Summer Student String Institute
Save These Dates: June 11-15, 2012 Times: 9:00-3:00 Daily Location: Da Vinci School for Science & the Arts
Our second annual String Music Camp is being planned. Our two very talented string teachers, Ms. Mariana Carreras and Ms. Analisa Portillo will be leading the list of talented music teachers who will join us to offer El Paso youngsters a week of music fun, learning, and play. The camp is available to students from 5-18 years. Even youngsters who never held a violin will be able to join. While the program is open to children throughout the Southwest, our students will receive a discount and priority if they register early. Check the website for online registration |
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Da Vinci Science Fair
Under the leadership of two Da Vinci Science teachers, Ms. S. Rehling and Mr. S. Anderson, the teachers and administrators helped to put on a successful Science Fair. Because the District requires all students from K-12 to participate in the Science Fair each year, this effort is quite comprehensive. We thank them for getting the judges and creating the schedules. It all went very smoothly. Our students benefited most. Each had their work reviewed; they had an opportunity to present their hypotheses and defend their findings. The following are the top winners; however, we see all of our students as winners. We wish the following lots of luck at the Sun Country Regionals, and expect to see several going to the State competition.
Da Vinci Teachers,
These are the winners of the 2012 Da Vinci Science fair for middle and high school students.
Students who are to represent us at the Sun Country Regional Science fair on February 25, 2012 at UTEP have been given the forms and schedule and have returned their official forms today Friday 2/17/2012.
The science fair for the fifth and sixth grades will be later in the year, dates to be decided.
7th Grade
Sweepstakes: Elfa Beaven
Honorable mention: Kimberly Gutierrez
3rd Place: Diana Chaparro
8th Grade
Sweepstakes: Dominic Ramos
Honorable mention: Emilio Rico; Donna Elizalde and Cynthia Estrada
3rd Place: Adriana Cruz
9th Grade
Sweepstakes: Katherine Gonzalez
Honorable mention: Abraham Abner
3rd Place: Pilar Gonzalez
10th Grade
Christian Villegas, Marissa M. Harp, Audria Corral, Lisa Duran
11th Grade
Sweepstakes: Claude Zamora
Honorable mention: Michael Spetter
3rd Place: Nohely Ortega
12 Grade
Sweepstakes: (Gloria Alarcon, Miren Pena, Jacqueline Chaparro)
Honorable mention: Blake Trevor
3rd Place: Charlie Schaffino |
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It’s That Time Again
Registration for next year will begin shortly. All returning students and their siblings may register for next year beginning February 1, 2012. Registration cards can be picked up at the office at each school. Returning students are guaranteed a slot if they return the registration card before March 1st. Siblings will not have to participate in the lottery as long as there are openings for everyone applying. Otherwise a separate Lottery for siblings will be held on February 29, 2012.
Beginning March 1, 2012, we will open registration up to all members of the El Paso community. Anyone interested in sending a child to our schools may pick up a registration form and an enrollment packet or download these documents from our website. On Friday, March 30th, 2012 our first lottery will take place. Anyone who does not gain a slot will be placed on the waiting list. As new openings occur, (and they always do), we hold another lottery.
The School Leadership will hold Open Houses throughout the month of March and forward, in order to answer questions about the schools and offer tours. Watch for Open House dates on our website.
Please help us spread the word about the wonderful Burnham Wood family of Fine Schools. Families living on the Eastside should not pass up a chance to visit Vista del Futuro, our newest school. They will be impressed! |
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Saturday Tutoring Has Begun
A little extra help, especially on a Saturday morning, when our children are rested and can focus easily, goes a long way to reinforcing concepts and skills that they will need to be successful at our schools.
Please make these tutorials a priority when your child is invited to attend. Remember, when a child fails the state exams, it is an indication that he/she is not ready to be promoted. It is our Charter policy to consider retention of any student who cannot pass a State Achievement Test. Let us help your child. Support our Saturday tutoring. |
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Awesome Faculty
At this time, we now have eight Advanced Placement courses approved. Ms. Schetgen’s English IV is waiting in line to be reviewed. Mr. Jacquez takes the prize this year as the only one who had to submit his two course syllabi just one time and they were approved in an hour or so.
