Kaitlin Toon, Author at Da Vinci Connect

Reminder: Virtual Town Hall Tomorrow, March 2 @ 6:30pm!

We invite Da Vinci parents/guardians and community members to attend a Virtual Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, March 2nd at 6:30PM to solicit your feedback on the steps being taken for a phased-in return to campus between April 12th-June 9th. Join us!

Virtual Town Hall for Families
March 2, 2021 | 6:30PM

Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/95743052884

Meeting ID: 957 4305 2884
1 (669) 900 6833

Speaking at the Virtual Town Hall on March 2nd will be Dr. Matthew Wunder, CEO/Superintendent; Dr. Jennifer Hawn, Chief Operating Officer; Dr. Emily Green, School Nurse; and Vicente Bravo, Chief Administrative Officer.

We will provide an update on our COVID-19 safety plan, discuss timelines, solicit feedback from families, and answer as many questions as we can. The Town Hall will be recorded and posted on our website. Because a Town Hall via Zoom may make it challenging to respond to everyone’s questions, we will also provide a Padlet to capture your thoughts, and request that you complete a survey that will be sent out on
March 3.

(Please note: The Town Hall can only accommodate 1,000 participants. If for some reason you are not able to get onto the call, you will have access to the recording, Padlet and survey to provide feedback. Thanks for your understanding.)

Kaitlin Toon2021-03-01T17:20:14+00:00March 1st, 2021|

An Evening in Celebration of Black Excellence–TONIGHT!

FAN’s Kindness Movement Presents: A Celebration of Black Excellence!

Happening: TONIGHT, Friday 2/26 @ 6:00pm-7:00pm

Greetings DV Connect! In honor of Black History Month, we will be having an exciting evening of education and celebration of Black Excellence for the whole family. We are inviting families to share and to hear about our fellow DV Connect community member’s favorite authors, poets, artists, inventors, or persons representing excellence in Black American Culture.

We are so very thankful to have such a richly diverse and gifted community, and this is an opportunity for our families to share in the celebration of Black History Month.

In honor of so many outstanding achievements, we have also created a pre-event scavenger hunt for students to find any historical or contemporary inventions made by black inventors found in their homes (such as the ice cream scooper, the alarm clock and the lawnmower)!

Dare to Share your Scavenger Hunt and experiences in Black Excellence on our Connect Community Flipgrid:

www.flipgrid.com/connectcommunity2021

We will also be highlighting our very own DV Connect Vice Principal, Tami Christopher! Three of our DV Connect students, representing 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade, interviewed her, and you won’t want to miss the questions they asked her!

Please join us for one hour of singing, celebration and learning in this Zoom Room beginning at 6:00 pm tonight:

Join Zoom Meeting: A Celebration of Black Excellence

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87982787865…

Meeting ID: 879 8278 7865

Passcode: 647095

Thank you so very much, and we cannot wait to see you and to celebrate with you tonight, Friday, February 26th at 6:00 pm!

Kaitlin Toon2021-02-26T18:38:40+00:00February 26th, 2021|

Fireside Chat tonight!

Greetings Connect K8 Families,

If you haven’t joined us yet, please consider joining us for Fireside Chat tonight (Wed. 2/24) at 4:00pm at THIS zoom link! Michelle, Kaitlin, and Tami hope to see you there!

Enjoy your Wednesday!

The Da Vinci Connect Team

Kaitlin Toon2021-02-24T16:28:01+00:00February 24th, 2021|

Virtual Town Hall and COVID Update from Da Vinci Schools

Good Morning Connect TK-8 Families,

We wanted to be sure you saw the information shared by Matt, our CEO, over the weekend. I’ve copied and pasted the details below:

Virtual Town Hall Meeting – March 2 at 6:30PM

Dear Da Vinci Families and Friends,

We are writing to update you on our planning and timeline for a return to campuses, and to invite you to a Virtual Town Hall meeting on March 2 to solicit your feedback. There is a lot of information being reported in the news media about Federal, State and County guidance that is sometimes confusing and conflicting. Our ability to offer a phased-in reopening plan varies by grade level, staffing and student needs, and is contingent upon highly specific County restrictions. For LA County, the infection rates remain in the widespread Purple Tier so that we are not currently allowed to open for grades 7-12.

The process and timeline described below provide an overview of our decision-making process and next steps.

In December, we communicated with families that we did not anticipate returning to on-campus instruction until April 12, 2021 at the earliest, pending guidance from state and local health officials. This still holds true. We will not return to campus until at least April 12, 2021 except for limited special education assessments and services for severely at-risk youth at Da Vinci RISE High School.
On February 25th, Da Vinci staff will have an opportunity to attend a staff Virtual Town Hall event to share their thoughts on returning to campus this school year (April 12-June 9th). The Town Hall will be recorded and sent to all staff. Additionally, a survey will go out to all Da Vinci staff members following the staff Town Hall to gather their feedback.
On Tuesday, March 2 at 6:30PM, we invite Da Vinci parents/guardians and community members to attend a Virtual Town Hall meeting (Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/95743052884) to discuss the steps being taken for a phased-in return to campus between April 12th-June 9th. Speaking at the Virtual Town Hall on March 2nd will be Dr. Jennifer Hawn, Chief Operating Officer; Dr. Emily Green, School Nurse; Vicente Bravo, Chief Administrative Officer, along with myself. We will provide an update on our COVID-19 safety plan, discuss timelines, solicit feedback from families, and answer as many questions as we can. The Town Hall will be recorded and posted on our website. Because a Town Hall via Zoom may make it challenging to respond to everyone’s questions, we will also provide a Padlet to capture your thoughts, and request that you complete a survey that will be sent out on March 3.
We will also collect student input from each school over the next couple of weeks during the school day.
Unredacted feedback from the staff and family Town Hall meetings, surveys, and student input will be shared at the March 10th Special Board Meeting of the Da Vinci Schools Board of Trustees, along with a recommendation for a phased-in approach to return to our campuses. Our board’s decision on the phased-in return to our campuses will be communicated shortly after the Special Board Meeting via Constant Contact and our school blogs. You may always check our COVID-19 Planning webpage that is continuously updated. Our plan for Summer and Fall 2021 will depend on Los Angeles County’s state tier assignment under the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy. The tier assignment is the primary determinant of which activities are permitted and/or restricted. As Los Angeles continues its vaccination and mitigation efforts, we are tracking the progress and planning how to expand our offerings accordingly. An update regarding Summer and Fall planning will be sent later in the Spring.

