Hello Families,

This week is a short week due to Professional Development THIS Friday, 2/3. Enjoy the short week!

While Lunar New Year celebrations continue locally and globally, we want to take a moment to acknowledge the violence and harm inflicted upon a Lunar New Year Celebration in Monterey Park recently and share a few resources that might be helpful in any conversations you may be having with your family at home. These resources have been shared with our staff from the Los Angeles County Department of Education. We stand against gun violence and in support of our Asian friends and neighbors in the aftermath of this tragedy, and always.

Resources for Schools and Families 

• A Checklist for School Personnel to Evaluate and Implement the Mental Health Component of Your School Crisis and Emergency Plan 
• Helping Youth After Community Trauma: Tips for Educators  
• School Violence Prevention: Guidelines for Administrators and Crisis Teams 
• Talking to Children about the Shooting (The National Child Traumatic Stress Network)  
• Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers (National Association of School Psychologists)  
• Coping in the Aftermath of a Shooting (American Counseling Association)  
• Trauma and Disaster Mental Health (American Counseling Association) 
• Managing your distress in the aftermath of a shooting (American Psychological Association) 

Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers (Resources in multiple languages) 

Enjoy Your Week,

Kaitlin (she/her) and Sage (he/him)

School Site Council!

Next meeting is *TODAY* Mon. 1/30/23 @ 4:30pm

All families are welcome to attend Connect’s School Site Council!

Here are the dates for SSC meetings all year:

1/30, 2/27, 3/27, 5/1 and 5/31

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/s/97935176139

Professional Development Day

Friday 2/3 No School or Homeschool

Critical Conversations with Dr. Dan Siegel: Recording is HERE!

Thank you to all of you who were able to join the Zoom last week to hear Dr. Dan Siegel discuss “The Biology of Belonging”, and for those of you wanted to but weren’t able to, don’t’ worry! There is a link to the recording here. We highly recommend taking a listen or re-visiting! More invites to similar events coming soon!

Running Club!

Volunteers Needed!

We need volunteers to keep Running Club going on T/TH! Please consider signing up to volunteer here. We need immediate help for tomorrow 1/31 and on Thursday 2/2---we have a steady group of students who really enjoy this morning activity! Thanks for considering!

Garden Club!

Tuesday and Thursday Mornings

Garden Club Mornings

Update: On Tuesday January 24, the Garden Club will not meet in the morning, however students and parents are welcome to participate at lunchtime instead. We will resume morning meetings on Thursday January 26. Please meet at the blacktop garden area from 8:45 to 9:10 am and use the appropriate sign-in sheets located in the front office. We are truly excited at the GROWING interest to be a part of this journey. If you are continuing or are a new family wanting to expand your gardening experience, please click HERE to complete a short survey. For questions and comments email jdurham@davincischools.org

8th Grade Tours of Da Vinci Science, Da Vinci Communications, and Da Vinci Design!

Wednesday Feb. 9th at 10:30 am

We are excited to offer your student in-person tours of Da Vinci Communications, Design, and Science. These visits will take place on Wednesday, February 9^th, 2023 from 10:30am to 11:30am on our 201 N. Douglas campus. Your student has already seen DV Connect High, and now this will be a fantastic way for them to see Da Vinci’s other high school options up close. They will learn more about what Da Vinci's real-world curriculum, extracurricular offerings, and more look like at DVC, DVD and DVS.

These tours are taking place on a Wednesday which is an asynchronous day for your student, so you will need to provide transportation for your student. Tours will be led by Da Vinci student ambassadors from each high school to provide an insider's view into the day in the life of a Da Vinci student. All tours will include time for Q&A.

The Da Vinci school visits are for 8th grade students only. For more information about upcoming high school info sessions for students and families, please visit the Da Vinci Enrollment Overview webpage. 

The Priority Application Deadline to apply to Da Vinci Schools is February 28, 2023. > Apply Now

We can’t wait to see your child on campus soon!

Da Vinci Connect Yearbook!

It's time to purchase your yearbook and start designing your 2 FREE personalized pages with TreeRing.  Go to this link to purchase!

FAN's Next Annual Rhythm Event: Speaker's Jam!

Wednesday, February 15 | Location: Connect K8 Campus | Time: 3:00pm-5:00pm

Sign up here to attend and participate in this awesome event!

We are also looking for middle school ambassadors and Emcees for the event! Click here if your middle school student is interested!

Thank you to Core 1 student, Love, who beautifully executed a Haiku on Flipgrid for us- as an invitation for friends to share a creative thought, inspirational poem, or writing! Click here to join in on the fun:  https://flip.com/5fa78d67

Parent Center at Da Vinci Connect!

•  Use this code (w3yytj2) to access all content all year!
• Check out the 2022-23 Supplemental Curriculum Grid by Grade Level, login details, Office Hours Sign Ups, and more! If you believe you need access to curriculum, please email Theresa with your specific request.
• Click this link – be sure to log in using your student’s DV Connect email address!

 Office Hours for 1:1 Meetings with Theresa

• Sign up for a meeting to discuss your homeschool needs, hopes & dreams! January Office Hours

CURRICULUM SPOTLIGHT

Discovery Education Social Studies Techbook

Students in grades 6-8 have access to Social Studies Techbooks from Discovery Education. This digital social studies platform has a robust curriculum with giant full catalog of Discovery Education content as well as a robust social studies curriculum. simulations help students develop a deep understanding of challenging concepts through inquiry and exploration. Parent educators, you should have received an email some time ago directly, as well as these instructions, that will enable you to get up with onboarding instructions. Check out these links to explore!

Discovery Education

Professional Learning – lots of training models to get started and beyond

Studio – creator tool

Search Tool

If you run into trouble, or did not receive your onboarding instructions, please email Theresa for troubleshooting support. Have fun!

Mr. Mason's Virtual Art Classes Are Back!

Every Wednesday 2-3pm on ZOOM!

https://zoom.us/j/4722291011

Live ZOOM Art Class with Mr. Mason. Every Wednesday 2-3pm.

Supply suggestions in the Google Classroom:

https://classroom.google.com/u/0/c/NTQ5ODk5MTQzNzZa

Remember new art project videos are uploaded twice a week.

You can find over 140 pre-recorded art videos to do anytime.

Classroom.google.com > + (join code: 3vs27ai

Daily Virtual Read Alouds are back!

M-F 3:00pm

Join Nancy each day at 3:00pm on zoom for a virtual read aloud! This invitation is for all ages, regardless of cohort or program! You can join her on zoom HERE

School Directory!

Our Family Directory will be up on the Parent Educator Resource Site very soon! This directory contains contact information for any Da Vinci Connect family who expressly gave permission to share this info during the registration process. We are still working on aggregating the information by cohort and teacher.--thanks for your patience! If you are not on the directory and would like to be added, you can complete this form.

Mental Health Support for Families!

We recognize that Winter can bring a variety of different feelings to navigate. We want to make sure that our families are connected to the resources they need. Please visit South Bay Connected to access a variety of resources to support families of all ages.