Dragon Tales

January 17th, 2025

Principal's Message

As we enter a long weekend to honor the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I've been reflecting on some of his statements around education and how those align to the work we are trying to do at da Vinci. One particular quote stands out to me. In regards to education, King said, "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education."

As I visit classrooms, see the tasks askeds of our students, see the positive results of from our Successful School Survey around school climate, and think about how we ask students to persevere through the risks that a performing arts school requires of them, I think we are well on our way to embodying King's quote on a daily basis here at da Vinci. While we still have a ways to go to close achievement gaps and must continue to improve the sense of belonging for certain groups of students, we are making progress. I am so proud of our students, our teachers, our support staff and our families for leaning into what makes this school and community so special.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I hope everyone is able to fill it with some relaxation, and enjoy what looks to be good weather.

Best,

Mr. Roosevelt

Weekly Updates

Dance Showcase Shoutouts

Wow.

I'm not sure what else I can say. I am so proud of our students who performed in our Dance Showcase events this week. Whether they performed in only one show, or both, the performances were amazing and remind me how lucky I am to be the principals of da Vinci.

On Wednesday, at the start of Showcase A, I shared with families that I was initially reluctant to have all students in a dance class perform at this event. A majority of our performers started the year not knowing they would be expected to perform on stage, let alone in front of their peers and family members. After all, they were taking dance to meet their State mandated PE minutes. However, as I thought about it more, I'm proud of the fact that with this shift we can now say all da Vinci students will have performed on our stage, learned how to take new risks, and how to persevere and grow because of it. If your student performed, please thank them and let them know how proud we are of them. I'm sure you're proud of them as well!

(Below are a few pictures from the show)

Volunteer and PTSA Gratitude

I want to take a moment to thank all our parent and teacher volunteers who helped at our Dance Showcase performances. We would be unable to pull off these events without your support. Whether they were supervising students in the performance or helping with payment at the front doors, we are grateful for your time and effort.

I also want to send a shout out to our amazing PTSA for organizing the flower sale and being such a strong presence in our school. If you're not apart of our PTSA, please consider joining to help our partnership grow even stronger.

January Transfer Update

The middle and high school lottery and petition results will be released via email beginning Jan 21. Families will also receive Remind messages, and can view their results through Parentvue.

We know this is information that our current students are waiting for as well as the 150 incoming students who are fortunate enough to win the golden da Vinci ticket for 6th grade.

Donations Needed to Support Our Affinity Groups

Thank you to those of you who have already made donations to our affinity groups. da Vinci is proud to offer a number of different Affinity Groups to support students and ensure they feel a sense of belonging here at school. Affinity Groups at da Vinci are spaces where students with shared identities or backgrounds can come together to create a space where they can connect, advocate and discuss experiences related to their shared characteristic.

Funds donated to these groups will be used to support various projects and activities that the group feels are needed. This might be field trips, food for meetings, invitations to guest speakers, etc. This year, we have a BSU, LatinX, QSA, AAPI, Native American Club and JAC affinity groups that we are hoping to raise money for. These are groups that, at one point or another, were started by students and are supervised by staff. Here are links to make donations:

Donate to our Black Student Union

Donate to our LatinX Affinity Group

Donate to our Queer Straight Alliance

Donate to Asian American and Pacific Islander Group

Donate to our Native American Club

Donate to our Jewish American Club