Dear da Vinci Parents and Guardians, 

We hope you continue to be well and safe. We appreciate all your flexibility and home support that you are providing for your students.  

Here are some important updates: 

Grading Requirements from ODE

As you know we have prioritized care, connection, and continuity of learning for all students throughout this extended closure. Recently, the Oregon Department of Education released guidelines for K-8 students.  Teachers will be recording a P (progressing or proficient) or an N (no evidence). We are awaiting more clarification on this from PPS and hope to update families soon.

State program offers families help to pay for food

Families that were previously eligible for Free or Reduced Lunch will be receiving an Oregon Trail card in the mail for each child with no additional paperwork. Families that may now qualify, but didn’t in the past can apply online for this service. Please see THIS website for additional information and application. 

A Daily Checklist

Rather than trying to plan out every moment of your student’s day, perhaps try this daily checklist. You figure out WHAT they need to do, they figure out WHEN to do it. 

Leap into 9th Grade – Program canceled for summer 2020   

Due to COVID-19 social distancing guidelines and budget constraints, Leap into 9th Grade will NOT take place this summer.

Weekly Dragon Challenge

This ends week three of the Dragon Challenge! Winners will now be announced every Thursday by 5 pm rather than Friday. Keep it up!

LIBRARY NEWS

Hang on to your PPS library books and textbooks for now! 

This week email notifications were sent to families regarding the library and/or textbooks that your students have checked-out from the da Vinci library. The notifications were just a reminder and not a call to return books at this time. We’ll let you know as soon as we can when and where books can be returned. 

If there’s not an opportunity to return materials this school year, please keep the books in a safe place and plan on returning them in the fall when school resumes. Also please make sure your school library books do not get returned to the public library by mistake! We don’t always get those back. 

Listening to AudioBooks with Megan Young

Have you run out of print books to read? 

The Multnomah County Public Library has thousands of eBooks and AudioBooks to check-out and listen to. Our library website has helpful videos on how to access these resources. It also has information on how to apply for a library card online if you don’t already have one. 

Are you new to audiobooks and want some expert tips on using this resource? 

One of our language arts teachers, Megan Young, let me record a video with her answering questions about audiobooks: like, “How do you stay focused while listening to someone read to you?” She also shared great tips on improving your fluency and the joys of escaping into a wonderful story. 

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or need assistance.  Susan Robertson, Teacher-Librarian  srobertson@pps.net

School Belongings

Thank you for your patience around being able to pick up your students’  belongings. As student safety remains a critical consideration, we are waiting for further guidance. 

Finally, see Ottos’ award-winning artwork by using the following link: 

https://ppsartgallery.com/

Stay Well, and we MISS YOU!

Dear da Vinci Families, 

OUTREACH  We are working hard to make sure we have heard from every student/family.  If you have not made contact with your teachers, please do so.  We will keep trying until we know you are safe and well!

GMAIL FOR STUDENTS!  Don’t forget you have a PPS Gmail account.  Please check it regularly to see if there is a communication from your teachers.  It is a great way to reach out to staff and get one on one questions answered.  

HD RESOURCES AND TIPS  Be sure to bookmark and use the da Vinci HD website as a resource. This is

FORECASTING REMINDER We have received forecasting from about half of next year’s students. Please complete this as soon as possible! The link to the forecasting survey is in the Course Description and Instruction document, and here. Please read through the instructions first and discuss choices as a family. 

6th GRADERS! Some of your fellow students requested a time for 6th graders to "hang"… so we've created the 6th Grade Lunch Social on Fridays! All 6th graders are welcome, use the google meet nickname "6glunchsocial". Fridays at noon!

8th GRADERS!  Planning for your promotion is underway. Be sure to check your email and join the Google Classroom “Class of 2024” for information and instructions. We need to hear from all of you. 

Week 1 Dragon Challenge WINNER Video  Thanks to all of those that played!  Dragon Challenge 2 will be posted Monday, May 4th at noon!  Go HERE to play!

Stay well and let us know if we can help! 

Sincerely, 

The da Vinci Admin Team 

April 14, 2020

Subject: NEW! Da Vinci HD Website and Student Gmail accounts!

