Greetings Connect K8 Families,

First of all, we want to say a HUGE "Thank You!" to everyone who attended our Welcome Back Party on Friday! It was a magical way to start the 2021-2022 school year with our community! Our gratitude extends to everyone who helped plan and facilitate the event, including Jahmal Durham and family, Nydia Ochoa, Theresa Leone, Mr. Mason, Grace Bader, DJ Henry, the Wacky Shrimp food truck, and more! We can't wait to do it again at our Multi-Cultural Fair in September (see below for more details on how to get involved!).

We look forward to welcoming students for on-campus (and virtual) classes starting on Monday! We know that the first day of school on campus can bring about a wide variety of feelings, and that's ok--all feelings are welcome here! Please continue to prep your students for this big transition, including a plan for what happens if they have big feelings, as well as saying goodbye at the front gate. There are many adults on campus ready to support your student in finding their way safely to class! If you want ideas on how best to prep for the first day, review our orientation webinar and slide deck below. Please also make sure you as the grownup in charge are prepared! If you haven't yet reviewed our Master Schedule, COVID handbook and Family Handbook, please do so--confidently knowing when to be on campus and how to navigate our drop off and pick up protocols will help make everyone's day run more smoothly! Here is our drop off and pick up map one more time for your review:

Finally, we wanted to share the news that the South Bay Community has voted Da Vinci Schools a "favorite charter school" in their 2021 Favorites issue! While we don't do what we do with a goal of accolades or praise, it always feels good to be recognized for good work! If you voted, thank you!

We hope you enjoy your weekend, and we can't wait to see you!

Take Good Care,

Kaitlin and Tami

If you missed our Orientation Zoom meetings, you can find the slide deck HERE and the Recorded Orientation Zoom HERE (Passcode: X!Aff4$E)

If you are a family who needs to borrow a chromebook for your student, you can complete this Request Form. If/When a chromebook becomes available to you, Kaitlin or Tami will reach out with next steps. Please know that we have a limited supply of chromebooks available for distribution, so only complete this form if it's a true need. Thank You!

As part of our emergency preparedness plan, we ask all families to contribute a Care and Comfort Kit for their child(ren). Please use THIS FORM to create your child's care and comfort kit.

Care and Comfort Kits should be dropped off during your child's 1:1 meeting, or during the first week of on-campus classes.

**Care and Comfort Kits will NOT be returned at the end of the year. Please only provide copies of photos/documents and do not include any personal items that you wouldn't want thrown away/donated. Thank you!

We are so excited that the state of CA has announced that school meals (breakfast and lunch) are FREE for all students! You can drop your student off at Connect on their school day for breakfast as early as 8:45 am. You can browse meal menus HERE.

If your child has a dietary restriction, please complete this form and submit to our front office.

If you are in the Remote program or would like to take advantage of free meals on your homeschool day, you can pick up lunch (and breakfast for the next day!) at 201 N. Douglas St. from 11:00am-11:30 am every weekday!

ATTN: Core 4 Families! We need your help! The Multi-Cultural Fair is coming up! If you can join the planning committee, e-mail Jahmal! Of course, any family can help plan an event--the more the merrier. If you're in a different Core and want to help, we'd love to have you!

Art with Mr. Mason is BACK! We will begin the year with two recorded video lessons per week, released on Tuesdays and Fridays! You can find these incredible recordings, along with an archive of his previous recordings in Mr. Mason's Art Google Classroom: classroom.google.com > + (join code: 3vs27ai)

Stay tuned for announcements regarding upcoming live zoom art classes!

One of our amazing teachers, Julia Rivera, will be offering a read aloud from 2:30-3:00 every weekday, M-F!! She will be reading some of her favorite picture books, that are enjoyable for students TK-8^th grade. Feel free to join her at her zoom link for this wonderful way to end a school day!

Checkout her tentative schedule of read a louds here!

Use this LINK to access the September sign up!

**Use this link to sign up to attend