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2015-2016 - November 3, 2015
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d.tech Cross Country runner Marias (center, orange top & black shorts) starts race at Crystal Springs. (photo by William DeBruce, student) (Click Image to Enlarge)

Dear d.tech families and friends,

Last week was a big success for the d.tech community.  We received lots of positive media coverage, and Oracle's support is going to present great opportunities for our students.  As we celebrate our success, I want to also think about our failures.  We could not have received this type of support without a willingness to try new things, not all of which have worked.  In one of my first meetings with Safra Catz, she said that it has always been Larry's philosophy that when the whole world is going in direction, your best opportunity is to go the other direction.  This philosophy has worked out quite well for Oracle.

Our philosophy is to push the limits of what is possible even to the point where it no longer works and then walk it back to more conventional.  It's with that spirit that we are launching several prototypes.  Kirstie Gonzales and Matt Cooley are trying to build more self-direction in students by prototyping completely self-paced units.  We are going to prototype a new bell schedule the week of Nov. 16 (this will not impact start and end times). 

Students are prototyping a new Friday F.I.T. notification system, some teachers are developing a self-assigning F.I.T. process, and we are changing Friday F.I.T. release times.  Beginning on Friday Nov. 6, students who are assigned Friday F.I.T. for one class only will be dismissed at 2:15 pm; students who are assigned Friday F.I.T. for more than one class will be released at 3:35pm.  Friday F.I.T. is one of the many things we have implemented to help students stay on-pace this year, and by all indications the changes are working.  

Last year in the first intersession, we had almost 50 students assigned to an academic support class to catch up.  This year with twice as many students, we did not even offer one section of academic support.  Now we are refining our prototypes to make them more effective and evaluating the impact of the changes on self-direction.
 
Things can 'work' if we do them the traditional way, but traditional not who we are as a school.  Our role is to show what is possible in improving high school for students.  It is with this spirit of continuous improvement that I would like to share a video of our students made by Russ Moeller, d.tech staff member.

Have a great week,

Ken

d.tech’s Future Campus

Last Tuesday, Oracle CEO Safra Catz announced the Oracle Education Foundation intends to open d.tech’s new purpose-built home on Oracle’s Redwood Shores campus in the fall of 2017.

For a list of some of the recent media coverage, click Oracle Announces d.tech Campus Oct2015.

Concurrent Enrollment Deadline

The deadline to request courses for concurrent enrollment at local community colleges is Nov 13. Your student is eligible to take college courses, tuition-free, and earn both high school and college credit while doing so. Visit these links to get more information about enrolling at Skyline College, College of San Mateo, and Canada College.
 
If your student is already enrolled in a world language class from Skyline College which meets on our campus, we will automatically enroll them in the subsequent course in the coming weeks. 
 

Annual Fund

Many thanks to all the families who have donated to the annual fund this year. We are inching our way to our target and have raised $70,000 to-date. 

Your generous donations enabled:
  • Christy Knott to run her Healthy Me Intersession class and purchase much needed classroom supplies. 
  • We were able to run five additional visual performing arts classes this year for Intersession.
  • We contracted with the Burlingamer for Intersession courses, daily use for physical activity, lunch and studio time.
     
None of the above would be possible without your generous donations.
 
If you have not donated yet, we hope you will consider supporting the school. We are requesting our families make a tax deductible gift of $1000 this year. EVERY gift, no matter the size, makes a difference! 
 

How Do I Donate?

You can write a check made out to Design Tech High School, contribute online on our website through PayPal (click on Donate Button), or fill out the Pledge Form and make monthly (or quarterly) payments. We hope that we can count on your donation. Pledge Form Link: https://goo.gl/kaoTrK

Amazon
Did you know that you can help raise money for d.tech by shopping on Amazon? Go to smile.amazon.com, select Design Tech High School as your charity and a portion of all your Amazon purchases will go to support d.tech! Make sure to bookmark smile.amazon.com for future shopping. Purchases made through the regular Amazon site won’t count.

eScrip
Sign up for eScrip and have the merchants you patronize contribute to d.tech! Just enroll online at www.escrip.com and designate d.tech as your beneficiary organization. Have your Mollie Stone’s or other credit/debit cards handy when you log-on. Have questions? Please contact Lisa Bernstein at blbernstein@comcast.net.

d.lab Help - Calling on Adult Volunteers

Here’s an opportunity to see what Design Lab is all about. You are invited to come on Fridays from 8:50-10:20AM and help students review their design lab projects, give feedback, act as audience, help kids organize their teams, give tips, show them how to build stuff, etc. Tuesday and Thursday opportunities also available. Please sign-up here. Stop by at the Front Office that day to check-in and to get your Teacher/location assignment. Thank you!

