Dear d.tech families,

I want to extend a big thank-you to everyone who was able to purchase a ticket, attend the Gala last weekend, and make such generous contributions to support the school.  All of our students benefit so much from our strong parent community and your generosity. In fact if you want to continue to build on the community spirit of the night, here is a link to some more great events aimed at building community and helping the school:   http://dtechfundraising.com/community-events-and-parties

This is important because it really is that sense that we are all in this together that makes us strong.  Toward the end of the evening several d.tech staff members commented on what a tremendous community we have and the amazing opportunity this creates for our students. It gives us such confidence as we move forward knowing that we can always count on parents to rally for our school.

It’s also inspiring to know that we are working together to redesign high school, so all students have access to an education that prepares them for an uncertain world.  It truly made us all proud to be part of the d.tech family.  It was also great seeing so many new faces at the event.  Each new class of students and parents provides us much needed enthusiasm and energy to keep moving forward.  

Our next biggest challenge is going to be determining the best way to accommodate 550 students next year while the building at Oracle is finished.  As we face this challenge together, I’m quite confident in several things: 1) there is no great solution; this is a case of finding the least worst decision; 2) any decision will impact some members of the d.tech community in a negative way; 3) we will 100% get through it because we always do; and 4)  we will get through it because of parent support, patience, and empathy. We will continue to be proud dragons.  

Have a great week,

Ken

 A Personal Message from the Gala Team

Thank you for coming to the event and supporting d.tech High School. It was an AMAZING evening!  Our mission was to raise much needed funds for the school and to bring our parent community together.  With your support, we raised over $123 k. 

While we surpassed our goal for the event, we are asking parents to still consider donating to the Annual Fund to help our community reach $300K. To make a donation, log onto http://www.designtechhighschool.org/contribute. 

Also, if you were unable to attend the event, and would like to meet other d.tech parents and get more involved, check out the community-building parties that we offered at the gala.  There are just a few spots left for each event.  Please visit http://dtechfundraising.com/community-events-and-parties to reserve your spot today!  

New Staff

Please welcome Karen Brewster to the d.tech family.  Karen is helping out at the Front Office so many of you have probably already had a chance to meet her.  Karen has worked in other start-ups and loves working in a school. We’re very excited to have her join the team.  

Students’ School Photographs

School photos are now available for purchase. If you would like to purchase copies of your student’s school photograph, send an email with your student’s last name and ID# to quincystamper@gmail.com. He will email you a link to their photo. Links will only be emailed out by parent request.
 

d.tech Hip Hop Club Performance at Burlingame Fall Fest

Come check out the d.tech Hip Hop Club performances on Sunday, October 30, at the Burlingame Fall Fest! They will be providing live entertainment in downtown Burlingame on Howard Avenue. Catch them at 11am, 12:30pm, 1:45pm, and 3:30pm! http://www.burlingamedowntown.org/fallfest16
 

d.tech ATHLETICS Updates

New Athletic Director
We’re happy to announce Marcus Marshall has joined the d.tech staff team and will be serving as our Athletic Director. In addition to supporting all sports teams and coaches as the Athletic Director, Marcus will be on campus every day helping supervise FIT classes, teaching some physical activity classes on lab days (while supervising at the Burlingamer) and during Intersessions, advising our student athletes, and assisting staff in other areas as needed. His background is in strength and conditioning and he brings a lot of knowledge and experience to our sports programs. Marcus is excited about being a part of the d.tech team and helping to build a sports program that mirrors the philosophy and qualities of our amazing school. If you want to get in touch with Marcus regarding athletics, please use the dtechathletics@dtechhs.org email address.

FALL SPORTS SEASON is coming to an end. A huge thanks to all the athletes and their families for making everything run smoothly.

Girls Volleyball: The JV team finished their first season -- great job players! Varsity won against Mid-Peninsula High on Thursday (Oct. 20) and has their final home game this Friday, October 28 at 6pm. The game will be played at Peninsula High School in San Bruno. (As you drive down Courtland Dr., continue past the first parking area you’ll see on the left. The gym is directly next to the roundabout that you’ll come to after that. Parking is just past the roundabout.) Junior Varsity has their last game today at Summit Preparatory (890 Broadway Redwood City) at 4pm. Hope you can make it to cheer on our teams! Thanks to coaches Michael and Gil for a great first season and to Monica for all her support. It’s been fun to watch the volleyball teams this fall!

Cross Country’s second season is winding down with an optional race in San Francisco on Halloween weekend. Thanks to Matt Cooley for leading the team again this year. Hopefully next year we can find an assistant for him! And to all the athletes, keep on running!!

WINTER SPORTS SEASON is just around the corner. If you're interested in playing one of these sports, look for surveys and information on the announcements page next week. The date for the parent & player meetings for each sport will be announced in next week’s Download.

Boys Basketball: Coaches Vinny Fobbs and Steve Chan will return to coach our boys (we’re still looking for a JV boys coach; email dtechathletics@dtechhs.org if you have any leads for us).

Girls Basketball: Coach Lenin Castro is going to be leading the girls team this year. He has great experience with start-up school programs and helping build really strong teams. His focus on character development, in addition to basketball skills, is going to make for a great year.

Boys Soccer: Coach David Savelson will be leading the charge this year with our boys soccer team -- transitioning d.tech players from futsal to soccer for d.tech. He will be joined by two great co-coaches. An additional thanks to David for stepping up to help manage some of the game scheduling and more during the past month.

Girls Soccer: Chelsea Little (9th grade d.tech English teacher) will be assisting Mohammed Lounnas in coaching our girls soccer team. Chelsea’s dad, a former semi-pro player in England, will be the team's advisor. We’re excited to have Chelsea’s family help us build a great girls soccer program.

d.tech Athletic Hub
Check for games and cross-country meets in the Student Calendar. The school’s official athletic online hub is MaxPreps and MaxPreps Calendar.