Da Vinci Schools continue to prioritize public health and well being, equitable access to education, and high quality instruction and student support, in all of our planning.

Teaching and learning during the pandemic has not been easy on anyone, and we all look forward to returning back together on campus as soon as possible. That said, I hope you will join me to give our teachers, staff and administrators a standing ovation for their exceptional pivot to all-remote teaching and support.

Let’s all continue to stay as safe as possible. I look forward to seeing and hearing from you.

With gratitude,

Matthew Wunder, Ed.D.

CEO/Superintendent

Virtual Town Hall for Families

March 2, 2021 | 6:30PM

Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/95743052884

Meeting ID: 957 4305 2884

1 (669) 900 6833

Kaitlin Toon2021-02-22T18:05:24+00:00February 22nd, 2021|

Valentine’s Day cards for our Healthcare Heroes!

If you are looking for a fun rainy day activity – make some Valentine’s for local health care workers!

***Deadline to drop cards off is Monday 2/1***

Our cute porch box got rained out so please drop all cards at the South Bay Credit Union locations listed below, during normal business hours. All cards must be received by Monday, Feb 1, 2020.

South Redondo Branch

South Bay Credit Union

312 N. Pacific Coast Highway

Redondo Beach CA 90277

North Redondo Branch

South Bay Credit Union

2023 Artesia Blvd

Redondo Beach CA 90278

Lomita Branch

South Bay Credit Union

24520 Narbonne Ave

Lomita CA 90717

Kaitlin Toon2021-01-29T21:15:16+00:00January 29th, 2021|

An Evening for Educators with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden!

Hello Connect K8 Families,

We were just made aware of an event for educators hosted by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, happening this afternoon at 3pm! We wanted to share with you, in case you’d like to sign up and attend as a Parent Educator. You can find more info about the event HERE

Have a Beautiful Day!

The Team at Da Vinci Connect

Kaitlin Toon2021-01-21T20:10:16+00:00January 21st, 2021|

Inauguration Day

Hello Connect K-8 Families,

If you plan to incorporate tomorrow’s historic Inauguration events into your Wellness Wednesday with your family, we wanted to share the official Inauguration schedule HERE.

Of particular note is a special curated livestream for kids, “Our White House: An Inaugural Celebration for Young Americans”, that is happening from 7am (10am EST) to 9:30am (12:30pm EST). There will even be a special segment on Presidential Pets, hosted by Nickelodeon.

Thank you to Core 1 teacher, Kelly Ann, for sharing this resource with us so that we can share with you!

With Gratitude,

Da Vinci Connect Team

Kaitlin Toon2021-01-19T22:23:55+00:00January 19th, 2021|

FAN Meeting Tonight at 4:00pm!

Hello DV Connect K-8 Families!

Please join us at our FAN meeting THIS evening, Wednesday, January 13 @ 4:00pm HERE

We will review our FAN survey results, explore the idea of an annual rhythm marked by signature events, and plan more ways to connect virtually this semester!

We would love to have as many voices present as possible–We hope to see you there!

Have a Great Day,

Your Connect K-8 Team

Kaitlin Toon2021-01-13T17:43:43+00:00January 13th, 2021|

FAN Meeting and Survey!

Hello DV Connect TK-8 Families!

We missed the opportunity to directly share the link to our FAN survey in the newsletter (also located in the slide deck), so here it is!

Please take a few minutes to complete this short survey to let us know your hopes and dreams for FAN!

If you missed our meeting on the 2nd, you can watch the recorded meeting HERE (Passcode: @6fBkWE?) and you can view the slide deck on our parent resource site >FAN.

To access the Parent Resource site, visit www.dvconnectresources.org >site passcode is DVConnect2021

We look forward to continuing to build out our FAN experience and connecting our community with you! Thank you to everyone who attended and shared valuable ideas at our meeting on the 2nd!

Next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 13th @ 4:00pm HERE

Kaitlin Toon2020-12-08T16:40:50+00:00December 8th, 2020|

FAN meeting tonight!

FAN Meeting!

Wednesday, December 2nd @ 4:00pm

https://zoom.us/j/3825363479

Our Family Action Network (FAN) is a crucial component of what makes our community so special, and it includes all of you! We will be meeting to provide an overview of FAN, introduce some new faces, and begin discussing ideas for our community for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year! We would love to have as many families present as possible, so that we can truly plan with our entire community in mind! If you cannot attend, a survey and a recording of the meeting will be sent after.

We hope to see you there!

Kaitlin Toon2020-12-02T21:31:10+00:00December 2nd, 2020|

Kaitlin Toon

About Kaitlin Toon