VAES Family Update:
Grade Level Meet The Teacher Events: As VAES prepares for hybrid instruction, each elementary classroom teacher will be hosting a parent meeting this coming week to talk about what in class learning will look like and what remote learning will look like. Please try your best to attend these important meetings. Each teacher will send invitations to every family. These meetings will take place the week of February 22.
So What Will Hybrid Instruction Look Like For An Elementary Student? VAES is dedicated to providing every student with the best education possible. During the upcoming parent meetings, teachers will give you specific details as to the schedule for in person and remote learners. Listed below are examples of hybrid learning details more will be presented in the near future.
Kindergarten: Hybrid/Virtual Learning:
Kindergarten Return to Hybrid:
As we plan for the return of some of our students to a hybrid schedule, here are some things to note:
All classes will be holding a parent information session next week. Look for that in your individual teachers weekly email.
The first week, March 1-5 will be a shorter, staggered schedule for all kindergarten students. There will not be any small group meetings during this week.
After the first week, all K students, whether remote or in person, will participate in both morning and small group meetings. Schedules will be shared during class meetings next week.
Weekly packets will continue for all students.
Students attending in person will need to bring their device and charger each day they attend in-person instruction.
First: Hybrid/Virtual Learning:
Hybrid Students:
Your child will have their small group teacher instruction on their in person days.
On the days your child is not at school they will have video lessons from the 1st grade teachers and assignments to complete. This will look the same as it has over the past few months.
On the days that your child is home, they will still have morning meeting with one of our TAs to go over the day (except Wednesdays).
Virtual Students:
Remote instruction while we are in hybrid instruction will look very similar to what you are used to.
Students will have morning meeting every day with their teacher except Wednesday.
Students will meet with their teacher for small group instruction a few times a week. Your child's teacher will send you your child's small group schedule. Students are expected to attend these small group meetings.
Students will have video lessons with 1st grade teachers and assignments to complete each day.
Both Hybrid and Remote Students:
There will be no seesaw assignments for the next few weeks. All assignments will be in packets.
WIN Wednesdays will be changing. Every Wednesday students will have a choice board to complete. This will give students some fun practice with the concepts we are learning.
There will be no morning meetings on Wednesdays.
Second: Hybrid / Virtual Learning:
The days your child is virtual they will be completing the assignments on Seesaw.
The days your child is in person they will be receiving all live lessons from the teacher.
Your teacher will send a schedule telling you when your child has small group sessions both in person and virtual.
All Virtual Students - You will still have guided reading and math with your teacher during the day. Some students will just be in the classroom while the virtual students are Zooming in.
Third: Hybrid/Virtual Learning:
Weekly Packets will continue to be sent home every Friday
The days your child is virtual, they will be completing the assignments in their packet/Google Classroom.
LIVE Teacher Check-Ins for Virtual students will be offered 3 times a day
The days your child is in person, they will receive all live lessons from their teacher.
Your teacher will send a schedule telling you when your child has small group virtual lessons (small group reading)
All Virtual Students - Students will follow Mrs. King's daily schedule while continuing to complete Google Classroom/Packet work
March 01 Start Date Details: Let us remind you of the March schedule once more….
March 01: Cohort A returns to school. Cohort B begins remote learning and Remote Cohort begins remote learning. Grades 1-3 will begin school at 7:45 and will end school at 2:45. IF YOUR STUDENT HAS BEEN ASSIGNED A NEW HOMEROOM TEACHER, THE NEW TEACHER ASSIGNMENT BEGINS ON MARCH 01. Kindergarten students will begin school at 8:30 and will conclude school at 12:30 (DURING THIS FIRST WEEK OF IN PERSON INSTRUCTION). We will not have after school care available for kindergarten students during this first shortened week. All kindergarten students will need to be picked up at 12:30 the week of March 01-March 05.
March 03: All students learn from home. This is our Weekly Wednesday Deep Cleaning Day. Staff members will not be on campus on Wednesday.