Mr. Schwartz still holds the record for fastest approval; last year the college board took eight minutes for Calculus. Kudos to Ms.Amiee Romero for submitting Chemistry and Environmental Science for AP approval as well. All seniors will be sending new transcripts out to their colleges for the mid-year report and by the time they can do this, I am hoping all nine courses will be approved. Congratulations to all teachers involved. We’re betting on you Ms. Schetgen! |
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Awesome Students & Parents
At DaVinci, all of our juniors and seniors take AP courses. By being exposed to the rigor of these disciplines, they will be well prepared for the challenges of the university. Furthermore, each student is committed to taking the AP examinations. With student dedication and parental support, our students will soar. |
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Community Outreach
The Da Vinci Student Council prides itself on its community outreach activities. Following a tradition that was started two years ago, the DV Student Council meets annually at Sunland Park Mall right before the holidays to work with the El Paso Community Foundations. The Council provides Holiday gifts for the sick and elderly. Two years ago the student council was able to accommodate seven gift wish lists that are usually placed on teddy bear cutouts on a Holiday tree placed in the food court.
Requests range from warm blankets to soccer balls for kids. Last year the council improved to twenty four gifts and this year your very own Da Vinci Student Council beat out all other El Paso public schools by donating eighty gifts for the needy.
Donating the eighty gifts would have been enough for any student council but the school council closed out the day by having a Holiday dinner for La Posada, a shelter for battered women, residents. We appreciate the leadership and inspiration that Council Sponsor, Luis R. Jacques offers our youngsters. He is a role model to them, and in turn, they have shown their appreciation through their actions. |
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It’s Time to Show Our Students Our Support
Dear Readers,
As you read these wonderful accounts of our students’ hard academic work, their commitment to creating a caring and social school environment, and their outstanding generosity to our community, we must take a moment to ask, “How can we tell them that we appreciate their behaviors, their values and their dreams?”
We can do so by helping them raise the funds to participate in their Robotics Competition in Dallas, Attend the NASA Design Competition at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, help a deserving student travel to New York City for an unforgettable Senior Trip.
Perhaps your place of work has a community fund? Perhaps you are in a position to make a generous tax deductable gift. A check made out to Da Vinci School for Science & the Arts with an accompanying note that targets your gift to the Student Fund will benefit many deserving youngsters. So, please help them fundraise. |
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GO DRAGONS!
In the video of the Da Vinci robotics team the girls driving the robot were Pilar Gonzalez and Lucy Li, and the robot was number 5670.
Congratulations to the Robotics team for their successful participation in the First Technical Challenge. The robotics team was nominated for 4 awards, won two awards, and finished 4th in the competition.
- Runner up on Innovation and Design Award
- Runner up Best Notebook Award
- Won the Rock Collins Award or Connect Award. The Rockwell Collins Innovate Award celebrates a team that not only thinks outside the box, but also has the ingenuity and inventiveness to make their designs come to life. This award is given to the team that has the most innovative and creative robot design solution to any or all specific field elements or components in the FIRST Tech Challenge game. Elements of this award include elegant design, robustness, and ‘out of the box’ thinking related to design. This award may address the design of the whole robot, or of a sub-assembly attached to the robot.
- Won Inspire Award. The Inspire Award is the most prestigious FTC award, and is given to the team that truly embodied the ‘challenge’ of the FTC program. The team that receives this award is chosen by the judges as having best represented a role model FIRST Tech Challenge Team. The team that receives this award is a top contender for all other judging categories and is a strong competitor on the field. Judges should use match performance, observations made during interviews and in the pit area and the team’s Engineering Notebook as equal factors in determining the winner of this award.
The Dragons have advanced to the regional competition that will take place in Lubbock Texas.
Congratulations!!!
Da Vinci School for Science and the Arts and Howard Burnham Elementary School have been awarded the Title I, Part A Distinguished Performance Award by the Division of NCLB for the School Year 2010-2011. NCLB Title I, Distinguished Schools. |
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Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure:
Da Vinci Student Council donated $2,177.33 to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. At this point we are the ONLY team on this Honor Roll. We thank Ms. Linda Crooks for her leadership and initiative in rallying the spirit of participation among our school family. |
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Counselor’s Corner
By Norma Garrett
This year Da Vinci invited The National Hispanic Institute to present their program to students in the ninth through eleventh grades. In October, Hector Lopez, who is based out of El Paso as the director of the Central American division, challenged our students to not only make a difference in our world but to develop the leadership skills needed to accomplish their goals. NHI was created to help youth find a medium for identifying belief systems, sharing with others, and empowering them by increasing self-esteem and understanding cultural competency.
