

The Dragon Tales
March 14th, 2025
Principal's Update
It is hard for me to believe that we have only one week left before Spring Break and only 9 days left before the end of the 3rd Quarter. Please check with your student about any missing work they might have and whether or not their teacher has a deadline for when late work is due. As a reminder, Quarter 3 ends on April 3rd.
Next week will be a busy week as we work our way towards Spring Break. On Monday, we will hold our required Lockdown Drill. While it is is incredibly unfortunate that we need to teach students and staff how to respond in these situations, it is better to be safe than sorry. Here is a letter explaining the drill and some additional resources.
Next week is also Spirit Week (see details below), we have our School Dance on Thursday March 20th, and we have our student Talent Show on Friday. I encourage families to help their kiddos get plenty of rest next week as the excitement of the week requires plenty of academic and social stamina!
Weekly Updates
Next Week is Spirit Week
Please encourage your student to participate in Spirit Week next week. Below are a list of the dress up days.
Monday - Sports/College Team Day (Rep your favorite team or alma mater!)
Tuesday - Adam Sandler Day (Throw on those khaki shorts and oversized t-shirts)
Wednesday - Surfer or Skateboarder Day
Thursday - Dress like your Past or your Future Self Day (You could be toddlers, in a future career, or more!)
Friday - Pajamas with Mismatched Socks Day (Rock Your Socks on 3/21 for World Down Syndrome Day!)
Dressing up/participating is not required but DEFINITELY encouraged! Can't wait to see what you come up with!
Shoutout to Our Performers and Directors
Once again, the Spring Musical production of Hadestown reminded me of how amazing da Vinci is and how talented our students are. Our student performers and directors did such a great job of putting this production together, navigating the impacts of flu/cold season, and creating an experience that students and families will remember for years to come.
As a reminder, we have our final performances Friday night (7pm) and Saturday (2pm). If you haven't seen the play, please consider coming to one of the last shows! Prepay for tickets here.
Dragon's Fire Release and Visual Arts Show
If you are able to help contribute to our efforts to purchase refreshments for the event, please click here.
School Dance - March 20th from 5-7pm
Our school dance is next Thursday from 5-7pm. Students have been able to pre-pay for tickets this past week, but we will also have tickets at the door. Tickets are $6 at the door as those costs help cover the costs of putting on the dance.
We are currently looking for some volunteers to help run and supervise this event. There will be teachers here as well, but any and all help is appreciated! Please review the available spots on the following Sign-Up Genius Link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090B4FACA723A7FA7-55425184-davincis . If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to our da Vinci Office Staff. Thank you!
You can register to be a volunteer in PPS through this website.
Students who are ineligible to attend the dance, due to the accumulation of too many tardies or for receiving a Stage 2/3 referral, have been notified and will not be allowed into the dance.
Art in Action @ da Vinci
In their 6th grade Social Studies class, our students just completed their Olmec Newscast projects. Students created a public performance that informed the audience about this ancient culture of MesoAmerica.
They researched from 7 different sources, wrote informative scripts based on our Cultural Universal guidelines, created unique art to infuse into their Newscasts, choose their own partners, and practiced their public speaking.
Some preferred to present their newscast in person, some created hybrid performances of both live and video and others wanted to try their hand at digital editing and make videos to present to the class.
Talking Circle Newsletter
The latest Talking Circle newsletter is here! This edition includes details about our upcoming STEAM Family Night, as well as our annual Public Hearing and Needs Assessment Survey. We encourage staff, community members, students, and families to complete the survey and share their valuable input.
Installation of Security Cameras
This past week, the district began installing security cameras throughout our building. This work, which has been slated to be completed for quite some time now, has been a hot topic of conversation amongst our students. The cameras being installed cover various areas of the building with high traffic volume as well as exterior entries/exits.
Security cameras in schools provide support when investigating disciplinary issues such as a locker theft or altercations in the hallways. They can also support schools, PPS security and police in the event of a lockdown or larger emergency situation. Only a few specified people have access to the footage in our building and I approve who that is.
Some students have asked if we plan to sit around and watch the camera footage throughout the day. I want to be clear that we do not do this (trust me, none of us have time to do this). We only look at footage when we have reason to believe something happened in a certain area and need to see who might be involved.
While I recognize that the installation of these cameras can create some initial wonderings, every school I have been in an administrator in previously, had cameras and there have been many times in the past two years I wish da Vinci had them. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me and ask.