dV Weekly Newsletter, Dragon Tales

Dear da Vinci Families,

As we start the second half of the school year on Monday, please make sure your student knows their new schedule. They can see it on StudentVue. We will not be handing out paper copies.

Please take a bit of time to complete the Successful School Survey this week and share your input. The link and more info follows. We appreciate your input.

Thank you to the volunteers who washed all the dance costumes and to the folks who brought in snacks for the teachers during the planning day on Friday. Your support is appreciated.

Take good care,

Sheli

PPS is once again partnering with Panorama Education to gather student, staff, and family feedback. The results will be used to help each school understand the needs of students, staff, and families, as well as support the development of our school climate and improvement plans.

This week, students will be completing the survey during our special schedule on Wednesday morning, with the extra thirty minutes for for SEL or a Community Lesson. Please make sure students are arriving on time with their computers charged for this activity.

Staff were given time to complete the survey at a recent staff meeting and now we are asking you to spend about 10-15 minutes telling us about your experience with da Vinci. We want to know what you think.

We thank you in advance for your thoughtful responses.

1/30- Semester 2/Quarter 3 classes start

2/1- Black History Month begins

2/1- Latinx Affinity Group meets after school (every Wednesday)

2/1- QSA meets after school (every first and third Wednesday)

2/2- Roosevelt forecasting, 5th period

2/3- BSU meets after school (every first and third Friday)

2/8- OBOB competition, pullout for participating students

2/9- McDaniel forecasting, 5th period

2/13- Dine out for da Vinci at Shalom Y'all

2/15- PTSA meeting 6 PM, see below to RSVP

2/17- No school for students, teacher PD day

2/20- No school, President's Day Holiday

3/ 9,10,11 and 16,17 & 18- Beauty and the Beast, Spring Musical

3/19 - 3/24- Outdoor School for 6th Graders

3/27 - 3/31- Spring Break

Beverly Buchanan (1940–2015) was an artist whose works include painting, sculpture, video, and land art. Buchanan is noted for her exploration of southern vernacular architecture through her art. She accomplished multiple undergraduate and graduate degrees in science before deciding to pursue her art. Her work explored the relationship between memory—personal, historical, and geographical—and place.

Students created their own Beverly Buchanan-inspired shack sculptures. We learned that Buchanan made shack sculptures that were influenced by improvisational architecture of the southern working class. Students used many different materials in their sculptures: cardboard, toothpicks, popsicle sticks, grass and flowers, acorns, paint, hot glue, corks, lights, and much more. Students made structures that were either based on real houses in their lives or from their imaginations. Students also wrote origin stories about their homes and the people who live inside them. Get close up to notice all the wonderful details and please celebrate their incredible unique creations!

Here is the video done by our PPS Communications, Multimedia Department of the Winter Dance Showcase performed January 20th, 2023.

In case you missed it, want to share it with friends & family, or you just want to enjoy it again, here is the video of the concert.

Save the date for Monday, February 13th for our next Dine for da Vinci at Shalom Y’all all day. 10% of their sales will go to da Vinci. They are located at 117 SE Taylor Street. Order lunch or dinner while giving back to da Vinci.

A big THANK YOU! to those volunteers who signed up for the Teacher planning day last Friday and provided snacks and drinks to our da Vinci staff. Our teachers appreciate the support from the da Vinci Arts Middle School community!

Upcoming events

The PTSA has events coming up that we hope you will consider participating in or volunteering for in the next few months. We are especially looking for volunteers to help plan our Auction (April) and our Spring Plant Fundraiser (May) so please keep reading for further information. The funds raised for both of these fundraisers goes to our da Vinci teacher and students so please consider signing up so these fundraisers can happen this year!

The next PTSA Meeting

The next da Vinci PTSA meeting is on Wednesday, February 15th from 6:00 – 7:30 both in person in the da Vinci Cafeteria and on Zoom and you can RSVP HERE. Please join us for the meeting and dinner (provided) for the in-person meeting, so please RSVP and join us so we can build our community and support our teachers and students. To connect to the PTSA meeting via Zoom, please click HERE.

If you have any feedback or suggestions for our next PTSA meeting on Wednesday, please email davinciptsa.president@gmail.com.

A Call for an Auction Chair(s) and Committee Members for the Spring Auction!