March 04: Cohort B returns to school. Cohort A begins remote learning and Remote Cohort continues to learn from home. Kindergarten Cohort B will arrive at 8:30 am and will be picked up at 12:30 pm. We will not have after school care available for kindergarten students during this first shortened week. All kindergarten students will need to be picked up at 12:30 on the week of March 01-05.
Before and After School Care:
Before and after school care (BASC) program enrollment is happening now. BASC will open on Monday March 1st for elementary students and March 16th for Middle/High school students. To ensure we are properly staffed for students to ratios we will use the following.
The enrollment deadline for the March 1st start date is February 24th.
The enrollment deadline for the March 16th start date is March 5th.
The enrollment deadline for future weeks will be two weeks in advance. If you register on March 16th, your students start date will be March 29th.
BASC Programs will be available only on days that your child is scheduled to be at Voyager Academy:
· Early Care: 6:45am – 7:45am for Elementary and Middle School (6:45am – 8:15am High school)
· After Care: 2:45pm – 6:00pm for Elementary and 3:15pm – 6:00pm Middle School.
Voyager Academy BASC knows what it takes to keep children safe, so you can feel sound in registering your child. We pay attention to every detail both big and small in training staff for COVID-19 restrictions and protocols. All students must be pre-registered in order to attend The BASC program. Parents use the Charter Pay online billing system for program registration. If you need help with your username or password, please visit https://charterpay.org/login/recovery. Once you register for the program you will receive our complete Parent Handbook. If you have any questions or concerns, please email me directly at pjohnson@voyageracademy.net.
Lunch Information:
Parents, you can order your child's lunch, pay at the time of order, and we will deliver your students lunch to their classroom. Lunch orders must be placed at least one week in advance. For instance, March 1st lunch order should be placed before February 22nd. You also have the option to purchase lunch for the entire month. Payment options are by debit/credit card or ACH bank draft. Order Lunch online at CharterPay.org.
K & W Cafeteria will provide lunch on Monday for Cohort A & Thursday for Cohort B.
Chick-Fil-A will provide lunch onTuesday for Cohort A & Friday for Cohort B.
All meals will be delivered in hot and cold containers to maintain food safety guidelines.
Drinks are not provided with lunch.
Elementary and Middle school students will eat lunch in their classrooms.
High school students will eat lunch in their 2nd Bell classroom.
Students also have the option to bring their own lunch to school. Students that pack their own lunch will not have access to microwaves.
High school students will not be allowed to leave campus for lunch.
If you have any questions about before and after school registration or lunch ordering please feel free to reach out to Patrice Johnson, Operations Manager at pjohnson@voyageracademy.net. Technical and account issues should be directed to support@charterpay.org.
Hybrid Reopening Plans for VAES: Please, please, please take the time to read the entire Policies and Procedures Manual. This document will answer the majority of your questions as we prepare to return to our campus on March 01. This document is also helpful for our remote learners.
Hybrid Policies and Procedures
Car Line Here We Come! Voyager Academy car line will begin promptly at 7:15 am. As we prepare to receive students as safely and as quickly as possible, please help our staff by completing the following:
Make sure the Greenlight App is complete and you are ready to show the PASS to the Voyager staff member. If the App is not ready to be shown, we will need for that car to pull to the side until we can get the student checked in. Directions and a step by step video of how to install Greenlight App is listed below.
Voyager Greenlight Directions Video
Greenlight Directions Video #2
As you are waiting in the carline, please turn down the car heat and make sure your student is not totally bundled up or when we complete the temperature check, it will read HIGH.
Staff members will NOT be able to unbuckle students from their seatbelt. Parents will need to have students ready to exit the car when they pull up to their drop-off zone.
Please make sure every person inside the car is wearing a mask as you complete morning and afternoon carline. This will help keep everyone safe.
Each family will receive a CAR LINE NUMBER in their Friday Folder Pick Up Packet. The card is bright red to make it easy for you to find. This card must be displayed on the sun visor of your car. This is the only way we have of calling your student down to the carline (each afternoon). If for some reason, you do not have your RED CAR LINE SIGN , please contact the school office. These car line signs will be available on February 19th pick up.
