Upcoming da Vinci Calendar Highlights
1/28, Info session #1 for admissions 6-8
1/30, BSU Meeting after school
1/31, Dance 3 and 4 Showcase, 7 pm
2/1, Student Winter Ball, 6:30 - 8 pm, $5
2/6, Info session #2 4-6
2/7, Spelling Bee, special schedule with assembly before lunch
2/12, Open House for Admissions, 3:45 - 4:45 then info session #3
2/18, President’s Day, no school
2/20, Info session #4
3/11, Info session #5 4-6
3/14, Spring Music Concert
3/ 23 - 31, Spring Break, school resumes 4/1
4/ 3-5, Ashland Trip
4/14, da Vinci Annual Auction - Save the date!
4/26 & 27, Spring Dance Concert
6/5, 8th-grade promotion
6/6, 8th-grade trip
6/7, Last day of school
Admissions information The lottery for admissions to da Vinci for the 19-20 school year will open February 8th. Please see the admissions page on our website for more information about the admissions process and important dates. All applicants must attend an information session, fill out a Statement of Understanding and apply to the online Lottery through PPS Enrollment and Transfer before March 8th at 8 am. Prospective students need to attend an information session with their family, even if they have a sibling currently attending. We do need students (adults are also welcome) to help with the information sessions. Students help greet visitors and lead tours after the presentation. If you or your student can help out at any of the sessions, please sign up on Signup Genius.
Winter Ball, a student dance is coming Friday, February 1st from 6:30 to 8 pm. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased in advance at lunch on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, or they can be purchased at the door. The dance is for current da Vinci students only. Semi-formal attire is encouraged but not required. The dance will be in the da Vinci gym. Please sign up on this Signup Genius site if you can volunteer or send snacks to contribute. We do need adult chaperones and helpers!
Dance 3 & 4 Showcase Thursday night at 7pm is the lecture demonstration and presentation of choreography for our advanced dance students. Tickets are on SchoolPay or you can pay $5 at the door. We do need a few folks to help with tickets before the show. Please sign up here if you can help and you can still see the show.
Congratulations to all visual arts students who participated in the statewide Oregon Scholastic Art Awards. This year, 2,604 students entered 7,007 individual pieces of art from around the state! da Vinci visual art students, including Textiles, 2D art, and 3D art students were awarded a total of 92 scholastic awards this year: 49 honorable mention awards, 38 silver key awards, and 5 gold key awards. Scholastic changed their policy this year to age 13 and up, which unfortunately means that about half of our 7th graders could not submit work this year.
Special congratulation to the students whose work was awarded a gold key and will now be entered into the national scholastic art awards. These five gold key artworks will be exhibited at the Pacific Northwest College of Art from Thursday, Feb 7th though February 22nd. The awards ceremony will be held at the Pacific Northwest College of
Art on Thursday, Feb 7th, 6 - 7 pm.
Sarai Ballerstedt, drawing, Grim World
Harrison Boutillier, mixed media, "Divide"
Charlie Gullung, sculpture, "Mr. Incubator"
Luci Kennedy-Wong, weaving, "Demand"
Kiran Sharp, mixed media, "Remembering"
High School Forecasting Counselors from Grant High School will come to da Vinci on Wednesday and meet with students living in the Grant boundary during 3rd period. Be on the lookout for the forecasting from that must be signed by an adult at home and returned to da Vinci ASAP. If your student is attending Cleveland, Franklin or Roosevelt, those forms should have been returned already. Please check with your student to make sure they got them in. Check out Counselor Katie’s website for more information.
LEAP Into 9th Grade! PPS neighborhood high schools are offering an opportunity for incoming 9th graders called "LEAP into 9th Grade!" This is a 4 week opportunity for incoming 9th graders to get a jump on being prepared for HS during the summer. If your student has a history of struggling with school, is feeling anxious about the transition to HS, does better with more preparation, or has any other concerns, this may be for them! Registration forms are on Katie the Counselor's Website or on the bulletin board outside the main office. Completed forms can be turned in to the main office or the counseling office at da Vinci!
Yearbooks- Pre-order yours now on SchoolPay For $20 you can now reserve your copy of the da Vinci Yearbook. Please purchase in advance so we know how many to order. Yearbooks are distributed on the last day of school. Please use this SchoolPay link.
Call for Photos We would love to include your photos in the yearbook. If you have awesome photos from events at da Vinci from this year, please load them onto this drive:
Raise Our Voices Conference Donations- Donate HERE
This is the 2nd annual middle school conference on race. This year's conference has 4 workshops including an arts integration component and an art piece for each school to install back at their own school. The conference is a day in a half. The eight schools participating are (in alphabetical order): Beverly Cleary, Beaumont, Da vinci, Harriet Tubman, Laurelhurst, Faubion, Ockley Green, and Vernon. Funding for this conference is based on a grant from Teaching Tolerance, funds from PPS equity department, and left over funds from last year's donations. We've asked for $9,500 for the grant, $2500 from the equity department, and $500 left over from last year. If you would like to help keep this conference going strong each year, please consider giving a small donation to help the larger cause. The donations are used to help offset cost associated with lunch, substitutes, snacks, transportation, workshop presenter stipend, printing, artist, art materials, badges, journals, wristbands, high school training, location fee. We will hear whether the grant is approved by February 1st. If it is not approved, the conference will go on, however, it will lack all the bells and whistles such as lunch, arts integration, and some supplies. It will remain free to students. Any donation, no matter how small is helpful. Thank you for consideration and time, I know how often requests and donations are asked of families. Click on above link to donate online or you can send a check made out to Beverly Cleary School reference "Raise Our Voices" conference mail to: Beverly Cleary School, Attn: Rosanne Malmstrom, 1915 NE 33rd, 97212. Please do not hesitate to contact lkobs@pps.net with any questions.
Sincerely,
Liz Kobs and Student Planning Committee
Children’s Health Fair, February 9th This event is sponsored by the Multnomah Dental Society and free. At Reynolds Middle School, 1200 NE 201st Ave. in Fairview from 10 am to 2 pm, students can receive free immunizations, dental treatment, screenings for vision and hearing, OHP Insurance information and more. Lunch is provided.
Immunization Exclusion Day is February 20th Students must have required immunizations or a current waiver in order to be in school. If your student is not current, you should have received notice from MESD. For more information on required immunizations, visit the MESD website.
Yoga and Wellness is running on Mondays in Portable A with Shawna O’Neal after school from 3:30 - 4:30 in Portable A. This is for students, staff members, and parents. It’ll be a fun hour of mind, body connection and movement. This will be a donation practice ($0-10). Please bring a yoga mat and/or blanket to practice on/with if you have one. Although, a mat isn’t necessary, there will be a few extra to share. No experience is required.
Attendance Reminder If your student will be arriving late or be absent for any reason, please email sbryan@pps.net or call the main office number, 503-916-5356. Let us know the student’s name and the reason for the absence.
