13500 Aviation Blvd. Hawthorne, CA 90250 (310) 725-5800
Da Vinci School Office Hours are: Monday-Friday 8:30am-4pm
Students enrolled in Da Vinci Design are preparing for college and 21st century careers in architecture, product design, industrial design, and other design-related jobs that call for skills in art, science and technology. Da Vinci Design will engage students in a rigorous college preparatory curriculum that integrates the arts in all academic subjects. It will strive to involve every student in creative, learn-by-doing problem-solving activities to help them grow intellectually, socially, artistically, and personally.
Design-Based Learning engages a students' innate curiosity and creates a fun, interactive environment that develops higher-level reasoning skills. A teacher using Design-Based Learning challenges students to create"never-before-seen" solutions to specific problems. The school will build partnerships with local colleges and universities, businesses, and other organizations to integrate students’ learning experiences with the real-world. Students will be encouraged to form safe and strong relationships with teachers, peers, parents, mentors, and the community. THE MISSION
The mission of Da Vinci Design is to prepare students for college and 21st century careers that call for creativity and imagination, communication and media skills, critical thinking, business intelligence, and deep knowledge of literature and history and their influences on our global world. The school will help students form mentoring relationships with writers, artists, architects, designers, business leaders, and other professionals in our community. It will offer a secure and supportive environment that empowers students to develop their academic, personal, and emotional strengths; and interests and goals for their futures. THE VISION
Da Vinci Design will equip each of its graduates for higher education and enhance their quality of life through a curriculum rich in innovation, invention, and discovery. The founders have joined together to form Da Vinci Design in recognition of the need to prepare students for an innovation-driven future. Many business leaders, educators, and other professionals in our community have helped to form the school. They have designed a college preparatory program that will provide advanced educational opportunities for all—including students historically underrepresented in college. The founders have provided the impetus for the development of a research-based response to local needs for excellence in education. We have asked, “What do students need to know and be able to do to be successful in the 21st century—for a way of life never imagined by earlier generations?” We believe and the research shows that there are these basics: To be prepared for higher education, career, and civic life, our students must acquire advanced literacy and performance skills. Creating accomplished graduates depends on students using their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills to think critically as they access new information and technologies. Once our students enter Da Vinci Design, they will read and comprehend complex texts, write and otherwise communicate to diverse audiences, and use a variety of media forms for a variety of purposes. They will learn to discuss, debate, and defend their ideas. These advanced literacy and performance skills are required by 21st century standards. We currently have partnerships with Otis College of Art & Design, Mattel, Belkin, LMU, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Boeing Company, Marymount College, Los Angeles Coalition of Essential Schools, High Tech High and some of our local community colleges. In the future we hope to develop partnerships with local organizations such as Raleigh Studios, Gehry Partners LLP, and other cutting edge design people in our neighborhood, who can support us in our mission of educating 21t century youth.
Project-Based Learning (PBL) is defined as instruction relating questions and technology relative to the students everyday lives to classroom projects. Students form their own investigation of their own group which allows students to develop valuable research skills. The students engage in design, problem solving, decision making, and investigative activities. It allows students to work in groups or by themselves and allows them to come up with ideas and realistic solutions or presentations. Students take a problem and apply it to a real life situation with these projects.
Da Vinci Design will offer a secure and supportive environment that empowers students to develop their academic, personal, and emotional strengths; and interests and goals for their futures.
