And I got my heart set on what happens next
Now I'm finally where I belong
I've got a brand new mindset
-- from This Is Home, by Switchfoot, our school orientation trip theme song
We do things differently here.
This is home.
-- Da Vinci Science school slogans
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Da Vinci is an award-winning, innovative public charter high school, unlike any school you have seen. No textbooks. Hands-on projects. Collaboration. Three years of engineering classes for all. Joint classes with colleges. Student exhibitions and presentations of learning. Grading on mastery instead of effort. We have five hundred students, half from low income households, from diverse backgrounds: 56% Latino, 18% white, 12% black, and 11% Asian. Last year, 98% completed the requirements for attending the University of California; 78% attended a four year college, many of whom are the first in their family to attend. But perhaps the most unusual, and wonderful, thing about Da Vinci Science is that we are family. From the first overnight orientation trip for ninth graders and older student counselors, to the mixed-grade advisory groups who meet several times weekly and stay together from ninth grade through graduation, Da Vinci students and teachers bond togehter in a tighetly knit,
ESSAY
CHAIRMAN'S