Dear da Vinci families, 

da Vinci Home-based Distance Learning Resources  da Vinci now has a distance learning website to help support students and families during this difficult time. Please bookmark this as a place to find up to date information all in one place.

Our students are now able to use PPS gmail (@student.pps.net) accounts. Students and teachers will use email to communicate as needed. Students will find the email app on their student Google account. The following protections are in place for these email accounts:

• Only able to send and receive email from PPS domains

• Forwarding of email to another account has been disabled

• Ability to delegate control of the email account to another user has been disabled

• POP and IMAP services disabled.

• Email can only be checked on the web or through a mobile application

• GSuite Sync for Outlook has been disabled

Remind App  PPS will be using Remind for an additional communication tool as we work from home.

New Google Classrooms Added for Grade Level (Graduating Class of ##)  Counselor Katie Loewen has created

As always, let us know if we can answer questions or provide help.

April 10, 2020

Dear da Vinci Families,

We hope that you are all well and safe.

As you may know, Governor Brown announced on Wednesday the end of in-person public school classes across

SCHEDULE AND GENERAL FRAMEWORK FOR DISTANCE LEARNING 

Portland Public Schools  has recommended that we set a schedule for distance learning. Learning opportunities will

Beginning Monday, April 13, for the first two weeks, learning opportunities will focus on English/language arts

Middle school guidelines expect students to engage in school work for approximately three hours each day.

Each department has set aside Office Hours/Flex Time time to interact with, and offer student feedback. 

See current work from our students. Thanks to Kelda  for setting up a juried online Gallery through a Seesaw blog, where visual arts students will have the opportunity to showcase their artwork. Please be sure to visit! 

FAQ

Can I come to da Vinci to clean out my locker or get belongings? Not at this time. We will communicate with families by email when this is possible. 

What about grades? Grades will not be issued for middle school students for quarters three or four. Teachers are expected to give feedback to students. 

Does my student have to participate in distance learning? Participation in distance learning is optional, and yet it is strongly recommended to stay connected to teachers and classmates. For many students, the structure and opportunity to “see” other people and be productive will help them feel better. We understand that each student and family has unique needs. This is a stressful time for many of us. Please do what works for your student and family. 

Who do I ask for support? We created this survey last week and sent it out to gather information about family needs. We hope to connect families with available resources in the community. If you have not yet done so, please fill it out. 

Technical support

• For technical issues with Google platforms, our Media Specialist, Susan Robertson, can be reached at srobertson@pps.net. 

Contact Principal Locke or Assistant Principal Kitchens by email if you have other concerns.  

What about 8th Grade Promotion and other year-end events? At this time, we will not be able to hold any of our usual events in person. We will look for ways to connect as a community and honor our students, especially those who will be promoted to high school next year. 

Are we still going to have a Yearbook? YES- you can still order a yearbook on SchoolPay and we will figure out the distribution when they arrive. The deadline to order is April 24th. 

RESOURCES AND HELPFUL LINKS 

• PPS site for updated Coronavirus information and resources 

• PPS site for Home-based Distance Learning resources

• PPS Student and Parent Portal with links to tools and general information 

• The da Vinci Library webpage with videos from Susan Robertson and helpful links

• Counselor Katie Loewen’s webpage with resources for students and families 

Thank you for the opportunity to serve your students during this unprecedented and challenging time.

Be Well, Stay Safe!

Best,

da Vinci Admin Team & Staff

Dear PPS Families,

We hope you are enjoying a safe and healthy summer break. Thank you for sharing your feedback on the re-entry survey we recently sent to you. While there are still numerous details to finalize, we wanted to update you on where we are with our efforts to ensure healthy beginnings for the 2020-21 school year. 

Dear PPS Families,

We want to make sure you are aware of a change in meal distribution. For this week only, sacks of breakfast and lunch will be available Monday through Wednesday instead of the usual Monday through Thursday. Sacks of breakfast and lunch will be distributed outside 14 of our schools, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Dear PPS Community,

We wanted to remind you about opportunities to provide feedback on the 2020 School Bond Renewal, including one that is now open. The 2020 School Bond Renewal Survey is now available. The survey, which will allow you to share your input on priorities and approaches to funding, will be open until 5 p.m. on Friday, July 3: