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Dear RISE Families and Stakeholders,

We know this year has been a year like no other. With that being said, we are committed to continuing to do our very best to support you and your scholars during these challenging times. This is why we are excited to invite you to our first Family and Stakeholder meeting on Wednesday October 7th from 5:30-6:30pm! Please RSVP by CLICKING HERE.

Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/6848243867?pwd=b010dHA3ajZZWXpHUStCb2RpVjNtUT09

FSC is the RISE’s version of a PTA/PTO. Throughout the year, we use FSC meetings as opportunities to build stronger relationships, to have a forum for amplifying parent & family voice, and to collaborate in efforts to constantly strengthen student support at RISE. During this meeting we will be seeking your feedback on online learning with special attention to how we can improve during this era of campus closures. We would also like your insight on what workshops and resources you, your student and your family might need. Lastly, we will be nominating the parent representatives for the School Site Council!

The School Site Council is an advisory body that assists the school leadership in making decisions in regards to programming, curriculum, school budget, parent resources and more! If you would like to nominate yourself for the School Site Council please CLICK HERE. Thank you so much for your continued partnership in ensuring RISE students are continuing to make academic and socio emotional progress at RISE!

The end of Quarter 1 is fast approaching and we have some awesome opportunities available during the 2020 Fall Intersession. Intersession is a time when students can take advantage of academic workshops to strengthen their skills and earn course credits! This year, Fall Intersession will be from Monday, October 12th – Friday, October 16th from 9am-12noon. Given the campus closures due to COVID-19, this is an opportune time for students to regain credits that they might have missed out on during the transition to online learning. Students with “senior status” (meaning they are on-track to graduate in December or June) are required to attend intersession to ensure they reach their goals by their projected graduation date!

Please note, Intersession courses are intensive workshops that allow students to hone in on a single subject area in order to gain skills and credits. Given the large number of credits offered during intersession, students are only allowed to enroll in one course. The only exception is for students who wish to enroll in science and WOW (world of work). These are the only two class that are on opposite days of the week

CLICK HERE to sign up for intersession!

The deadline to enroll is Friday, October 9th.

Dear RISE Students & Families,

Over the past five years, our school has grown and changed in many powerful ways. In fall of 2016 we opened with just 12 students on the campus of Da Vinci Design & Communications. Since then we have been awarded an XQ Super Schools grant of ten million dollars, been selected as a national Teach For America School to Learn From, expanded to three sites serving nearly 250 students, and graduated 75 alumni.

While we are proud of the work we have accomplished together, we believe there is still much to do, and we remain committed to continued growth to ensure we are providing our students with all the opportunities and supports they deserve. To this end, we are excited to share some upcoming shifts in leadership roles that will allow us to make the next steps necessary to serve more students and remain confident in the long-term resources and supports we are able to offer.

On October 9, Founder & Principal Kari Croft will be transitioning to the role of Administrator on Special Assignment part-time in order to focus on long-term policy, funding, and partnership opportunities that will ensure RISE is equipped to provide both rigorous academics and robust wraparound services for years to come. As Kari moves into this new role, we are excited to share that Erin Whalen, who has served as the Founding Assistant Principal and the current AP at our APCH site, will be moving into the role of RISE Principal. Kari will return full-time on April 12th.

Supporting both Kari and Erin will be Dr. Mary Ring, who has been with Da Vinci Schools for 7  years and officially joined the RISE team full-time this July in our new Executive Director position. Together with Dr. Rebecca Robertson, our Assistant Principal at the Hawthorne site, and the new Assistant Principal we will be hiring at APCH, our leadership team will continue to work alongside students, families, staff, and community partners to drive RISE High continually closer to our mission and vision.

As we prepare for these changes, we are available to meet with both students and families to address any questions you may have. Our goal is to ensure this transition is as smooth as possible for everyone in our RISE community.

We are grateful for the trust you’ve placed in us thus far and for the commitment each of you have invested in ensuring RISE continues to serve not only as a school community, but as a home. We look forward to continuing this journey with you.

In Solidarity,

Mary, Kari, Erin, & Rebecca

Da Vinci RISE is currently working on the formation of its 2020-21 School Site Council (SSC)! As a part of the formation of our SSC, we are seeking student, stakeholder (parent), teacher, staff and partner nominations!