Lunch Helpers - Please Sign Up

Thanks to all the parents who have been helping with lunch distribution. There are openings for the week of November 2.  Please consider signing up for any day(s) these two weeks and earn a meal credit towards your student’s account. Please Sign up here

Parent Coffee Chat Report

Over 50 parents and students were on hand to see the Oracle announcement about d.tech’s future home. Afterwards, parents moved their Chat to the parking lot to further socialize. A question was raised about a directory--information in the next paragraph. Christine Boles gave a brief update on the Robotics Team.

Carpooling and Parent Directory

You can access the Parent Directory (sorted by cities) in BigTent (File) to connect with your d.tech neighbors.

Parents Soiree, November 7

Business Networking Table: attendees encouraged to share business flyers & discounts, d.tech donation in-kind opportunities, and/or business cards. Chinese food buffet, non-alcoholic beverages, DJ, mixers, door prizes. Admission: $25 per person. Online RSVP & payment: https://dtechparentssoiree.eventbrite.com

Saturday, November 7, 2015
d.tech Parents Soiree
7-10pm at the Millbrae Community Center
Details in BigTent calendar or write to d.techparentcommunity@gmail.com

Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at 7pm
Peninsula Parent Speaker Series
Julie Lythcott-Haims
"How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success"
San Mateo Performing Arts Center
600 N. Delaware, San Mateo (next to San Mateo High School)

In How to Raise an Adult, Julie Lythcott-Haims draws on research, on conversations with admissions officers, educators, and employers, and on her own insights as a mother and as a Stanford freshmen student dean to highlight the ways in which over-parenting harms children, their stressed-out parents, and society at large. While empathizing with the parental hopes and, especially, fears that lead to overhelping, Lythcott-Haims offers practical alternative strategies that underline the importance of allowing children to make their own mistakes and develop the resilience, resourcefulness, and inner determination necessary for success.

November 12-13, Conditional Release Day*
Days adjusted to Thursday/Friday since publication of school Handbook.
*Throughout the course of the school year, students who are on-pace will be given extra release days... Students who are not on-pace will attend school as scheduled and be given extra help to ensure that they stay on-pace. We will evaluate the effectiveness of this program to determine if we should continue it in second semester. (reference: Parent-Student Handbook)

Saturday, March 19, 2016, 6-10pm
Annual Spring Auction and Gala
The VIBE Center at the Foster City Parks & Recreation Center
670 Shell Blvd., Foster City

Extra Student Opportunities

These are events and programs which may be of interest to d.tech families.  Some are not school-sponsored or affiliated with Design Tech High School. We will be explicit with the information we have:

November 6-8, 2015
STEAM Carnival
The event features high-tech games, interactive installations, dynamic build zones, round the clock stage shows, lab demos, aerialists, artists, food, and more. Discount: your code is designtech; this will provide $5 off already discounted Early Bird tickets and $10 off General Admission tickets. The promo code is valid until October 31. Hours: Friday, 10am-5pm, and Saturday & Sunday,10am-6pm, at Pier 48 at AT&T Park. http://steamcarnival.com/ 

November 7-8, 2015
Stanford Splash!
Splash is a two-day marathon of classes in a variety of subjects that are open to all students in grades 7-12. The classes you take are completely up to you as the goal of Splash is to get students excited about learning and help them explore new topics. $40 flat fee. https://stanfordesp.org/learn/index.html

November 16, 2015
Share Path Academy offering upcoming Spanish Course
classroom site on 42nd Avenue in San Mateo

 

The class will be a 90-minute session on Mondays from 4:30-6:00 pm. The goals of the class are enhancing vocabulary, increasing literacy, and gaining confidence and personal ownership of the Spanish language. Activities will include oral presentations, current events reading and discussion, listening activities with music, poetry reading and writing, and common conversation skill practice. I am open to the students helping to plan part of the course, as far as their specific homework and/or exam needs.  Any high school age student is welcome but the focus is on Freshmen and Sophomores. This will be a mid-level course (equivalent to Span. 2 or 3), but can be adjusted as needed. The fee for each session will be $50. Class start date will be November 16.

 

Please e-mail Erin McCoy at erin@sharepathacademy.com with any questions that you may have and if you are interested in having your child participate in this course.
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