Dear Voyager Community,
It’s been another exciting learning adventure for our remote learning students and our staff working on campus. Parents, teachers, and students have partnered together to make the most of our remote learning and discussed student progress at the recent conferences. The administrative team continues to partner with our teachers and staff to provide whatever support is needed to ensure the growth and success of your children. As we prepare for our fall break it is important to take time to reflect on what we’ve accomplished and where we can continue to grow. We’re proud of our students and our staff for their continued collaboration along the learning journey. And so grateful for all the support of our families in the Voyager community.
The team has really enjoyed developing connections and relationships with our students to better understand their interests and needs so that we can focus on personalized learning plans. We’ve had some tremendous feedback on the revised schedule and I am grateful for the support of our parents, students, and staff who work tirelessly together. Thank you to the parents and staff for facilitating social groups and lunch bunches for our children so they can get to know one another and have fun together even while we are learning apart. Our middle school parents and staff are also in the process of developing a career fair to share insight about future paths that can be pursued.
We are in the process of developing the hybrid cohorts and schedules to accommodate our students when we return to campus in a hybrid model in January. Parents that have formed learning pods and have unique child care needs have the opportunity to submit a request for cohort placement by completing the Hybrid Cohort Request Form linked here. Please submit this form by October 14, 2020 so that cohort lists can be created. This is only for families with unique child care needs that require consideration for cohort placement during the hybrid learning phase. Families that do not have unique child care concerns and those that have selected the full year remote option should not complete the form. The building principals and teachers will work together to balance the number of students in cohorts A and B while minimizing teacher changes as best as possible. Details will be shared with families after additional information is available.
The team is continuing to work together to improve our communications and support for Voyager families. I’m pleased to announce that we have another community partner that will provide a free supervised remote learning space for our K-5th grade students that qualify. Additional details are below the newsletter. The library has also expanded their remote services to the Elementary School. Access instructions from our school librarians are below as well. Thank you to our Student Support Team for planning and all parents for attending last night’s informative Parent Enrichment event, on “Raising Resilient Children.” An important topic for all ages. Our team will be updating our website in the near future to improve the navigation and tools so that it is easier to find information about what’s going on at Voyager. Stay tuned for additional information as we continue to improve our family communications tools.
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 wonderful fall break! Relax and recharge together.
All the best,
Upcoming Calendar Events:
- Oct 12 - 16 - Fall Break
- Oct. 14 – Report cards go out
- Oct. 14 – Hybrid Cohort Request Form due (only for those with child care concerns)
- 10/21/20 - HS student /staff training for Say Something during advisory
- Oct. 22 – Board meeting 5 pm – check website for link
- Oct. 23 - MS student/staff training for Say Something app during 1st period
- Oct. 23 - MS Report Cards for 1st Quarter
- 10/30/20 - ES Fall Virtual Assembly 8 am
- Nov. 09 - K-3 Report cards sent home
- Nov. 13 - MS Second Quarter Progress Reports
Hybrid Cohort Request Form linked here – Due 10/14 only for families with child care concerns
Community Partnership with Kate’s Korner for K-5
Kate’s Korner will provide a supervised remote learning space for Voyager Academy Elementary (Kindergarten-3rd grades) and Middle School (4th & 5th grade) students to complete their school work while Voyager is operating in a remote learning environment and parents are working. This community partnership will support struggling families in need by providing free childcare for students who qualify for free or reduced lunch, have parents that are essential workers or have recently become unemployed, are experiencing homelessness or in transitional housing, are part of the foster care system, and/or living in public housing. Additional information regarding Kate’s Korner can be found on their website https://www.kateskornerdurham.
Community Partnership with Student U for Grades 6-12
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.
Link for Remote Access to the Voyager Library for Elementary Students
EXPO October Meeting - Thursday, 10/29, 6 pm
The Exceptional Children’s Parent Organization invites you to attend our October meeting. Tonya Farrish, Voyager’s Middle School Counselor and Cindy Gittens, Social Worker will speak to our group on Resources for EC and AIG Parents and Students During Remote Learning.
Join Expo Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 944 1879 6084
Passcode: 064905
COVID-19 School Reopening FAQ linked here
News from the Student Services Team
Say Something Training
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 high school training is scheduled for 10/21 and the middle school training will be held on 10/23. The link below provides additional information about the program.
https://docs.google.com/
Food and Nutrition Support for Families
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