Members of the School Site Council will be asked to attend 6 meetings throughout the course of the 2020-21 school year. These meetings will be scheduled taking into account the schedule and life commitments of all SSC members. Once elected, SSC’s have decision-making authority over the use of funding that is allocated to the school. The SSC annually reviews and updates the School Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA), identifying proposed expenditures for the funds. Lastly, the SSC supports student achievement through continuous development, monitoring and evaluation of the SPSA.

Da Vinci RISE sees parent and stakeholder involvement as imperative to strengthening our partnership and ensuring we are working together to support our scholars. As we work to support our students through the turmoil caused by this global pandemic, there has never been a more crucial time for parent and stakeholder involvement and partnership. We are hoping to nominate at least one parent from each of our Da Vinci RISE Locations (RISE at APCH, RISE at New Earth and RISE – Hawthorne). To nominate, please fill out the google survey LINKED HERE with your name, and/or anyone you think would be great to participate. Thank you in advance for your nominations.

Not interested in SSC but still want to get involved? Please attend our first Family and Stakeholder Collaborative (PTA) meeting on October 7^th at 5:30pm. We will share exciting programmatic updates, schoolwide data and seek your feedback on how we can continue to improve our school community.

Opportunity to Provide Input on the Draft Learning Continuity and Attendance Plan

Da Vinci RISE High is seeking input from students, staff, families, and community members on the initial draft of the Learning Continuity and Attendance Plan.  The purpose of this plan is to describe how RISE will address the impacts of COVID-19 and maintain continuity of student learning in the coming year.  The final document will include RISE High’s plans for:

• Providing distance learning and, when public health conditions allow, in-person instruction
• Measuring student progress and participation and address learning loss
• Providing supports for English Learners, Foster Youth, Homeless Youth, Students with Unique Needs, and Low-income students
• Ensuring access to devices and connectivity
• Providing resources and supports to address student and staff mental health and social emotional well-being
• Student and family engagement and outreach to reengage students who are absent, unengaged, or at risk of learning loss
• Providing school meals for students during distance learning and in-person instruction
• Increasing/improving services for English Learners, Foster Youth, Homeless Youth, and Low-Income students

RISE values stakeholder voice and input. This input will be used to guide revisions.  A draft will be presented in a public hearing on Friday September 18, 2020 8:00-9:00 a.m. via zoom link https://zoom.us/j/96572029364  and the final draft will be presented for adoption at the September 23, 2020 6:00 p.m. board meeting.

All stakeholders are encouraged to provide comments on the Draft Plan.  The Draft Plan and comment forms can be accessed at the links below.

REVIEW THE DRAFT PLAN LINKED HERE

SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS

Comments can be submitted using one of the following google forms

English Comment Form  LINKED HERE

Spanish Comment Form (Formulario de comentarios en español) LINKED HERE/VINCULADO AQUÍ

Dear RISE Students,

Please see below for information regarding A Place Called Home’s Artist Speaker Series! This is an awesome opportunity to learn more about careers in art, and attendance can count towards attendance for one of your Advisory Workshops. Email Olivia at APCH for more information: odickerson@apch.org

Dear RISE Students,

This week we are kicking off our Advisory Workshop Series, alongside our College & Career Workshops and weekly Senior Meetings.

Each student is required to attend (at least) 6 workshops per quarter, consisting of the following:

• 1 College & Career Workshop (or 1 Senior Workshop if you are graduating this year)
• 1 Workshop facilitated by our Student Support Services team
• 4 Workshops of the student’s choice

You can find the dates, times, and descriptions of this quarter’s workshops LINKED HERE, and if you have not already done so, you can sign up for the workshops you wish you to attend at the Google Survey  LINKED HERE! 

While a minimum of 1 College & Career Workshop or Senior Meeting are required each Quarter, students are welcome and encouraged to attend as many of these sessions as possible to ensure they are receiving adequate information and support in navigating post-secondary options.

College & Career Workshops offered each Wednesday from 2:30 – 3:30 and provide students with information about preparing for, choosing, and applying to colleges.

