Da Vinci Charter Academy(DVCA) is located at 1400 E. 8th street in Davis, California. DVCA has about 350 students, and is expected to grow to 400 students. This school is a member of the New Technology Foundation, an organization that promotes the integration of technology and high school education by establishing schools modeled after the Napa's New Technology High School, a project-based small learning community with a large focus on technology.
The main goal of DVHS's philosophy is to engender responsibility and competence in students, and to prepare them for the workplace. They use many unorthodox methods to achieve this goal. For example, there is no punishment system at DVHS; students are expected to follow the rules. If there are problems, consequences such as a loss of privileges are instated on a case-by-case basis. There is no "detention room"; instead, the student must do odd jobs around the school to make up for their bad behavior, for example raking leaves in the quad or organizing the lost and found. Another feature is that passes are not required. The idea is to simulate a workplace environment. This is also why the school has chosen to work so much with computers; in a work environment such as the ones students are likely to encounter after graduating from school, they are likely to be using computers daily. DVHS also works to integrate the acceptance of the LGBT community and promotes gender and sexual orientation equality and ensures that the campus is a safe place for anybody to stay.[citation needed]
Academic successedit
Leonardo da Vinci High School has been rated as the fifth best high school on the West Coast [2]. U.S. News & World Report gave DVHS a bronze medal in its national survey of high schools, in part based on DVHS's 98.7 percent standardized test proficiency rate.. Also, average SAT percentile for students at the school were roughly 80% in Math and Critical Reading, and 74% in Writing. The small class sizes and small overall community size, leading to increased individual attention, are usually cited as the reason for this excellent academic performance, as well as the reason for the 96% graduation rate.[better source needed]
Application and selectionedit
Students at Da Vinci go through an application process including an essay. Applications are evaluated to find students who will work better in a problem-solving based and group based environment than in a regular high school, and students who have something to contribute to the community and learning environment.[citation needed]
However, DVHS is not classified as a "magnet school" because there are no academic criteria for entering the school. The school has no technical programs, and does not focus on any academic areas, so DVHS is not classified as a "technical school" either.
Courtyard; notice the painted door
Environmentedit
Da Vinci, formerly located in a ring of portables towards the back of the Davis Senior High School campus, moved to the vacant Valley Oak elementary campus in the 2009/10 school year. Three buildings in the front of the campus have been allocated to a special education preschool, while (roughly) seven buildings of varying size were given to the High School. The campus has kept the murals made by former Valley Oak graduates. In addition, each year, the graduating senior class creates a mural in a new area of the school together, with each student in the grade adding their name to it.[citation needed]
Sportsedit
DVHS does not compete in any sports leagues except Ultimate Frisbee, which is growing in popularity as a sport among schools in the New Tech Foundation.[citation needed] The league consists of a team from Napa New Tech, the Penguins, and the Dinos (unofficially the Fighting Lasagnas) from DVHS. The DVHS frisbee team has recently.[when?] begun playing intramural games with UC Davis students. DVHS students are also permitted to participate in sports through Davis Senior High School.
Another Door
Course offeringsedit
All courses required for graduation are offered at DVHS. However, students who choose to can take classes which are not offered at Da Vinci. These are taken at Davis High School, which is about a mile away. About a third of the students bike, drive, or otherwise transport themselves to the DHS campus for these classes, leading to transportation concerns that, as of winter 2009, are unresolved.
As of spring 2007, DVHS has a partnership with Sacramento City College's extension program to offer community college courses for free to DVHS students.
Funding and partnershipsedit
The school is funded in part by a grant to the New Tech Foundation from the Gates Foundation. Bill Gates was interested in the program because he wanted a larger pool of technologically literate workers that required less training after employment. The New Tech Foundation runs schools around the country with a similar focus on problem-based learning.[citation needed]
Budget and layoff challengesedit
During both 2008 and 2009, massive budget cuts to the Davis Joint Unified School District put many of the da Vinci teachers jobs in jeopardy. However, due in part to fundraising from the Davis community, no da Vinci teachers were let go from the district.[citation needed] In an attempt to save their teachers, the da Vinci students went before the Davis school board to protest that their teachers (many of whom have special training), were being laid off before other, less-skilled teachers. This student effort received attention from many regional media outlets such as KGO, KALW,[1]KXJZ,[2] and the Local News10 Television Channel.[3]
Major Eventsedit
On October 4, 2018, a sophomore student gave out cookies at both Davinci and the nearby Davis Senior High School (California). Students described the cookies as having a grainy texture, similar to sand. It turned out the student baked her grandfather's ashes into the cookies and distributed the cookies to her classmates. Nobody was ill as a result of the cookies, though several students who ate some of the cookies were horrified. In the end, the girl received no legal punishment, and ended up getting expelled from the school, to go attend one of the other high schools in Davis. [5]
