dV Weekly Newsletter, Dragon Tales

Hello da Vinci Families,

Principal Davis will be taking some time away for a family emergency. She will be unavailable for communication by phone, email or text at this time. If you have needs, contact the main office or Ms. Wilson, our Assistant Principal. Thank you in advance for respecting her privacy.

Quarter 2 classes begin on Monday. Make sure your student looks at their schedule on StudentVue (or you can look at Quarter 2 on ParentVue) for the new schedule.

Conference News- Do you need to check in with your student's teachers? NOW is the time to book your 10 minute slots for conferences if so. See all the information below.

Opening Night for the Fall Festival of Shakespeare is this Wednesday! See the ticket information (and volunteer sign up) below and come support our fine actors and technicians. We're so excited to see the shows!

Finally, before you read on, don't forget to VOTE and set your clocks back!

HEAR YE, HEAR YE!

The Fall Festival of Shakespeare is upon us!

Come support our amazing da Vinci actors and techies. Our Fall Festival of Shakespeare is right around the corner! We’re putting on two Shakespeare plays, Richard III and Much Ado About Nothing. Much Ado About Nothing is a romantic comedy full of mischief and trickery. Whereas Richard III is jealous and spoiled. He wants to be king of England and uses manipulation and deceit to get his crown. Richard III is full of suspense, betrayal, and murder!

Our opening night is November 9th! If you're interested, tickets are $10 (or pay what you will). The outdoor black top will be open for parking!

Here are the SchoolPay links for each show:

November 9th

November 10th

November 17th

November 18th

November 19th

Volunteers Needed! If you can help out for one or more of the shows, please sign up HERE. There are slots for backstage supervision and front of house for each show. If you volunteer for a show, you can get two tickets to see the show on a separate night.

Family (parent/guardian/caregiver and student)/Teacher conferences offer an invaluable opportunity to meet and discuss student progress and needs. These conversations are student-centered and we want students to participate. Because conference times are limited, we hope to prioritize families who need this time to connect with teachers. While teachers always enjoy talking with families, if your student is doing well, especially if you already know the teacher from last year, a conference may not be necessary.

Further, we understand our students come from different family structures and may have two households. If this rings true for your family, please work within your family to determine which adult(s) will attend conferences. Please know, unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to offer separate conference slots to families residing in separate homes. Thank you for your understanding.

When: November 21 and 22 from 8:30 AM to 8:30 PM.

Teachers block off their meal breaks in advance and there may be some variation in availability. There are a couple of teachers with spots on alternate days.

Where:

MONDAY CONFERENCES ARE IN PERSON AT DA VINCI IN CLASSROOMS

TUESDAY CONFERENCES ARE ON ZOOM - NOTE THE LINK ON THE CONFIRMATION EMAIL.

As is typical, each conference slot is 10 minutes. These are scheduled without any transition time so it is imperative to start and end promptly. These slots usually do fill up so if you miss your time for any reason, we will not be able to accommodate schedule changes.

How to Sign up: If you feel a conference would be helpful, please use this site to pick times to meet with your child’s teachers.

• Take only one slot per teacher per child for year-long classes, or semester Art classes. Coordinate with other adults to share the time or divide the meetings.

• Teachers do not offer conferences for quarter-term electives, e.g., term dance/PE fitness, health, or the quarter of art or AVID.

The conference schedule website is now live. It will be locked at 5 PM on Thursday, November 17th so teachers can prepare.

Sign up on MyConference Time:

https://www.myconferencetime.com/davinci/

> Register for multiple time slots

> Select the number of students you have

> Pick the teachers you need to meet with

> Enter your names and email address

> Pick a day that works best for you

> Select times and sign up

> Look for a confirmation email from Myconferencetime with the link for the Zoom meeting. You will also get a reminder two days in advance. If you need any help, contact sbryan@pps.net.

How to join Zoom, video tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgBBO-rbZ00&feature=youtu.be

• Download Zoom in advance and become familiar with joining a meeting if you are not already.

• There will be a waiting room for the teacher to let you in when it’s your time. Make sure your Zoom account name is recognizable.

