d.tech weekly update 5.18.15

Dear d.tech families,

Thanks to everyone who took time to attend the parent meeting last Thursday. It was great to see a mix of new and familiar faces. A big thank you to Julie and Sandra for presenting the building blocks for the parent engagement program. It very much reminded me of the early days of d.tech, almost three years ago. The team presented the core values of:
Deep Empathy
Family Diversity
Good Will
Growth and Change
Mutual Support
Timely Communication

The team also showed everyone the new volunteer link on the school website. We have a great chance to test out the process for organizing parents as we prepare to move to our new location in Burlingame. (Speaking of which, here are the supplies we need).
The foundation for d.tech began when Nicole Cerra and I stood up at a school board meeting with a five-page outline for how we thought high schools could improve and our core values. The next three years, with the help of many others, we have been working on turning those values into a school. The parent community has a strong foundation, and now the work is turning those values into a parent organization. In case you missed it, here is their Presentation.

We also covered "What’s New for next year" Below are some of the changes in brief:

Location--We will be at 1800 Rollins Rd. in Burlingame the next two years and then plan to be at 355 Oracle Parkway after that.
LMS(learning management system)--We will have an online portal for students and parents to easily access their courses. There are many products on the market, and we are currently testing empowered and schoology
Smaller @ d.tech- All office staff will teach an @d.tech class, which means they will not be available in the morning, but this will allow an @d.tech student:teacher ratio close to 15:1
World Language-- We are currently piloting different world language options for next year.
Executive Functioning Education: Working with Ana Homayoun to develop a program to teach students how to stay organized and on-pace.
Dedicated fab lab facility and staff: Our new facility will allow for a dedicated fabrication lab, which will be run by Galen McAndrew. We are wrapping up hiring for a new front office staff member.
Refining the learning cycle: One of the biggest challenges in the competency-based system has been creating a way for students to receive timely feedback. This is particularly difficult in the humanities. We are looking at limiting the number of revisions students are allowed to make, to both give them an experience closer to the professional world and make grading more manageable for staff members.

Summer School Info
Summer school runs through the month of June from 9:00 to 1:00 p.m. (lunch will not be served). While we hope that this will be enough time for students to complete their courses, we realize that this may not be the case for every student. At end of summer school there will be a personalized plan for each student not completing a course. The plan will be presented during a required parent conference, prior to the end of summer school. This is what personalization looks like; we are holding a high standard for all students but giving them a personalized path, including varied amounts of time, to get there. Below are some of the different scenarios and outcomes.

Scenario 1: A student only finishes one semester of a class:

The student will leave summer school with a plan to to complete the second semester of the class by August. Mandatory Parent Conference
If they are not done when school starts in August, they will start where they left off and be assigned mandatory Friday School until the class is completed.
In some instances, per teacher recommendation, the student will be required to restart the course.

Scenario 2: A student is not quite finished (1-3 assignments remaining):

The student will leave summer school with a plan to to complete the class by August. Mandatory Parent Conference.
Students will be allowed to double enroll in humanities courses as needed. For example, a student can enroll in Economics and World History concurrently. The same is true for 9th and 10th grade English.

Presentations of Learning

We are in the process of wrapping up an amazing year one. One of our culminating activities is a student presentation of learning (POL). This is where students present their work from design lab to a panel of community stakeholders. It is a great chance for students to reflect on their work and get feedback from adults other than their teachers.

If you are interested in serving on one of the panels, we would really appreciate it. Your responsibility would be to listen intently and provide some brief feedback to students.
Please plan to arrive 10 minutes early and report to the office for your assigned room. If you are able attend, please RSVP at one of the following links:
May 19th
May 20th
May 22nd

Open House for prospective families
Please forward this to families with 9th and 10th grade students. We still have a small number of spots available.

Design Tech High School is a new, free, public high school that is partnering with the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford (the d.school) to personalize education and create innovators. Primarily serving students in the San Mateo Union High School district, d.tech opened its doors in August of 2014 with a class of 140 ninth graders

We still have some spots available for students to join the 2015-16 9th and 10th grades. To learn more come to our next information session; this session is for parents and students:

Wednesday , May 20th from 6:00-7:30pm

Join previous Borel & current d.tech 9th grader Nick Garland, along with parent Phyllis Garland. Learn about d.tech's program - from the Design Challenges, learning hubs and great teachers to the Intersessions including 2 week classes in robotics, Raspberry Pi (at Oracle!), Sustainable design, Photography, Graphic design, Creative writing, Martial Arts and more! Why just go to High School, when you can follow your passion and learn through doing! Hope to see you there!

Drinks & snacks will be provided

*This event is designed for current 8th graders and their parents. If it is necessary to bring siblings, please do not RSVP for them as we want to keep as many spaces open for prospective students as possible.

Camping Trip - May 27-29

Look for an exclusive "Camping Trip" email for more details.

Permission slip - due Wednesday, May 20th

Payment for trip - $50/student - due Wednesday, May 20th (pay via paypal check or cash)

Group gear drop off today after school or Tuesday AM/after school.

Yearbooks

Want a memento to remind your child of their amazing first year at d.tech? Help him/her share memories and refresh their handwriting skills by scribing messages to classmates. Buy a Yearbook today. Yearbooks cost $50.

Download an order form under the BigTent "Files" tab. Instructions for payment are in the form. Forms also available in the d.tech office.

Thanks in advance for showing the Yearbook Team your support. Students worked after school, during lunch, while on winter break, and on weekends towards this project.

Come out and support the d.tech Dragons playing futsal, indoor soccer.

Friday, May 22

d.tech v So. SF

Time: 6:30-7:20pm

Place: The Burlingamer, 1864 Rollins Rd, Burlingame

Summer Tech Plans
All students will check in their Chromebooks prior to leaving for the camping trip. We will then check out the Chromebooks to students who are participating in summer school. Students who do not attend summer school will get their Chromebooks when they return to school in August.

School Calendar:
Here is link to a draft of the school calendar. It is still pending final board approval, but we do not anticipate any major changes. The staff felt it was important to add instructional days so that students can extend their learning without feeling that they are falling behind.