Good Morning,
I hope this newlsetter finds you healthy and staying safe. I know this has been a very long few weeks as you likely have heard, it will be even longer. Under the new orders, all schools are closed through at lest May 15th. We are committed to providing an ongoing, distance learning plan. In the upcoming weeks, our wonderful staff will develop virtual lessons and instruction for students and continue to build upon their skills.
As you have also likely heard, the state board is in the process of reevaluating how we will assess student learning and provide grades for the fourth quarter. You will see, as with almost everything else in the past couple of weeks, there is still some ambiguity because this is new for everybody. The most important takeaways are related to seniors graduating, and high school students participating in occupational course of study where state level requirements have been altered to make it more attainable for these students. I believe that the distance learning plan that we have implemented meets all of the criteria that we are responsible for and we have so far continued our best efforts in making sure all students have access to learning opportunities. If you, or someone you know does not have access to the content or needs additional support, please email your building principal as soon as possible so we can provide assistance. Our priority is to help our students continue grade level expectations and ensure they are set up for success when we begin anew next year.
We completely understand that most families have completely different situations and that no one signed up for homeschool or virtual school here but it will be very important to keep your child engaged in learning in some way over the coming weeks and months. We want you to know what our goals as a school are so that you can breathe easy and take care of yourselves and families.
Our Goals:
Our Goals:
- Support your child(ren) academically.
- Provide access to instruction to all students.
- To build and maintain strong relationships with you and your child.
- To have clear open communication.
- To remain as flexible as possible during this challenging time.
Communication:
This is so important to make things run as smoothly as possible!
This is so important to make things run as smoothly as possible!
- Please read your teachers’ posts. We promise to limit them and not overwhelm you.
- Ask you teacher questions. No question is too small.
- Reach out to your teacher, our school counselor, or our Administration Team if you or your family have any specific needs.
Important Things to Know:
- Participation in distance learning is required. Students should do their best to complete assignments, communicate with the teacher, or log in to their assigned learning platform (Google, Canvas etc)
- Report cards based on learning that happened before school closures will be completed.
- All Special Education services will continue, and the format will vary depending upon the students’ needs
- We will maintain our school calendar. Spring Break is still SPRING BREAK!
Helping our Viking Family: Many in our community have been negatively impacted by this closure. If you have the ability to donate food, school supplies or other necessary items, we will be safely taking donations at the school. (Helping others with donations is considered okay during the stay at home order) Please reach out to me or a Principal to coordinate donations.
As always, if you have a specific question or concern, please feel free to email directly at jlucas@voyageracademy.net.
Jennifer Lucas, M.ED
Managing Director Voyager Academy
A fully accredited K-12 Charter School
Although you are likely inundated with resources and links for novel ideas to support home learning, here is one more link passed on to me from a Viking family member to assist with teacher and parent virtual engagement. https://learneverywhere.org/
Below please find some highlights of distance learning from this week:
I wanted to send along a snap from today's "Teacher Talk Time" with some of the sixth graders. We do a daily check in time with any students who want to utilize it to ask questions or just see and talk to each other and their teachers. We miss them so much and this helps us all socially and emotionally during this strange time.
Thank you for all you are doing to support the school community through all of this.
everyday at 1:30, Ms. Miller send the video link and we all get on. Students are invited, not required. We chuckle, try to keep it structured, but also want to give the kids a place to see each other and say hi.
Here are a couple of pictures from that chat:
Please refer to our webpage for general information we have already shared at the link here. https://www.voyageracademy.net/covid-19-information/
Please find additional resources from our school counselors found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ptwoBh03vfMRUY-a1zwoOgaJgtuSOZgHoigpaGVwZ4Q/edit
Please find information on grab and go meals for children ages 1-18 below:
“Grab and Go” from school sites (11 a.m.-noon)
- Bethesda Elementary
- N. Harris Elementary
- Parkwood Elementary
- Shepard Middle School
- Hillside High School
- Githens Middle
- Southwest Elementary
- Lakewood Middle
- Eno Valley Elementary
- Eastway Elementary
- Glenn Elementary
- Sandy Ridge Elementary
- Hillandale Elementary
- Brogden Middle School
- Club Blvd Elementary School
- Southern High School
- YE Smith Elementary
- Mobile sites with school bus deliveries (11 a.m.-noon unless otherwise noted)
- DHA – McDougald Terrace Apartments
- A. Grady Recreation Center
- Falls Pointe Apartments
- Forest Glen Apartments
- Greens of Pine Glen Apartments
- Rec Center at Lyon Park
- Hillside Park
- DHA – Cornwallis Road Apartments
- Colonial Apartments
- Oak Creek Village Apartments
- The Mews Apartments
- South Point Apartments
- South Square Townhomes
- Durham Rescue Mission
- KIPP Charter School
- Maureen Joy Charter School
- Global Scholars Academy
- Holton Career & Resource Center
- Juniper Square Apartments (noon-12:45 p.m.)
- DHA – Liberty Street Apartments
- DHA – Club Blvd
- DHA – Oxford Manor
- Seven Oaks Townhomes
- Edgemont Elms
- Duke Manor Apartments
- DHA – Morreene Road / Demar Ct
- Holly Hill Apartments
- Magnolia Pointe Apts
- Independence Park Apts
- Meriwether Place Apartments
- Strawberry Hills
- Foxfire Apts
- Marquis Garden Apts
- Morreene West Apartments
- Cambridge Village
- Oakley Square Apartments
- East Durham Rec Center (11-11:45 a.m.)
- Geer Street/Midland Terrace
- Bentwood Apts
- Naples Terrace Apts.
- Pine Crest Apts
- Rochelle Manor
- Birchwood Heights Rec Association
- DHA – Hoover Road
- Fox Ridge Apartments (11-11:45 a.m.)
- Mission Triangle Point Apartments (noon-12:45 p.m.)
- Springwood Park Apartments (11-11:45 p.m.)
- Lynn Haven Apartments (noon-12:45 p.m.)
- Whispering Pines Mobile Home (noon-12:45 p.m.)
- Mineral Springs Village (11-11:45 p.m.)
Spectrum, NorthState, Verizon and ATT have pledged to support North Carolina in internet access and usage. Please find information on internet access here:
www.wral.com/charter-offering-free-spectrum-internet-to-students-for-60-days/19013856/#.Xm-jLjLLkBE.email
For your service and support needs, please visit www.northstate.net or call us at 336-886-3600. Verizon and AT&T have pledged to support NC. Please share.
For your service and support needs, please visit www.northstate.net or call us at 336-886-3600. Verizon and AT&T have pledged to support NC. Please share.
Here are some pictures of what distance learning looks like: