, slides review and participation of learning, SEL lessons directed at choice making and anxiety strategies, Health curriculum that specifically addresses health risks, choices, peer pressure and reporting. At da Vinci we have also attempted to have certain students (who use the restrooms and hall too often) be on special bathroom/hall passes and this did not work. Some schools have been addressing this issue with an all school assembly but the feedback on this is that it actually ramped up the activity and caused more student resentment.

Please join us on March 17th from 9:00am-10:00 am to have some coffee and snacks and talk about this specific issue to see if we can come together as a community to come up with other ideas and parental support with our boys' bathrooms. Also, just to say hello! If you have other concerns you are wanting to bring up that are more specific to your personal situation, please email me. We really want this to be focused on one topic each meeting to dive deep into context and then end with a solution oriented plan of action.

Thank you to all the families and students who are making the right choices that are safe, friendly and fair. We appreciate you so much and I want our energy to be focused on those actions. We do a weekly Dragon drawing (for dV SWAG) where teachers give out tickets to those students who are demonstrating great behavior. In addition, each semester we do an all school assembly to hand out certificates from each department to students who consistently demonstrate our character traits: *Compassion- We all belong. *Courage-We take chances. *Creativity-We value original thoughts and ideas *Integrity- We make the right choices *Tenacity-We are determined and persistent as we strive for success.

I hope you have a lovely week!

-Ms Wilson

Ticket links are below and on the da Vinci website, or you can pay at the door.

Thank you to the volunteerss who helped with the first three shows.

If you can help next week, please sign up HERE.

Don't miss da Vinci’s spring production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Jr! Actors and technicians have been working hard these past few months to put on a fabulous production just for you. Watch as a story of love, heartbreak, jealousy and remorse unfolds. No one could ever love a beast, right? When Belle is forced to go after her father she meets something far scarier, and possibly beautiful. This amazing story will change your perspective of love.

Get tickets here!

March 16th, 7:00 PM

March 17th 7:00 PM

March 18th 2:00 PM

$10 OR pay what you will.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Our OBOB team, “Book Cookies, “The Second Batch” were fantastic yesterday and won the Regonal Tournament. They will advance to the State Tournament in April. Thanks to parent volunteer coach for the day, Nazish Faruqui, who shared the photo, and that they were unbeatable throughout, "The team represented da Vinci really well. They were kind, supportive and showed great sportsmanship." Kudos to Ava W., Luella R., Zahra F., Shanti F., and Aubrey B. Thanks also to our Library staff for offering this opportunity.

Please review THIS SUGGESTED PACKING LIST from ODS. Remember they will need clothing for 5 nights and 6 days.

The MESD Outdoor School site is a great resource for many questions.

A few tips to prepare:

• Students should be able to carry their own gear. Be sure to LABEL items!
• Arrive to da Vinci 10-15 minutes before departure time to find parking. There will be space available on the blacktop and behind the building. Everett St. is reserved for the bus loading zone only.
• A few adults will be needed to help load gear onto the bus through the rear door. Please step up if you are able.
• Any medications sent must be clearly labeled and in original containers, handed to da Vinci staff before boarding buses. Meds sent must have been listed on the forms that were submitted.
• Send a book or something for quiet cabin time.
• Don't forget the soil!

Our Leo Leaders are running a drive for products to donate to the New Avenues for Youth Project. The project runs through March 17th. Items should be brought to first period classrooms. Thank you for your support.

For the upcoming musical we need volunteers for each show to supervise backstage and help with front of house duties. Please see our SignupGenius site for slots available and to sign up.

The da Vinci student leaders are planning a Student Dance for April 28th and need volunteers to make this a reality. Please see the sign up link below and let us know if you can commit to helping.

Thank you to the da Vinci community for (trying) to support the Dine for da Vinci night at Chipotle last Wednesday. Unfortunately, they closed this location due to a water leak and in the chaos, they forgot to contact us to get the word out. We apologize for the inconvenience! We will try and reschedule this but stay tuned for our next Dine for da Vinci at the end of April.

PTSA Meeting this Wednesday!

Please join us on Wednesday, March 15th from 6:00-7:30 pm for our next da Vinci PTSA meeting both in person in the da Vinci Cafeteria and on Zoom. This year, dinner is provided for the in-person meeting, and we need RSVP’s to order food in advance.

This Wednesday, we will have an open forum for families to bring in questions and concerns to be addressed with the school. Also bring any success stories to share with us. We do want to celebrate them! Additionally, we will be voting for next year’s Treasurer position as our current treasurer will no longer be with us next year.

Please encourage your students to join the meeting along with you, as it was great to have several da Vinci students and Leo Leaders join our last meeting. It is great to hear from the students AND parents/guardians! You can RSVP HERE to join so we can continue to build our community and support our teachers and students.

To connect to the PTSA meeting via Zoom, please click HERE.

If you have any feedback or suggestions for this week’s PTSA meeting, please email davinciptsa.president@gmail.com.

NEW: Principal Coffee Talk this Friday!

Please join us for the first Principal Coffee Talk this Friday, March 17th from 9-10am to discuss various topics that involve the school and the da Vinci Community. This is a time for our da Vinci Community to let their voice be heard. We hope to see you there! RSVP HERE

This Saturday - Flower Sales for March 18th for Final Performance of the Beauty and the Beast Show

The opportunity to purchase flowers AND succulents will be available for the LAST Beauty and the Beast Performance on Saturday, March 18th BEFORE THE SHOW ONLY as there’s no intermission (while supplies last). Cash and Cards will be accepted. We still need volunteers to help with the Flower Sales so please click on the QR code to sign up!

Auction Help still needed, please!

The PTSA is looking for some additional help with the school’s biggest fundraiser, the da Vinci Arts Middle School Auction. This event will be online starting on Friday, April 21st going through Sunday, May 7th and will support our da Vinci students and staff!

We are still seeking donations from the DV Community!

· Do you have a vacation home that you are willing to donate?

· Are you interested in hosting a party or event to auction off?

- Do you have a business that you would provide a gift certificate or item to donate?

· Are you interested in reaching out to businesses for donations?

To DONATE an item directly to the da Vinci Arts Middle School Auction, click HERE!

We still are looking for volunteers if you are interested. Click HERE if you’d like to help out and we’ll be in touch. It takes a lot of volunteers to make this event happen so please consider donating or volunteering. Thank you for considering being a part of this important event!

Spring Plant Fundraiser

Our Spring Plant Fundraiser is officially on! Pre order plants and flowers HERE from now through April 16. A selection of annuals, perennials for shade and sun are available as well as organic vegetables and herbs. These plants and herbs from New Leaf Greenhouse are great quality and will arrive just in time for planting season. Pickup days are May 9, 10, & 11.

We also need volunteers to help on Plant Delivery Day on Tuesday, May 9th and then again after school on May 9th, 10th and 11th to help with Plant pick-ups. Please sign up HERE if you are interested in helping with this fundraiser.

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.