Senior Meetings are held each Tuesday & Thursday from 2:30 – 3:30. If you are unsure if you have met the requirements for Senior Status, or if you have questions about your credit tracker or graduation pathway, please reach out to our College & Career Counselor, Dynasty Taylor at dtaylor@davincischools.org

Dear RISE Students & Families, 

Congratulations on completing the first week of class in this new school year! As you’ve seen, we have rolled out Personalized Learning Plans (PLPs) for every single RISE student this year. You all received emails two weeks ago with links to your PLP and to a short tutorial that assists in navigating this new document. As we are getting into the groove of things, we wanted to provide some additional tips, tricks, and resources here to ensure you have all the info you need to access your schedule and the appropriate zoom links for classes. Please take a few minutes to read the frequently asked questions below!

Where can I access my Personalized Learning Plan (PLP)?

• PLPs were emailed to students via their DV Schools email address, as well as to parents/guardians to the address we have on file from your SchoolMint application. If you did not receive yours, please reach out to the Site Administrator for your campus:
  • Hawthorne: Rebecca Robertson (rrobertson@davincischools.org) 
  • APCH: Erin Whalen (ewhalen@davincischools.org) 
  • New Earth: Kari Croft (kcroft@davincischools.org)
    

• Tip: Once you have accessed your PLP, create a bookmark for it so that it’s always accessible from your browser. To learn how to bookmark, check out the image below:

Additional Resource- PLP Tutorial Video: 

• • We have created a short tutorial video that shows you how to navigate the information on your PLP. It is LINKED HERE. 

Where can I access my class schedule?

• Your schedule is on page 2 of your PLP, and will look similar to the sample schedule below:

• Hawthorne and New Earth students attend synchronous classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, with labs, Reading workshops, and 1:1s on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 
• APCH students attend synchronous classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with labs, Reading workshops, and 1:1s on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Where can I access the zoom links for class?

• Zoom links can be found in two different places:
  • 1. All zoom links for your courses are linked below the schedule in your PLP for ease of access. You can see the photo below for reference. If you have “English 3” on Monday, you would click on the “English” link in the box below the schedule. If you have “Chemistry” on Wednesday, you would click on “Science” in the box, and so on. 

• • 2. Zoom links can also be found in the Staff Directory, Linked Here

Where can I access my Advisor and/or Teacher’s contact information?

• All RISE staff’s contact information is located in the Staff Directory, Linked Here

Dear Students & Families,

Yesterday afternoon we hosted a Family & Stakeholder Roundtable to share RISE’s plan for reopening amidst COVID and to provide information about what the 2020-2021 school year will look like. If you were unable to attend, you can find all the information that was shared during the Roundtable within this blog post.

• The draft version of RISE’s reopening plan, which will go to the Board of Directors for approval on Wednesday, July 22
  CLICK HERE: RISE Reopening Plan (Draft)

• The presentations (in both English and Spanish) that were shared during the session.
  CLICK HERE: Family & Stakeholder Presentation (English)
  CLICK HERE: Family & Stakeholder Presentation (Spanish)

• The full recording of the session
  CLICK HERE: Recording of Zoom Session

After reviewing the materials that outline RISE’s plan, you are encouraged to complete the short survey linked below so that we can incorporate any feedback you have into our plan and ensure that you and your students feel confident and safe moving into the new school year. You are also welcome to reach out directly to our leadership team with any questions, concerns, or suggestions.

RISE Reopening Plan Feedback Survey

Finally, below you will find a timeline for students & families with more information to help you prepare for the beginning of the school year. We are excited to welcome students back (virtually) in a few weeks!

Week of August 3

You and your student will receive an email with a link to their Personalized Learning Plan, which will contain their weekly schedule, their credit tracker & progress towards graduation, the courses in which they are enrolled, the number of credits they should aim to earn in Quarter 1, and all of their teachers’ contact information and zoom links.

August 10: First Day of School

The first two days of the school year will be spend holding Orientation for all students and families. The Personalized Learning Plan will provide information regarding zoom sessions to attend these first two days, some of which will be mandatory and some of which will be optional. Students will meet their teachers, attend Advisory, get support in navigating the technology platforms they will be using for their courses, and ensure clarity on their goals for credit attainment for Quarter 1.