The NHI focuses on the Hispanic Community to increase political involvement and economic development. However, students of all different ethnic and racial backgrounds with a minimum of a 3.2 GPA are encouraged to apply to the summer leadership institutes. Since NHI only chooses 3,000 from across the nation, interested students sent in their applications and waited eagerly to hear if they were accepted. The ninth grade program involves once a week preparation periods for the spring semester at a local community site. This summer they will be presenting in an eight-day session at the University of Texas at Austin entitled, The Great Debate. Freshmen who are already hard at work are Felix Avila and Pilar Gonzalez.
For sophomores and juniors, the Youth Legislative Session has many sites around the United States and in Panama. Two excited sophomores are Adria Corral and Marisol Adame, who will be traveling to Panama City, Panama for their sessions.
Two juniors, Magdelen Parades and Claude Zamora will remain in the United States. Parades will participate at Colorado State University and Zamora will be our representative to Georgetown University in Washington D.C. When asked about her expectations, Parades explained that while she feels she has developed leadership skills in her activities at Da Vinci, this will give her an opportunity to, “ refine how I see myself as a leader and what I can do to improve.” She went on to state she has a career goal as an occupational therapist and wants to call attention to the needs of people with physical disabilities.
Zamora has plans to attend MIT, and major in mechanical engineering. He is looking to have a career in advanced technology vehicle design where he can influence environmental decisions. His expectation of the NHI summer program is, “ to have the opportunity to exchange ideas with other teens across the country and to learn negotiating skills.” |
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Winter Wonderland
Promoting school spirit is one of Student Council’s main objectives. What better way to promote school unity and for the students to enjoy themselves than to host the annual Winter Wonderland Dance the Thursday before the Holiday break.
The Council transformed the auditorium into a true winter wonderland. One student was very much impressed with the efforts and decorations of Student Council and mentioned, “I sometimes forgot I was at school and every once in a while thought I was really in the North Pole.” Student Council pledged to give half of the proceeds to the seniors for their Senior Trip to New York City. |
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Superintendent's Message:
Da Vinci Has Friends Both Far and Near
Da Vinci School for Science and the Arts has attracted the interest and support of people and organizations both within and outside of our community. |
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Perhaps it's because we are committed to rigor and excellence in education; perhaps it is because we will not sacrifice the Arts when funding is cut; or perhaps it is because we go beyond the minimum math and science standards and insist that all students participate in engineering and project based learning. Perhaps it is all of the above and more!
For the last three years our STEM teachers have been fortunate to receive the training and creative direction of Professor Shamsnoz Virani, who helped us design the only four year framework for teaching engineering in high school. Although Dr. Virani has left UTEP this year for Pennsylvania State, her respect for the commitment Da Vinci instructors and leadership have made to teaching engineering will bring her back this fall to continue to mentor and direct the curriculum.
Through her efforts, our eleventh and twelfth graders will participate in a NASA related capstone project this Spring with the University of Alabama at Huntsville Engineering Department. Just last month three UAH leaders flew to El Paso to prepare our students for this exciting competition where they will be designing payloads for virtual space flights that will ultimately be judged by NASA scientists.
On the Arts side, Showtime El Paso just selected Da Vinci for the site of one of their excellent outreach performances. On Monday, October 17th the entire school was treated to a morning of flamingo music and dance performed by the internationally acclaimed Chris Burton Jacome Ensemble. Students learned about the variations of the 12 beat Flamingo rhythm; they observed how the dancers conducted the musicians through their movements; and they practiced the various contrapuntal clapping rhythms with the performers.
The most compelling explanation is the fact that Da Vinci students have a spirit of service to others. Recently the Student Council donated more than $3,000 that they had raised to three worthy cancer fighting community organizations. In a more symbolic ways, the students participated in the fourth annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days Concert-Harmony for Humanity, October 26th , as well as a outstanding Veteran's Day Memorial Program on November 11th.
How did this all happen? Perhaps the answer is in our Da Vinci Code:
O + R → Ph + Gg
(Students' obligation to learn skills and knowledge + Responsibility to repair the world will result in
Personal happiness and Greater good.)
The truth lies in the school's core values of Respect, Responsibility and Quality of Self and Work that our dedicated instructors, school leaders and devoted staff so faithfully exemplify and skillfully impart to each and every student whose parents were wise enough to choose this wonderful learning environment.
Iris B. Burnham
Superintendent |
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01.2012