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template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Da Vinci Charter Academy DVCA is located at 1400 E 8th street in Davis California DVCA has about 350 students and is expected to grow to 400 students This school is a member of the New Technology Foundation an organization that promotes the integration of technology and high school education by establishing schools modeled after the Napa s New Technology High School a project based small learning community with a large focus on technology Contents 1 Philosophy 2 Academic success 3 Application and selection 4 Environment 5 Sports 6 Course offerings 7 Funding and partnerships 8 Budget and layoff challenges 9 Major Events 10 See also 11 References 12 External linksPhilosophy editThe main goal of DVHS s philosophy is to engender responsibility and competence in students and to prepare them for the workplace They use many unorthodox methods to achieve this goal For example there is no punishment system at DVHS students are expected to follow the rules If there are problems consequences such as a loss of privileges are instated on a case by case basis There is no detention room instead the student must do odd jobs around the school to make up for their bad behavior for example raking leaves in the quad or organizing the lost and found Another feature is that passes are not required The idea is to simulate a workplace environment This is also why the school has chosen to work so much with computers in a work environment such as the ones students are likely to encounter after graduating from school they are likely to be using computers daily DVHS also works to integrate the acceptance of the LGBT community and promotes gender and sexual orientation equality and ensures that the campus is a safe place for anybody to stay citation needed Academic success editLeonardo da Vinci High School has been rated as the fifth best high school on the West Coast 2 U S News amp World Report gave DVHS a bronze medal in its national survey of high schools in part based on DVHS s 98 7 percent standardized test proficiency rate 3 Also average SAT percentile for students at the school were roughly 80 in Math and Critical Reading and 74 in Writing The small class sizes and small overall community size leading to increased individual attention are usually cited as the reason for this excellent academic performance as well as the reason for the 96 graduation rate 4 better source needed Application and selection editStudents at Da Vinci go through an application process including an essay Applications are evaluated to find students who will work better in a problem solving based and group based environment than in a regular high school and students who have something to contribute to the community and learning environment citation needed However DVHS is not classified as a magnet school because there are no academic criteria for entering the school The school has no technical programs and does not focus on any academic areas so DVHS is not classified as a technical school either nbsp Courtyard notice the painted doorEnvironment editDa Vinci formerly located in a ring of portables towards the back of the Davis Senior High School campus moved to the vacant Valley Oak elementary campus in the 2009 10 school year Three buildings in the front of the campus have been allocated to a special education preschool while roughly seven buildings of varying size were given to the High School The campus has kept the murals made by former Valley Oak graduates In addition each year the graduating senior class creates a mural in a new area of the school together with each student in the grade adding their name to it citation needed Sports editDVHS does not compete in any sports leagues except Ultimate Frisbee which is growing in popularity as a sport among schools in the New Tech Foundation citation needed The league consists of a team from Napa New Tech the Penguins and the Dinos unofficially the Fighting Lasagnas from DVHS The DVHS frisbee team has recently when begun playing intramural games with UC Davis students DVHS students are also permitted to participate in sports through Davis Senior High School nbsp Another DoorCourse offerings editAll courses required for graduation are offered at DVHS However students who choose to can take classes which are not offered at Da Vinci These are taken at Davis High School which is about a mile away About a third of the students bike drive or otherwise transport themselves to the DHS campus for these classes leading to transportation concerns that as of winter 2009 are unresolved As of spring 2007 DVHS has a partnership with Sacramento City College s extension program to offer community college courses for free to DVHS students Funding and partnerships editThe school is funded in part by a grant to the New Tech Foundation from the Gates Foundation Bill Gates was interested in the program because he wanted a larger pool of technologically literate workers that required less training after employment The New Tech Foundation runs schools around the country with a similar focus on problem based learning citation needed Budget and layoff challenges editDuring both 2008 and 2009 massive budget cuts to the Davis Joint Unified School District put many of the da Vinci teachers jobs in jeopardy However due in part to fundraising from the Davis community no da Vinci teachers were let go from the district citation needed In an attempt to save their teachers the da Vinci students went before the Davis school board to protest that their teachers many of whom have special training were being laid off before other less skilled teachers This student effort received attention from many regional media outlets such as KGO KALW 1 KXJZ 2 and the Local News10 Television Channel 3 Major Events editOn October 4 2018 a sophomore student gave out cookies at both Davinci and the nearby Davis Senior High School California Students described the cookies as having a grainy texture similar to sand It turned out the student baked her grandfather s ashes into the cookies and distributed the cookies to her classmates Nobody was ill as a result of the cookies though several students who ate some of the cookies were horrified In the end the girl received no legal punishment and ended up getting expelled from the school to go attend one of the other high schools in Davis 5 See also editNew Technology High SchoolReferences edit Archived copy Archived from the original on 2011 07 24 Retrieved 2008 05 10 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link CapRadio Schools and the Budget Crisis Capital Public Radio www capradio org Archived from the original on 21 May 2011 Retrieved 13 January 2022 1 permanent dead link External links editThe Da Vinci Website Davis Joint Unified School District New Tech Foundation Website DaVinci High School on the Davis Wiki The DVHS Newspaper38 33 07 N 121 43 59 W 38 552 N 121 733 W 38 552 121 733 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Da Vinci Charter Academy amp oldid 1181860875, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
