Dragon Tales

Fall is definitely in the air! While it was nice the weather cooperated for much of the week, thereby allowing kids to play outside during lunch, it was definitely a lot colder this week. The good news is that the district turned on our boilers, so we have heat in the building! However, even with that heat, I want to encourage everyone to send their kids to school with some warm clothing. I recognize my aging bones are more susceptible to cold weather these days, but it always concerns me to see so many students in T-shirts before and after school.

Next week is the end of the 1st Quarter. Students will not have school on November 1st and 4th. These are grading and planning days for teachers. Most students will continue to have the same classes during Quarter 2 as the do during Quarter 1. However, a few students will see some small changes to their schedules as they transition to another elective, dance term, a health class, or an intervention class. Please have your student check their StudentVue on November 1st to see if their schedule has any changes.

Lastly, next week is Spirit Week and we will end the week with our annual Fall Talent Show. Please encourage your student to dress up. See the section below on dress up themes for Spirit Week.

Sincerely,

Mr. Roosevelt

Chromebooks and chargers will be collected next Wednesday. Between now and then each student needs to make sure that any "beautification" they added to their device gets removed. This includes sharpie, paint pen, stickers, and sticker goo.

Their school-provided name sticker can remain on until you give your Chromebook to your math teacher next week.

Below are a list of the dress-up themes for each day of Spirit Week. Please encourage your student to participate in the fun each day.

• Monday = 10/28: Pajama Day

• Tuesday = 10/29: Dress like a Teacher/Teachers dress like Students

• Wednesday = 10/30: Time Period Day

• 6th Grade = 60s, 7th Grade = 70s, 8th Grade = 80s, Teachers = 90s

• Thursday = 10/31: Halloween → No masks/coverings over your face and no look-a-like weapons!

Please note = All costumes have to be school appropriate and meet the district dress code requirements.

The teachers and students at daVincii changed our school guidelines this year from safe, fair and friendly to ARTS - Accountable, Respectful, Thoughtful and Safe.

The community felt like it better represented the artistic strengths of our students. When students show these characteristics, teachers hand out ARTS Awards.

This year teachers have already handed out 143 ARTS awards during the months of September and October. This is twice as many awards as kids received all year last year. We want every kid to receive at least one ARTS award by the end of the year.

When you are in the building check out the Artists Bulletin Board as you enter to see if your child is on the list yet. We are proud of the community we are building at daVinci.

Check out this awesome group of 8th graders teaching 6th graders how to use the ceramics wheels in Mr. B's class. This is such a fun classroom to visit. Such high levels of engagement, cooperation, and pride in their work!

As a reminder, the district has moved to paperless report cards, unless families opt-in to receive paper copies. If you want to opt-in to receive paper copies, here are instructions on how to do so.

If you need to pick up your student early on Thursday, please give the office a heads up as early as possible so we can get a message to your student BEFORE our Talent Show. The Talent Show will likely start at 2:55pm and last until the end of the day.

It takes us much longer to get a student out of the auditorium once the show has started as we need to find the student and wait for performances to end before leaving the auditorium.

Does your student need a replacement planner? If so, please make a $2 donation through SchoolPay.

Planners are a useful way for students to remember what work they have coming up and can also serve as a great way for families to track what students are working on in their classes.

Check out this flier from the Vibe of Portland for more information about these classes.