½ûÂþÌìÌÃ

Get ready to donate your blue BottleDrop bags 4/15-4/26 to the school for da Vinci to receive a 20% match! You can pick up blue bags now in the da Vinci main office. We will be collecting blue bags and passing out more bags during the contest. You can also turn them directly into your local BottleDrop 4/15-4/26 

Come celebrate the extraordinary work of our student artists and over a decade of funding for public school arts, with arts performances and an exhibition featuring student honorees from our school!

½ûÂþÌìÌàis proud to partner with the Portland Art Museum, our host of the 2025 HeART of Portland: A ½ûÂþÌìÌà K-12 Arts Showcase. This premier district-wide annual event kicks off with an evening of student dance, music, and theatre performances, plus the opening of a stunning student visual art exhibition featuring over 100+ works.

? Breaking the Grid: This year's student visual arts exhibition also features a citywide collaborative student art project inspired by the Portland Art Museum exhibition Psychedelic Rock Posters and Fashion of the 1960s. Guided by visual arts educators, students designed posters in the bold, expressive style of the exhibition, reflecting their hopes and dreams for their communities.

Event Details:
? Portland Art Museum – Free & open to everyone! ? Wednesday, April 16, 2025, Opening Reception
? 5 – 7 PM – Free admission to all museum exhibitions (Main Museum)
? 6 – 8:30 PM – Student Visual Art Exhibition (Miller Gallery, 1st Floor, Mark Building)
?? 6:30 PM – Superintendent’s Welcome (Kridel Ballroom, 3rd Floor, Mark Building)
? 6:30 – 8 PM – Student Performances (Kridel Ballroom, 3rd Floor, Mark Building)

Come experience the power of arts education and celebrate our incredible student artists!

SPRING DANCE - ATTENDANCE DURING APRIL & MAY IS CRUCIAL! 

Please ensure your child is present EVERY DAY during their dance class as we work on our dance pieces from now through May 17th. Doctor/dentist appointments, etc. must not conflict with the times of your child’s daily dance class. Please take time to reschedule any appointments which may conflict with class time. 8th Graders may not shadow high schools during dance class time until the Spring Dance concert is over. If your dancer is ill, please let the Dance Department know that day as soon as possible, by calling the da Vinci main office (as usual) AND emailing Sara (smartins@pps.net) or Bethany (bbaumer@pps.net). 

Thank you for your cooperation and support! 

Rehearsals begin the week of 4/14-4/18:

Tuesday, April 15th ~ Dance 2 (Tap) 4:15-6:15pm

Thursday, April 17th ~ Dance 3-4 (Tap) 4:15-6:15pm

Friday, April 18th ~ Dance 3-4 (Jazz) 4:15-6:15pm

Performances:

Friday, May 16th ~ Show A (Call time is 5:30pm, show begins at 7:00pm and pickup is at 8:30pm)

Saturday, May 17th ~ Show B (Call time is 11:30am, show begins at 1:00pm and pickup is at 2:45pm)

  Welcome Night for the 2025-2026 School Year

All new students and families are invited to join us for

an evening at da Vinci Arts Middle School.

Date: Wednesday, May 14th

Time:  5:00-6:30 PM

Monday, April 7th Prof. Development / Planning Day (No school for students)

Tuesday, April 8th Late Start (Staff Mtg) School begins at 9:15am

Tuesday, April 15th Spring Dance Concert Rehearsals begins

Wednesday, April 16th Free event at the Portland Art Museum ~ HeART of Portland

(with work from some da Vinci alumni there!) Event runs from 5-8pm

Wednesday, April 23rd Early Release (Students dismissed at 1:45pm)

Wednesday, May 14th Information Night for New Families 2025-2026 School Year

½ûÂþÌìÌà is continuing to host a series of events aimed at starting productive conversations about what is possible in the systems we create for our children with disabilities.

As part of this series, we are excited to welcome you to a free screening of  on Thursday March 20 at . Doors open at 6 p.m. and the movie begins at 7:00.

The Ride Ahead is a film about adult life with disabilities by a man with disabilities. It is the debut of 21-year-old Samuel Habib who, struggling to find his place in the world, decides to make a film that charts how a group of disabled adults navigate challenges and forge their own unique paths. The film serves as a roadmap for himself and others and illustrates the compelling power of one person truly determined to live life on his own terms.

In documenting his journey, Samuel is following in the footsteps of his father, the filmmaker Dan Habib. You can learn more about their work .

Staff, families, and community members are all invited. Parking is free and McMenamins' full menu is available for ordering. We hope to see you there!

In meteorological terms, Portland’s first big weather event of 2024 was the definition of a perfect storm. Frigid temperatures and high winds combined with snow and ice to bring down tree limbs, close roads, scramble traffic, freeze pipes, and knock out power for tens of thousands of residents.

It was a metaphorical perfect storm for ½ûÂþÌìÌà as well. Fallen trees cut power to multiple schools and others have suffered water damage from broken pipes. Lack of heat was also a problem, and impassable roads, paired with snowed-in and icy parking lots, made it impossible for buses to run safely. Those same conditions limited how the district’s facilities and operations teams can even assess the scope of the issues, let alone begin working on solutions. And icy sidewalks meant walkers have no safe route to school.

This week could bring similar conditions to the Portland area, and ½ûÂþÌìÌÃ’s School Closure Team is ready to meet the challenge. The team convenes regularly during inclement weather to take all of the above into careful consideration. By now, families are quite familiar with how the district communicates these decisions. What’s perhaps less known is how district leaders arrive at such decisions in the first place. 

As part of our district's focus on events that center belonging, equity, and inclusion, we have been screening a series of films that we hope will challenge our perceptions about what is possible in the systems we create for our children with disabilities.

The next film in the series is “Champions,” which will screen on Saturday February 8th at 2:00 PM at Lincoln High School. This event will also include first-hand testimonials from ½ûÂþÌìÌà students.

This movie highlights the journey of a basketball coach who leads a team of players with intellectual disabilities. Through humor and heartfelt moments, the movie emphasizes the strengths, individuality, and value each player brings to the team and how inclusion enriches communities and creates positive, supportive environments.

Staff, families, and community members are all invited. Parking is free and light refreshment will be provided. We hope to see you there!

We’re thrilled to announce that two ½ûÂþÌìÌà teachers were recently awarded the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). 

Krishnan Ranjani,  a teacher of advanced mathematics and Career and Technical Education (CTE) computer systems at Lincoln High School and Nick Nohner, a computer sciences and data sciences teacher at Ida B. Wells High School, were both selected for the honor which is administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The award recognizes outstanding educators for their contributions to the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Each awardee will receive a certificate signed by President Joe Biden and a $10,000 award from NSF. Awardees will also travel to Washington, D.C., for an awards ceremony at a future date. 

Congratulations to these two exceptional teachers!