Dear Voyager Community,
I hope you are all enjoying the fall weather and beautiful sunshine. The kids and teachers are all adjusting to the revised schedules and continuing to strive for academic excellence while balancing social and emotional well-being. Thank you to the families that joined the Tuesday meet up to share what’s been going well in remote learning and ideas for continuing to improve our school community. Some of those ideas are already being put into action. Our Student Services Team will be facilitating lunch bunch groups so that kids can connect with one another. I’ve also reached out to our PTO to help organize virtual playgroups for the elementary students and connecting new families with Voyager veterans. We want to instill a sense of belonging for all even while we are apart. The Student Services team also held their monthly student socials yesterday allowing kids to play bingo and charades together. Next week, we will be hosting another Parent Enrichment Night, “Raising Resilient Children”. Please see the details below and join us for another informative parent evening.
Preparing for our return to campus in January is a complex process and our team is fully engaged in planning all the logistics required. Families that wanted to remain remote all year have completed the enrollment form. Our team has started the process to plan for building cohorts, developing schedules, and arranging staffing. Many families have had questions about our return to school plans. We have created a frequently asked questions document to provide information and updates (FAQ linked here).
While we are preparing at school, we ask that you start to prepare your children at home by reinforcing the health guidelines of the 3 W’s that we will be enforcing at school (Wash, Wait, Wear). Assist your children with proper hand washing, remind them to maintain 6 foot of social distancing, and wear a mask to protect themselves and others from COVID-19. NCDHHS will also be launching a new ad campaign to reinforce mask wearing. The ad “Whatever Your Reason, Get Behind the Mask” can be viewed by selecting the link.
Please know that we are all here to support your child grow and learn. Feel free to reach out to your child’s teacher, building administrator, or student support if we can assist your family in any way. Please review the upcoming dates and information below for additional information. Have a great weekend!
All the best,
Upcoming Calendar Events:
- 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
News from the Student Services Team
Upcoming Parent Enrichment
The Student Services Team is thrilled to partner with Responsive Early Access for Durham’s Young Children (READY) to bring an informative presentation to our Voyager community. The presentation overview and registration link are below. We look forward to seeing you all on Thursday, October 8th at 6 p.m.
Raising Resilient Children
The pandemic, social distancing and isolation puts a strain on our families. How do we help our children to manage their feelings and become resilient in dealing with this on-going stress? In this interactive workshop, parents and caregivers learn how to cultivate children’s ability to: express feelings appropriately; build a positive outlook; develop coping skills; and deal with stressful life events.
Registration Link: https://forms.gle/QTATi
Zoom Link for Parent Enrichment “Raising Resilient Children”
Thursday, October 8th at 6 pm
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 884 3228 2247
Passcode: 716773
Say Something Training
On Friday, October 23rd, Voyager Academy Middle (6th-8th graders) and High School will undergo training to launch the “Say Something Anonymous Reporting System” (SS-ARS). This program teaches middle and high students, teachers, and administrators how to recognize warning signs and signals, especially within social media, of individuals who may be a threat to themselves or others and Say Something to a trusted adult OR use its anonymous reporting system. The link below provides additional information about the program.
https://docs.google.com/docume
Community Partnership with Student U
Student U will provide a supervised remote learning space for families of Voyager Academy Middle School and High School students to complete their Voyager school work in a safe supervised learning center while Voyager is operating in a remote learning environment and parents are working. This community partnership will support struggling Voyager families in need of free child care while they are working during the remote learning environment. Applications for the learning center will be prioritized by Student U for families that qualify for free or reduced lunch, have parents that are essential workers, or have become recently unemployed, are experiencing homelessness, are part of the foster care system, or live in public housing.
Remote Access to the Voyager Library
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
Food and Nutrition Support for Families
Free Food Boxes available for families in need – Saturday, October 3rd – 11 am
See flyer from El Centro below.
(click here for a printable copy)