Welcome Back Connect HS Families!
Cohorts, Schedules and All… oh my!!
Thank you for your patience, support and understanding as Robert and I have taken on our new roles as your Principal and Assistant Principal. We are honored and excited to begin this year with you! We want to start by saying we realize that in the Da Vinci tradition of reflecting and revising, we have made a few changes and some without much notice… However, to provide the best learning environment for your students we had to dive in quickly. Understandably, change is hard, so again we thank you and want you to know that all we have done and will continue to do is in the best interest of the students that you trust us with at Connect HS (and also Da Vinci Extension--DVX).
As a reminder, school begins August 15, 2022. By now you should have received your assigned cohort on-campus school days from your students' advisory teacher. Please know you will not always receive this information so late but with a whole new team transitioning in on July 1st, we had to ensure a seamless transition with the previous team and then begin building the master schedule later than usual. Orientation this year will be built into the first on-campus days. Your students' advisory teacher for the year is looking forward to spending the first on campus day with them–sharing the Connect HS orientation information that our team has created for our students and families over the past few weeks. Be on the lookout for your student(s) to share orientation information with you (as well as information about our upcoming Parent Orientation--date and time coming soon!).
Class schedules will be handed out during orientation. Please remember, if your student is a part of our T/F cohort, they still begin school on Monday with asynchronous (at-home) assignments. An email with assignment information will be sent from their teachers no later than Friday, August 12th at 4pm.
Welcome from your Assistant Principal, Robert Anthony III
Hello everyone! I’m excited to be a part of the Da Vinci Connect family. I began my journey in the field of education at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, earning a B.A. in Education, and a Masters of Education Administration from Walden University.
I’ve served in various capacities within the field of education for over 23 years: 13 years of classroom experience, and 10 years of leading local, state and national education initiatives.
Outside of work I enjoy exercising, traveling, sightseeing with my family, roller skating, and enjoy college & pro football games.
I look forward to working alongside all Da Vinci Connect HS families.
Welcome Our New Staff
In addition to Robert and Tami as your new administrative team, we are welcoming Alyssa Tomlinson, Amanda Mendoza, and Emma Gresset (Math and Social Science teachers) to our teaching staff. We also welcome Luis Diaz who will round out our front office team. Ebony is on maternity leave (congratulations Ebony!) but Hilary will be a familiar face until she returns. Adding to our special education team, Melissa Martin is our new Speech and Language Pathologist and Joshua Peraza is our School Psychologist (both shared with the Da Vinci Connect K8 campus). We also welcome Brittney Mercado, academic coach for DVX, and we have even more staff joining us soon, including more academic coaches, paraprofessionals and safety/security staff. Each of them have spent meaningful time in our Connect HS/DVX staff development, but they have also learned about Da Vinci, met other new staff, and our founding leaders (most of which were just like them at some point…new to Da Vinci). Please help us welcome them aboard this year!
Staff Professional Development
In preparation for this school year we have come together as a staff to take a deep dive in “Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain” by Zaretta Hammond. This book will be our guide throughout the school year (in addition to many other resources). We have also spent time creating our school wide calendar for the year (we will publish it shortly for our families), creating clear asynchronous schedules for our students, adjusting expectations through norming our rubrics, meaningfully incorporating Connect HS Habits of Heart and Mind into our school culture and classes, and just being in the same space together, collaborating and building.
A component of this collaboration has been not only with our DVX team, but also our Connect TK-8 team. You can read more about Da Vinci Schools’ investment in our exceptional staff in this blog post.
Canvas Invite
Connect HS, along with the rest of the Da Vinci High Schools, will be using Canvas as our learning management system. This is where students and parents will get information about each class. Please check your emails (including junk/clutter/spam) for a Canvas invite from teachers (NEW students will get their Da Vinci student emails and access to Canvas on orientation day).
Families Staying CONNECTED Parent Directory:
As we prepare for another school year, we would like to extend an invite to interested parents/guardians to be included in a Connect HS Family Directory. If you would like to OPT IN to the Family Directory please click the link and complete the form.
Regardless of whether you participate in the directory, ALL Da VInci Connect families will be invited to school events and receive information from our newsletter, teachers, etc.
Please note we need your permission to add you to the Connect HS Directory.
Connect Crew Leadership Orientation
Attention Connect Crew Members, this Friday, August 12th from 12-2pm at Del Aire Park, we will meet for our leadership orientation. We will discuss group roles, expectations and the calendar for the year. If you have any questions, please email Kene kwashington@davincischools.org. For students interested in joining Connect Crew Leadership but cannot attend this Friday, there will be more opportunities to join in the new year!
Black Student Union
Happy 2022-2023 year from the Black Student Union! Our on-campus club is open to all students, and we can’t wait to meet all the incoming freshmen and other students as well! We’ll have a student-led event soon, so everyone can get to know each other and find out what the BSU is all about. Stay tuned for more info! Follow our Instagram to stay up to date on upcoming events @dvconnect_bsu and if you have any questions, please email sarai_aman@student.davincischools.org and lwells@davincischools.org.
Other clubs?? Yes!!
Once school starts, you will learn more about all of the existing clubs at Connect HS and have opportunities to create and join new clubs!
Cross Country Info
Click HERE for information about cross country. You can also visit the Da Vinci Athletics website for more information about all of the sports sponsored by Da Vinci Schools.
Are you interested in trying out for the WDV cheer program? If you are, below are the dates, times and location.
All tryouts will take place in the Wiseburn/Da Vinci gym located at 201 N Douglas Street, El Segundo.
Tuesday Aug. 16th – 6pm to 8pm
Wednesday Aug. 17th – 6pm to 8pm
Thursday Aug. 18th – 6pm to 8pm
Friday Aug. 19th – 6pm to 8pm
Saturday Aug. 20th – 8am to 1pm (1 hour for lunch)
Enjoy your remaining days of summer and we look forward to meeting all of you next week for a fantastic start to the 2022-23 school year!!!