Each year the PTSA holds a Spring Auction and this year we hope to have it online in April but we need help from the da Vinci Community! We are looking for an Auction Chair (or co-Chairs) and committee volunteers to help coordinate the Auction that is typically the largest fundraiser for the PTSA. Volunteer tasks include Chairing the Event, procuring items for the Online Auction, setting up the online auction system, marketing/social media and organizing the items for distribution. If you are interested in finding out more about being a part of the Auction Committee, sign up HERE and we’ll contact you. Thank you for considering being a part of this fun event!

Spring Plant Fundraiser - help needed!
We are looking to have the Spring Plant Sale as a fundraiser and are looking for a volunteer to take this event on. We work with New Leaf Greenhouse and their plants and herbs are incredible and it’s just in time for planting season so please sign up HERE if you are interested in helping with this fundraiser.

NEW! da Vinci Family Aid
The PTSA thanks the community for your donations to purchase Gift Cards during the holidays for some da Vinci Families. We recognize that the holidays are not the only times that families need some assistance so we are creating a new Donation Link to the da Vinci Family Aid where you can donate to this fund and the da Vinci School Counselors will manage family requests throughout the school year. The PTSA will continue to support this fund and hope that you will consider donating HERE to the da Vinci Family Aid. We thank you for your support!

Looking Ahead - The PTSA needs a Treasurer for the 2023-24 School Year!

Have you considered being a part of the PTSA and want to be a part of the Board? Well, here’s your chance! Our current Treasurer, Alisa Welch, has an 8th grade student so this is her last year with the da Vinci Community so will be stepping down as the Treasurer. If you are interested in finding out more information about what this entails, please contact your PTSA President, Claudia, at davinciptsa.president@gmail.com.

Need Swag? Available online!
da Vinci Arts swag is available online for you to purchase. We have t-shirts (in gray or white), hoodies (gray), zip hoodies (gray), pencil pouches, stickers and trucker hats that all feature the da Vinci Arts Fair logo. Click HERE to order, while supplies last.

If your student still needs required immunizations, please note the Multnomah County clinics below. Here is a list of fliers approved for distribution by PPS. Items in bold are new:

• Vibe of Portland East Winds Summer Band Camp

• Oregon State University STEM Academy AWSEM Club (Advocates for Women in Science, Engineering, and Math (English) (Spanish)

• Multnomah County February School Immunization Clinics
  (Spanish) (Chinese) (Somali) (Russian) (Vietnamese) (Ukrainian)

• Multnomah County Free Community Vaccination Clinic
  (Spanish)

• Multnomah County Student Health Center Vaccination Outreach (English & Spanish)

• Vibe of Portland No-School Art Workshops (Jan & Feb)

• Vibe of Portland Winter Music Classes

• Vibe of Portland Studio Classes Begin Soon

• Saturday Academy Apprenticeships in Science & Engineering Program
  (Spanish)

• Tech Youth Project Winter Sports Clinics 2022-2023
  (Spanish)

• PSU Sonic Arts & Music Production Academy Winter 2023 sessions (starting Jan. 6)

• City of Portland 311 Non-Emergency Hotline
  (Spanish) (Vietnamese) (Chinese) (Russian) (Somali)

• Oregon State University Summer Reading Program 2023

• Multnomah Early Childhood Program Preschool Classes

• Kaiser Permanente CASCADIA COVID-19 screening study (English)
  (Spanish) (Russian) (Amharic) (Chinese) (Vietnamese)

• Vibe of Portland 2022-23 Art Camps & Classes

• Portland Parks & Recreation Preschool 2022-23 Registration

Here are a few options for ways PPS offers free COVID-19 testing options to students:

• Diagnostic (symptom-based) Testing for staff and students who develop symptoms onsite. A signed 2022-23 Parent/Guardian consent form is required before a student may be tested. Hard copies are available at your school front office. Please return a signed consent form to the office if you would consent to onsite testing if needed.

• COVID-19 Screening Testing for students to use on a weekly basis while school is in session. OHSU tests the spit samples that your student will drop off weekly at school on our designated day which is on Thursday. To learn more about this screening testing option, click here.

• iHealth Tests: Through a partnership with the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), PPS has provided each student with an iHealth test kit for at-home use. Students and families are encouraged to use these tests if they develop symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or know they have been exposed to COVID-19. Test kits were sent home before the break, if you student was absent or did not get one, we still have a few in the office.

Please see the following instructions for setting up your own account to track assignments and monitor progress. If you have multiple children in PPS, you can set up one account and then add additional students with a separate code for each student.