Dragon Tales

What an awesome showing tonight from our Master's Drama class of the staged reading of the Young Audiences play “Average Family” by Larissa Fasthorse. As always, our students were amazing. I am incredibly proud of our Master's Drama class for starting this performance with the first land acknowledgment to prior to a performance at da Vinci.

Shifting gears, I want to remind all families that the end of Quarter 1 is on October 31st. Please encourage your students to check their grades in Canvas and StudentVue, spend time looking through their planners with them, and ask them nightly of the upcoming assignments they have.

While many students will have the same classes during Quarter 2 that they have right now, some students will have schedule changes to meet the health or Dance/PE requirements. As such, finishing the quarter on a positive academic note is always a good habit to instill in your students and an important conversation component as students prepare for high school.

Lastly, next week we will have our mandatory earthquake and fire drill. We combine those drills to decrease classroom disruptions, but also because in the event of a real earthquake, we would likely evacuate the building anyway. Like with all drills, our teachers will be reviewing safety expectations with students prior to the start of the drill.

As a reminder, students will be dismissed at 1:45pm this Wednesday for teacher professional development. Students will not be able to stay in the building past 1:45pm and all after school rehearsals are cancelled.

This week I want to highlight projects from Ms. Conner’s Creative Writing. The creative writing students are writing monster stories! In preparation, our writers studied how characters are developed in fiction, and they chose an existing monster to show different categories of characterization. These posters feature monsters from myth or legend, as well as descriptions of these fascinating creatures.

If your student is interested in participating in OBOB (Oregon Battle of the Books) this year, they’ve been directed by our Media Specialist, Heather Swinford, to find a team and sign up outside the Library door. Sign-ups are due by Wednesday, October 23. The first team meeting will be after school on Tuesday, November 5th. Teams need to include a minimum of 4 teammates and one alternative. Teams can be blended grade levels. Book genres this year include: historical, science, realistic fiction, two novels in verse, two graphic novels, a thriller, one fantasy, and a memoir.

I ran this message in last week's Dragon Tales, but wanted to re-run it this week as well:

On October 30th, we will be collecting all student chromebooks that have, at this point, been individually assigned to students. We will be moving to a new model where chromebooks will be housed in classrooms and will not go home with students.

This shift is largely due to the fact that we do not have enough computers to continue replacing computers when lost or broken. The district is no longer replacing computers and we struggle collecting the fees for replacing computers when lost or broken by students. The cost to do so is roughly $500. As of right now, we have 435 computers for 424 students. On a daily basis we have computers brought in that are damaged or are informed that a student has lost one. If we do not make a shift now, we will not have enough computers to support student learning within a few weeks.

Although most other middle schools have already moved to a similar model, we recognize this will be a major shift for our teachers and students. This week, we dedicating staff meeting time for teachers to start thinking through what this shift will mean for their instruction, homework and grading practices, and how they will communicate to families what this shift means for the students in their class. Stay tuned for more information.

In October, we celebrate Substance Use Prevention Month — an opportunity to highlight the importance and impact of prevention. Given the substance use and overdose challenges facing our country, prevention has never been more important. Check out these resources geared at parents and families and share with your school community. Here are some additional resources provided by the district.

Fact Sheets:

Talking to Kids About Alcohol and Other Drugs: 5 Conversation Goals
Why You Should Talk With Your Child About Alcohol and Other Drugs
Why Small Conversations Make a Big Impression
Answering Your Child’s Tough Questions
Impaired Driving: Talk With Your Kids
Why Your Child Might Start Drinking Alcohol
How To Tell If Your Child Is Drinking Alcohol
What You Can Do To Prevent Your Child From Drinking Alcohol
The Consequences of Underage Drinking

Brochures:

Talking With Teens About Alcohol and Other Drugs: 5 Conversation Goals

Here is an updated message from Heidi about da Vinci Travels:

Did you know that da Vinci teachers Heidi (Drama Tech) and Ms. Blair (Social Studies) lead awesome international trips for students during the summers?

This summer, we're super excited to be going to Europe - more specifically, to Munich, Vienna, Slovakia, and Budapest. This trip will take place over nine days and will happen in late July - early August. We are having an info session about the trip Next Wednesday, the 16th on Zoom.

If you are interested in learning more about this amazing trip, which focuses on the vibrant history of these different areas, with a special highlight on Music History, please email HSprecher@pps.net to ask Heidi for more info.

Please note: This trip is through a private company and is not affiliated with PPS. This means that students from any school anywhere can sign up for the trip!

Thank You!

PPS is hosting a series of events that focus on Belonging, Equity & Inclusive Practices where we will screen powerful, award-winning documentaries that will stir, provoke, and challenge each of us about what is possible in the systems we create for our children with disabilities.

As part of this series, we are excited to welcome you to a live virtual event, Including Samuel, on Monday, October 28 at 5:30 PM at OMSI Empirical Theater.

The event will include a screening of Dan Habib’s film, “Including Samuel,” and a conversation with him and his son, Samuel.

If your student is wanting to have their photo retaken, or was absent the day they were taken last month, please let the main office know so they can add your name to the list. Retake forms are in the main office as well.