• You can use your student’s PPS Zoom account or a personal one.

• If multiple people plan to join the meeting, make sure to let the teacher know to admit other participants.

Prepare for the meeting:

ASK- How is my student’s participation?

Share- what’s working/not working.

What do we need to know about your student?

How can we help your student to be successful?

• 11/8- Election Day- don't forget to turn in your ballots!
• 11/8- Special schedule for drama pullout and teaser. Be sure to pre-arrange early pickups as all students will be in the assembly for the last 20 minutes of the day.
• 11/8- Info session for prospective families, 5:00 - 6:00 PM
• 11/ 9 & 10, 17 & 18- Fall Festival of Shakespeare shows at 6:30 PM
  
• 11/11- No School Veterans Day Holiday
• 11/16- PTSA Meeting, 6 PM in the cafeteria or on Zoom, more PTSA dates below
• 11/18- Fun for the Arts, Fundraiser/Dance Party
• 11/19- Fall Festival of Shakespeare with da Vinci and BES students at da Vinci, 2:00 PM Matinee
• 11/21 & 22- Conferences, no classes for students, sign up now
• 11/23 - 25- Thanksgiving Holiday Vacation, no school

On November 18th, all students will be participating in our Young Audiences fundraiser. Our goal is $10,000, which about $23 per student. We know some can give more and some cannot give at this time, but all students will participate in this fun dance party with multiple options to dance, run laps or play games. 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.

There are two ways you can help with this fundraiser:

1. Give directly on our team page HERE.

2. Help your student set up their own fundraising platfrom and reach out to friends and family beyond our da Vinci community to help us raise funds. HERE is the page to register and set up your own fundraising page that can be shared.

All the dance students worked hard for weeks learning the choreography and had the chance to put this together last week. Bravo to our Dance Department!

The da Vinci PTSA thanks everyone who participated in the Pie and Poinsettias Fundraisers! Money raised goes back into the school and the teachers and staff appreciate the support.

Key dates:
Pie pick up will be on November 16th and 17th from 3:00-4:00.
Poinsettias can be picked up on November 29th and 30th from 3:00-4:00.

Stay tuned for more pick up details!

Arts Fair student applications are open NOW and ends November 9th!

We need our da Vinci student artists for the Arts Fair! The student applications to be a vendor for the Arts Fair are available so sign up today. This is a great opportunity for students to sell their ART or CRAFT and make some money AND give back to the school!

How do students participate?

· Sign up with this link LINK by Nov 9th.
- Think about what you want to sell.
- Make some art or craft!
- Attend an info session at lunch in November. Dates TBD.
- Save the date; Dec 3rd to be at da Vinci from 9:30-2:45.
- Alumni who are still enrolled in high school can also participate (spread the word!).

Student agreements-

· Students must stay for the entire time (9:30-2:45).
- Students will collect and track their own sales. 30% of their sales will go to the da Vinci PTSA and students earn 70% of their sales.
- Each student will be provided a 3 ft by 3 ft table space to display artwork. Please think about how to display your work. You can restock your tabletop throughout the event.
- Students will be paid within 30 days of the event

Student Vendor Questions- Please email Michelle Chachka at mchachka@pps.net.

For general Arts Fair questions, please email davinciartsfairlove@gmail.com. Please note student PPS emails do not send out of network, so emailing from a non PPS email is best. Thanks!

VOLUNTEERS needed for the da Vinci Arts Fair!
The Arts Fair needs VOLUNTEERS in many ways including helping with Fair logistics, set up on Friday afternoon, set up and breakdown on Saturday, sell Concessions, sell DV swag and day of volunteers to help make the Arts Fair a safe and fun event for everyone involved.

Please click HERE to sign up. We really appreciate the help!

The next da Vinci PTSA meeting is coming up on Wednesday, November 16th from 6:00 – 7:30 both in person in the da Vinci Cafeteria and on Zoom and you can RSVP HERE. This year dinner is provided for the in person meeting, so please don’t forget to RSVP and join us so we can build our community and support our teachers and students. The PTSA encourages any feedback and suggestions for our next meeting by emailing davinciptsa.president@gmail.com.

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.

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.