September 18, 2020
Dear Voyager Community,
It’s been another incredible week at Voyager with our students, staff, and parents learning and growing together. We are so thankful for our school counseling team that has planned our student and parent enrichment programs to support our school community. Last evening, Voyager parent and IT expert, Shelly Epps, shared an informative and insightful presentation on Internet Safety. Thank you, Shelly for sharing your expertise with our community. The Internet Safety Presentation slides from the presentation are linked if you were not able to attend the zoom session.
Research shows that reading is the foundation that provides access to education in all content areas and the development of rich vocabulary. We continue to develop strong readers in the classroom and want to ensure that our students have access to our library resources even while they are learning remotely at home. Our Voyager librarians have developed a request and book pick up/drop off system that will be introduced for our middle school students since they are familiar with how to request a book from the school system. The librarians will be providing information to elementary families in the near future as well so that all students and families have access to our book collections. Please review the program details from our librarians in the link if you are interested in getting books in the hands of your children to promote the joy of reading a good book. Remote Access to Voyager Library
Refining our Remote Learning Schedule
The leadership team and staff are reviewing all input from students, parents, and staff and are discussing refinements to our current remote learning schedules while balancing the needs of all students. The key objectives and goals are outlined below:
- Create a Sustainable Remote Learning Schedule
- Balance excellence in academics with social and emotional well-being
- Be Responsive to staff, student, and parent feedback
- Create developmentally appropriate schedule with balance of live instruction, recorded lessons, independent practice, homework, small group instruction, and office hours
- Design opportunities for remediation and enrichment
- Incorporate social and emotional learning, clubs
- Ensure refined remote learning schedule ensures a smooth transition to the hybrid plan with minimal changes and disruptions - Wednesday
- Align K-12 lunch schedule to support families
Our goal is to ensure our students strive for academic excellence while balancing social, and emotional well-being. The leadership team met and discussed the staff and parent results. Staff input surveys were also collected and facilitated input sessions were held with all staff to develop recommendations. We are in the process of finalizing the review and evaluation of all recommendations using the input from all stakeholders. The updated refined remote learning schedules will be shared with all families next week.
Full Year Remote Learning Option
Many families remain concerned with returning to school during the Coronavirus pandemic and have requested the option to continue remote learning throughout the year. The Voyager 2020 – 2021 Year Long Remote Learning Option Enrollment Form is due by September 25, 2020. This is necessary to allow us to adjust class cohorts and plan staffing needs accordingly. The staffing for the option for remote only for the year will be determined by the numbers at each grade level. If there are only a few students, then they would zoom into class. If we have large numbers of remote only students at a grade level, we may opt to have a remote only teacher.
Our current plans for the hybrid model:
Hybrid - 2 days of in- person instruction with 3 days of remote learning for each cohort. Teachers would teach 4 different lessons (M, T, Th, F) and remote students would zoom into class in grades 5th - 8th at the MS and 9th-12th grade at the HS. Wednesday would be dedicated to recorded lessons and independent work. Teachers would also have the opportunity to set up small group or individual zoom sessions during office hour meetings on Wednesdays. Grades K-4 may need more recorded lessons and less zooming in because more parent support would be required. Final plans are still under development.
Please know that we are all here to support your child’s success. Feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher, building level administrators, school counselor, school social worker, or me if you need assistance or support. Don’t forget to check out the upcoming calendar events listed below and read all the building level newsletters to learn more about the exciting learning taking place at each grade level. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
All the best,
Voyager 2020 – 2021 Year Long Remote Learning Option Enrollment Form - Deadline 9/25/20
Upcoming Calendar Events:
- Sept. 21-Oct. 9 - mClass assessments will be completed K-3
- Sept. 24 – Board Meeting – 5 pm
- Sept. 25 -Parent Conference Day/Remote Learning Day
- Sept. 28 - Sex Trafficking PD Training Session for all staff members
- Sept. 29 - Family Connection Zoom Meet up with Managing Director - 10 am -Zoom Link
- Oct. 01 - After School Social Skills Virtual Club at 2:45 (K-3)
- Oct. 5-9 – HS Mid-term exams
- Oct. 08 - Parent Enrichment Class 6:00 pm-7:00 pm
- Oct 12 - 16 - Fall Break
- Oct. 14 – Report cards go out
- Oct. 22 – Pre-Act (all 10th graders)
- Oct. 22 – Board meeting 5 pm
- Oct. 23 - MS Report Cards for 1st Quarter
- Nov. 09 - K-3 Report cards sent home
- Nov. 13 - MS Second Quarter Progress Reports
Food and Nutrition Support for Families in Need of Assistance During This Challenging Time
From now until December 31, 2020, Durham County Public Schools is providing free meals to all children aged 18 and under. Drive-through pick up of meals is available weekly from 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday. Pick-up sites are listed here and below. No ID is required to pick up the meals. If you are unable to pick up at the designated time, click here to obtain information on how to have meals delivered to your home.
Additionally, the Student Services Team has compiled a list of parent and community resources that can be found Here.
Please do not hesitate to reach out with questions and/or concerns. Thank you.
DPS Free School Meals
Age: Available to any child 18 and under
Pick-up Day & Time: Every Tuesday & Thursday from 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.
Meals Provided: Tuesdays students pick up two breakfasts, two lunches; Thursdays students pick up three breakfasts, three lunches.
Exceptional Children’s Parent Meeting
Thursday, 9/24, 6 pm
EXPO September Meeting
The Exceptional Children’s Parent Organization invites you to attend our first meeting of the year. Tracey Edler, Voyager’s new Exceptional Children’s Program Director, will speak to our group on strategies for Home and School. She’ll discuss things like morning routines, checklists, homework, etc. to help your child be successful.
Topic: EXPO
Time: Sep 24, 2020 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/95904759696
Meeting ID: 959 0475 9696
Passcode: 118124
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