Designing for Success: Da Vinci Educators Align on Instructional Supports
Earlier this month, educators from across Da Vinci Schools came together for a full day of professional learning focused on instructional supports and high-quality project-based learning.
Educators met in job-alike teams—math teachers with math teachers, English with English, special education with special education, and more—to align on a common set of instructional supports all students can expect across Da Vinci. This work is part of our ongoing effort to strengthen and refine our Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) to ensure all students can successfully access core instruction.
The day focused on strengthening instructional practice within Da Vinci’s tiered support framework:
Tier 1: Core supports every student receives in the classroom
Tier 2: Targeted supports for students who need more, embedded within or connected to instruction
Together, teams reflected on how projects are intentionally designed so all students can access and engage with content, and how consistent instructional strategies support diverse learners, including language development, reading, executive functioning, and engagement. Educators examined the supports and accommodations already built into daily instruction, identified where students may need additional scaffolding, and shared strategies to ensure students know what to do next when they are struggling—without waiting for permission.
By the end of the session, each job-alike group committed to 3–5 instructional supports they will consistently use in their classrooms moving forward, helping to make expectations and supports more visible and predictable for students across campuses and programs.
Identified supports included strategies such as sharing information both visually and verbally, making instructional materials available digitally through Canvas, reteaching content during targeted support or flex time with individual students or small groups, explicitly teaching notetaking skills, and more.
This work reinforces our shared Da Vinci Promise: every student—across every campus and program—receives the essential supports needed to access, engage, and succeed.
Job-alike teams also previewed upcoming spring projects, trading resources, tools, templates, rubrics, and exemplars. It was a powerful afternoon of collaboration, learning, and growth.
By intentionally designing projects, making supports visible and accessible, and planning proactively for diverse learners, Da Vinci educators are setting students up for success this semester and beyond.
