Dragon Tales

I hope this newsletter finds everyone rested and relaxed after a warm summer. I am so excited to welcome our new 6th grade students and families to our Dragon family. I had the pleasure of meeting many of our new students back in May. Their excitement for joining our da Vinci community was palpable and I can’t wait for them to begin their journey through da Vinci. I’m sure it will be jaw dropping to see how much our rising 7th and 8th graders have grown over the summer. We will be leaning on our 7th and 8th grade students to be the new leaders of our school, to set great examples for their peers, and to continue carrying the torch of greatness that exemplifies our amazing visual and performing arts programs.

In my 22 years in education, I don’t believe one year has ever started the way the previous year ended. This year will be no different. We will have a new bell schedule, later start times (see below), early release days, more grade level core classes, more dance/PE requirements and a few new faces. As we embrace these changes and learn how to navigate through it, we will do our best to ensure we communicate with families as timely as possible and encourage students and families to reach out to us with any questions or wonderings.

While there will be other communications in the weeks to come, please take a moment to read through each section below.

Please join us on Saturday, August 17th, from 10am-12pm as we beautify the grounds of da Vinci in anticipation of the return of students on August 26th. Last year’s care day was a lot of fun and we hope to replicate it this year.

Please bring gardening gloves and any gardening tools you might be able to bring as well. We have half a dozen hand held pruners here at the school and a collection of assorted gardening tools, but could use additional rakes, shovels, trowels, etc. We will be working on the exterior parts of the building, but will have a bathroom and water fountain available for families and students.

PPS, as a district, has ended their contract with School Messenger and will be utilizing a new communication platform called Remind. It’s a safe messaging application that keeps students, families, and staff connected and will be used by da Vinci for all of its mass communications this coming school year.

Remind will also enable you to receive important messages from Portland Public Schools to help you stay informed.

Please be sure to check on ParentVue that your correct telephone and email address are on file and make any necessary changes. If you are unable to make those changes through ParentVue, please contact the main office.

On Friday, August 23rd after 5pm Class schedules can be accessible in StudentVue and ParentVue. Schedule change forms will be available the first week of school. Due to budgetary constraints, we will less flexibility for schedule changes than in years past. The only changes to schedules that will happen is if your student did not receive any of their elective class choices.

Per district requirement, this year all Middle Schools will begin their school day at 9:15am and finish at 4:00pm. Students will be able to enter the building for breakfast at 9am. Students not accessing breakfast will be allowed in the building at 9:08am.

Each month there will be one late start day (by 15 mins) on a Tuesday and one early release day (beginning at 1:45pm) on a Wednesday. You can go to this link to see which dates those will be: 2024/2025 PPS District Calendar. We will also post them on our website and send out updates through Remind.

We are excited to welcome our Sixth graders, and any 7th and 8th grade students new to da Vinci, at Jumpstart on August 27th.

Jumpstart helps kick the year off with a bang. Like our regular school day, school will begin at 9:15am and end at 4:00pm on the 27th.

Students will attend school that day without returning students on campus, allowing them to find their classrooms easily, make connections with their peers, and enjoy activities planned to welcome them to da Vinci!

Students need not bring school supplies that day, but a backpack and water bottle are a good idea. Lunch will be served to students.

Students need a few essential supplies to be prepared for success each day. Students will use their lockers to store backpacks, lunch boxes, dance clothes, cellphones, extra supplies, etc. They need something that can be easily carried from class to class. We suggest a zippered 3-inch binder with 3-hole punch and separate tabs for each class and a pencil pouch for a few essentials.

Students also carry their assigned PPS Chromebooks throughout the day. Most students zip this up into their 3-ring binder. Students will need to keep them protected and ensure their safety as we do not have many loaner computers this year.

A complete supply list can be found here.

Each student will need to bring a combination padlock for the locker that they will be assigned to use to secure their belongings throughout the year. Cell phones and backpacks must be stored in their lockers and be kept locked at all times. Key locks are not recommended. The office maintains a list of all combination codes in case a student forgets the combination. We will have very few replacements for locks, so please purchase one and begin working on it with your student. While you can find a wide array of lock options, we have found the Master Lock combination padlock works best.

We are making available the 2024/2025 da Vinci Carpool resource, which is compiled annually for families to use for carpooling to school and transportation planning. Your participation is voluntary.

Please only fill out the above da Vinci Carpool form if you wish for your information to be shared and only enter the information you are comfortable being shared with other households.

Once compiled, it will be shared electronically in early August with only those who elect to take part. An update will be shared close to the beginning of the school year.

For many years, da Vinci staff focused on students being Safe, Fair and Friendly. While we still want students to embody these traits, we have shifted our focus to one that incorporates our focus on the arts.

Moving forward, we will be celebrating students who are:

Accountable

Respectful

Thoughtful

Safe

We will have regular celebrations and acknowledgement of students exhibiting these traits.

Donations of supplies are always appreciated and we would be grateful to receive any of the following items to help offset costs, especially with recent budget cuts.

Items that are frequently needed include: Kleenex, hand sanitizer, face masks, pens, markers, pencils, composition books, tape (ie Scotch magic), snacks for students, reams of copier paper, etc. If you’re able to donate any supplies, please bring them (or have your student bring them) to the main office.

Once again, da Vinci will be able to offer free breakfast lunch to ALL students this year.

The PTSA will be hosting a Volunteer Mixer for new and returning families on Thursday, August 29th, at Migration Brewing on Glisan, from 5:30 to 7:30pm.

This event is for grownups only, and the PTSA will provide the first hour of drinks and snacks. Hope to see you there!

Hi there, my name is Sorena Dibble and I am very excited to be a part of the da Vinci team. I live in St. Helens with my husband and our German Shepherd Kona, I am the mother of 2 and grandmother of 5. I graduated from Roosevelt High School and have been a PPS employee as a School Administrative Assistant for many, many years. I look forward to having a great year here at da Vinci.

I am basically a nerdy human version of a golden retriever; I'm a a huge fan of Star Trek, get super excited about how cool the Universe is and just really like people. I grew up in Portland and taught 7th grade science for 11 years in Gresham, but most recently got my foot in PPS's door as a building sub (a position mysteriously titled SSI) at Faubion. My husband Jay and I have two kids, Elle (9) and Kai (7) and a cat (1), which all bring her much joy and aggravation.

Hi, I'm Erin Rosett and this will be my 12th year teaching as a special education educator. I previously worked in the Beaverton School District in a specialized program classroom and in the Community Transition Program. I have a background in art education and love infusing creativity into all aspects of my life, especially my teaching practice. I am a solo parent by choice to an amazing 21 month old and I love spending time with him going on adventures and learning new things together. I'm excited to join the da Vinci community!