Dragon Tales

It was so great to see our teachers and support staff back in the building this week as they prepare to welcome our students back to school next week. Although the first day back for adults is met with some of the same jitters and wonders that our students have, we had an awesome week of professional learning and preparation.

I won’t bore everyone with all the details of our professional learning this past week, but I do want to take a moment to share a few key focus areas that will impact students.

• Planners = All students will receive a planner on the first day of school. Our AVID team led a training around our school wide expectations for planner use in every class. Using planners to track learning and assignments is a proven way to help students stay organized and track their learning. Planners will also help families support their student at home. They will create an informal portfolio of learning. We encourage families to look at their student’s planner regularly and then match what is in the planner with assignments in Canvas. Students will often tell you they don’t need to write in their planners since, “Everything is in Canvas.” Well, my response to that is, “Everything I need is in the grocery store, but I still make a list before I go!” We do not have many extra planners, so students who lose theirs may be asked to purchase another one for a small cost.

• Electronics = I’ve previously shared that cell phones and other electronics are to be kept “Off And Away In Lockers All Day.” We also talked about how I expect students not to be playing video games on their computers during class. I’ve asked our Climate Team to look into creating a policy around this. Next week, all students will be reminded about our electronic policy and that if we see a cell phone we will confiscate it. Please remind your student about this as well.

• Grade Level Standards Aligned Instruction = Most of our core classes will no longer be blended and as such, students will be with their grade level peers for math, science, ELA and social studies. This will help us ensure that we are teaching grade level standards to all students. In some ways this will be a big shift. However, I am confident that this will help us ensure ALL students are ready for the rigor of high school and will align our learning scope and sequence with other middle schools across PPS.

• A.R.T.S = One of our school goals is to see an increase in the number of students who report feeling a strong sense of belonging here a da Vinci. We will be celebrating any and all students who exemplify the character traits of being “Accountable, Respectful, Trustworthy, and Safe.” These four core values will be the cornerstones of our classroom and schoolwide behavior expectations.

Student schedules will go live tonight in Synergy. Please know, that we still have some adjustments to make. Therefore, students should continue to monitor their schedules leading up to their first day of school. Students will get a paper copy of their schedule as they enter the building on the first day(s) of school. They will need to keep this copy because cell phones are not allowed during the day.

Although it wasn’t exactly popsicle weather for our new student mixer on Thursday evening, it was so great seeing some of the new faces that will fill our halls next year. Between this event and our new student Jumpstart on the 27th, I’m confident that our students will be ready for a new school year.

As a reminder, next Tuesday is a regular day of school for all new da Vinci students. While most in attendance will be 6th graders, our new 7th and 8th grade students are welcome to come as well. Students should arrive by 9am to pick up their schedules before we let everyone in to the auditorium at 9:15am.

Students should bring their school items (binders, school supplies etc). While the first part of the day will be focused on community building, students will spend a good portion of the day in their regular classes. They should also bring a lock as they will be getting their locker assignment.

Students may bring their own lunch or get one of our free school lunches.

We encourage all families dropping students to off to try and avoid doing so in front of the building. NE Everett Street is very narrow and gets very crowded. Please set a drop off and pick up location with your students. Many use the area by the soccer field. Others drop off on 24th or on NE Flanders St.

Additionally, we STRONGLY encourage families to avoid driving west on NE Everett St. Generally speaking, when driving past the school please drive towards the higher street numbers (Ex: From NE 24th towards NE 28th). This helps avoid traffic jams and back ups.

Make sure to get a lock as no lockers at da Vinci have built in locks. We encourage locks like the one in this picture as they tend to last the longest and are the most secure.

Please see the picture below for a reminder on school hours.

We will be reminding students of this expectation the first week, but also wanted to remind families that students are expected to leave their backpacks, and/or other bags used to carry their school supplies, in their lockers*. There are various reasons for this policy, but the main one is that this frees up space in the classroom and decreases the temptation for students to hide their phones/electronics in their backpacks.

Last year we saw an increase in the number of students who started to bring large satchels or tot bags in lieu of a backpack. Unfortunately, these take up too much space. Teachers will be directing any student who brings a large bag or backpack to return them to their lockers.

* Please note students in dance who need to bring a small bag for a change of clothes will be allowed to bring these to class.

We just learned this week that our 6th graders will finally have the opportunity to attend Outdoor School in the Fall. From September 29th to October 4th our 6th grade students will spend five days and five nights at one of the designated camp locations for da Vinci.

For the past few years, da Vinci students had to wait until the Spring to go to Outdoor School. We believe a Fall date is so much better for community building across our 6th grade and helps students develop independence skills that will benefit them for the rest of the year. Furthermore, a Spring date can impact our 6th graders ability to participate in our musical and other performing arts events. Our 6th grade Science teacher, Ms. Hopkins (cathopkins@pps.net), will be our Outdoor School lead and will be sending home more information in the coming weeks.

To learn more about Outdoor School, click here.

We encourage all families to sign up for a Securly account. As a parent or guardian, you can use Securly to stay on top of your child’s online activity in real-time from anywhere, with the SecurlyHome App. Securly will also send parents/guardians weekly email reports with a snapshot of their student’s internet activity. This report is a wonderful opportunity for parents and guardians to open a dialogue with their students about their digital lives. To learn more about Securly, please visit this website.

Please take a moment to read through this welcome back newsletter from Gillian Murr, the Director of Indian Education in PPS.

Thank you to our amazing PTSA and the new Jersey Mike's, located on 26th and Burnside, for donating sandwiches for our staff today. They were a huge hit and we're excited to partner with them in the future.