Principal's Newsletter - Dragon Tales

It's official. We have just one week of school left. The energy and excitement is palpable right now. I'm excited for the week ahead of us. We have 8th grade Performing Arts Capstone presentations on Tuesday, Visual Arts & Creative Writing Showcase on Wednesday (5-6:30pm), Locker Clean Out also on Wednesday, Oaks Park and Promotion for 8th graders on Thursday, and Field Day and our last Talent Show on Friday! I expect everyone to be pretty exhausted by the end of the week.

This week we also wrapped up State testing. I want to congratulate our students for working hard on their tests and taking their time. I also want to thank our ELA and Math teachers for creating testing environments that help students stay focused during an activity that few enjoy. A big thank you is also in order for our School Testing Coordinator (and Instructional Coach) Ms. Murry-Balto for all the work she did throughout this endeavor. I will make sure to keep families informed as the results come in.

On the attendance front, I want to thank families for prioritizing attendance this year. While it appears we will fall just short of our attendance goal, it should be noted that we made tremendous growth from last year. It appears that we will have shown the 2nd MOST ATTENDANCE GROWTH amongst all schools in the district. Next year, we will return to our expectation of attendance, tardies and positive behaviors as factors for eligibility for certain school events. As you beginning planning events for next year, please keep this in mind and limit events that prevent students from attending school. As a reminder, any day of missed school is a missed learning opportunity.

Lastly, I will likely send only one more newsletter this year, but will also send a newsletter early in August when our incoming families become a part of our ParentSquare system. Our office will be closed starting June 16th. If you need anything past that date, please feel free to email me and I will respond as quickly as possible.

- Mr. Roosevelt

WeeklyUpdates

Congrats to Intermediate Drama

Our Intermediate Drama students performed a series of small plays on Thursday night, the first time we've had a standalone Intermediate Drama production in many years. The students did great and the performances were compelling. Below are a few photos I was able to take during the show!

Performing Arts Capstone Program Information - Tech Day MONDAY - Please Read

Here is our schedule for Performing Arts Capstone projects. This information was also sent out by our Performing Arts teachers.

Tech students only need to be here during their allotted times. Click here to see a run of show and which Act tech students need to be at school on Monday evening.

Act 1 will tech from 4:15-6:30

Act 2 will tech from 6:45-9:00

All performers must be there on time for the start of tech and are free to leave once their piece has teched.

Late Start on Tuesday, June 2nd

As a reminder, we have our last Late Start this coming Tuesday. School will start at 9:30am.

8th Grade Promotion - New Date June 4th @ Benson High School

Due to the changes to the district calendar, 8th grade promotion will now be June 4th and will be held at Benson HS from 5:30-6:30pm.

Please plan to arrive early as there is only neighborhood parking.

Creative Writing & Visual Art Capstone Show - June 3rd

Join us on June 3rd, from 5:00-6:30pm, for our Creative Writing and Visual Arts Capstone Show. Hear live poetry reading and check out the amazing art displayed around our gallery from our amazing 8th grade students. Refreshments will be provided.

This Week's ARTS Award Winners (Accountable, Respectful, Thoughtful & Safe)

Today during lunch, we held our final ARTS (Accountable, Respectful, Thoughtful, Safe) Awards celebration of the school year!

Students were recognized by their teachers for their hard work, dedication, and commitment to learning all the way through the end of the school year. We are so proud of the perseverance, positive attitudes, and growth they have shown throughout the year.

In addition, some students received special recognition for going above and beyond by helping teachers organize, sort, and prepare classrooms during this busy time of year. Their willingness to lend a hand and support our school community is greatly appreciated.

Congratulations to all of our ARTS Award recipients! Thank you for demonstrating what it means to be Accountable, Respectful, Thoughtful, and Safe every day.

Water Garden Grand Re-Opening Event

Did you know that Da Vinci has its very own Water Garden with a pond!? Yes, it's true. We also have a Climate Club that has been helping to renovate and restore our water garden and we want you to come take a look at the progress…

You're invited to come to our Water Garden re-opening event, on Tuesday, June 2nd, immediately after school, from 4:00 to 5:30 pm to visit our beautiful water garden!

Come take a tour! Snacks and refreshments will be provided.

To read more about the history of our Water Garden, please click here.

News From Our Nurse Cam

If your student has any medication in the health room, it is time to pick them up! If it is emergency medication (inhalers, epi pens, seizures meds, etc), we do ask for you to wait until the end of the last day of school to pick up the medication if possible.

The front office will be open for medication pick up until June 8th. Any leftover medications will be destroyed. Unless your student has a self-medication/carry agreement form on file, we cannot send any medications home with students.

If you are looking for healthcare over the summer, these Student Health Centers are open throughout the summer. Summer is also a great time to get up on vaccines if your student needs to be caught up on any immunizations!

Please reach out if you have any questions!

Wishing you all a fun and healthy summer!

-Nurse Cam

971-801-4415

Lost and Found Items

We are starting to bag up lost and found items as our collection was getting out of control. We are putting items into large bags and will hold onto them until the 12th of June. If you believe your student lost an item and would like to come take a look, please contact the main office.

News From the PTSA

Fundraising totals are in:

Huge Gratitudes to all of those who participated in our Spring Fundraising Drive - we raised $42,000 which will go directly into our classrooms, enrichments and necessary upgrades to the theater of our school.

We can keep raising money for our school over the summer by taking home Bottle Drop bags - the Bottle Drop program raised almost $1300 for the school this year! Bags are available in the main office - send your kid to grab one or pop in yourself to pick one up.

Another way to help is to support businesses on their "Dine For daVinci Nights." Dine For da Vinci Fundraisers raised $2000 for our school with folks' participation! There are two more upcoming (Share you're with da Vinci and appreciate their support!) :

- Franks-A-Lot, Hot Dogs on Tuesday, June 9th. 11am-7pm

- Norse Hall, All-You-Can-Eat Breakfast on Sunday, June 14th. 8:30am-12pm (Adults $12/Kids $6/Under 3 FREE)

Purchase New da Vinci Swag

The PTSA will be offering in-person sales of our most desired new Swag items at the field day from 2:30-4:15 on the playground. THIS IS FOR STUDENTS ONLY. We will accept cash, check (made out to the PTSA) card/tap, and ApplePay.

Families can also purchase new swag after 4pm on June 5th.

The new purple baseball tees are $25, heather gray tees are $20, and black "Trucker Hats" are $20. Available while supplies last.

All Library Books Due

Check all the places: lockers, backpacks, shelves, classrooms, closets.... all the places.

After today, all books are considered overdue. If books are not returned prior to June 5, you will be charged for the price of EACH missing book. Do not let this happen, be responsible and return your books :)

If you have any books from other/previous schools, please return those to the da Vinci library as well. Once your books are returned all fees will be removed from your account. If you are missing a book please come and chat with Ms Swinford. Thank you.

Call for 2026–27 Village Table Representatives

The Village Table is Portland Public Schools’ districtwide family engagement body, with two representatives from each school.

During the 2026–27 school year, the Village Table will play an important role in ongoing engagement around rightsizing. Representatives will help reflect on what we heard from community, shape priorities and tradeoffs, and surface real-time impact as decisions are considered.

Please reach out to Mr. Roosevelt (sroosevelt@pps.net) if you are interested in representing da Vinci in this opportunity to work closely with the leaders of our school district.