Ordering Lunch at Voyager Academy: Voyager Academy does not have a cafeteria on campus. Elementary and Middle school students eat lunch in their classrooms. Students may pack their own lunch or order lunch through Charter Pay. Students that pack their own lunch will not have access to microwaves this year. We do have two food vendors to provide hot lunch for our A & B Cohorts.
Parents, you can order your child's lunch online, pay at the time of order, and we will deliver your students lunch to their classroom. Lunch orders must be placed at least one week in advance. You also have the option to purchase for the entire month. Payment options are by debit/credit card or ACH bank draft. Order Lunch online at CharterPay.org.
BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL CARE: We are excited to open our before and after school care (BASC) programs. BASC will open on Monday March 1st for elementary students and March 16th for Middle/High school students. Voyager Academy BASC knows what it takes to keep children safe, so you can feel sound in registering your child. We pay attention to every detail both big and small in training staff for COVID-19 restrictions and protocols.
BASC Programs will be available only on days that your child is scheduled to be at Voyager Academy:
· Early Care: 6:45am – 7:45am for Elementary and Middle School
After Care: 2:45pm – 6:00pm for Elementary and Middle School.
All students must be pre-registered in order to attend The BASC program. Parents use the Charter Pay online billing system for program registration. If you need help with your username or password, please visit https://charterpay.org/login/recovery. Once you register for the program you will receive our complete Parent Handbook. If you have any questions or concerns, please email me directly at pjohnson@voyageracademy.net.
Teacher Changes Begin March 01: If your student was assigned a new homeroom teacher, because of our hybrid plan (this is only true for 1st and 3rd grade) the new teacher assignment does not begin until March 01.
Elementary Yearbook: We have partnered with Strawbridge Studios and we need YOUR help to make it successful! Below we have included links for each grade level to submit a PORTRAIT PHOTO of your student as well as another link for CANDID PHOTOS. Photos should be submitted by February 25.
The attached PDF "Virtual Portrait Uploads" is a guide for parents.
ELEMENTARY (K-3) STUDENT PORTRAITS UPLOAD HERE:
CANDID PHOTOS
KINDERGARTEN CANDID PHOTOS:
FIRST GRADE CANDID PHOTOS:
SECOND GRADE CANDID PHOTOS:
THIRD GRADE CANDID PHOTOS:
Report Cards: The second VAES Report Card will be issued to families on February 22, 2021. The grading period will end on February 17, 2021.
February Virtual Assembly: The elementary school staff is at it again. We will be hosting “You’ve Got Talent” Virtual Assembly on Thursday, February 25. Our staff members will be showcasing some of their various skills and talents and we will be challenging students to share their skills and talents with us. I guarantee this event will make you smile! The zoom link for this event is:
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. Additional information regarding Kate’s Korner can be found on their website https://www.kateskornerdurham.com, and registration can be completed using this Registration Form
Substitute Teachers Needed: As we prepare for our return to school, we need to increase our substitute teacher list. If you are a Voyager parent and you would be willing to discuss subbing for the elementary school, please email Mr. Manning at tmanning@voyageracademy.net. We need YOU to make our reopening plan a reality.
Greenlight App: It is imperative that all Voyager families set up the Greenlight App. Please set up your Greenlight account today and complete the survey daily for each child even while your children are learning remotely. We will use this data and input to ensure we are ready for reopening safely. The links to set up your account are below.
ACTION NEEDED: Directions and links to set up your Greenlight Account
Setting up your account is simple. Select the link below and enter the email address you use to receive Voyager newsletters. Families with multiple children can select any school their children attend. Once your account is set up you will see all of your children associated with your account and be able to complete the daily health screening for each of them. After you complete your first survey you will see the Greenlight pass cleared indication. We will have students select that option to show the larger pass during car line for screening along with their temperature check. Each student will be able to show their Greenlight pass to ensure they are healthy and can attend school. The app also provides support for families that need access to health care, testing, or additional community resources. Please select the link below to set up your family account now.
Elementary School - activate account here: https://glit.me/go/voyager-elementary
Greenlight Directions Video #2
Questions regarding setting up your account should be directed to help@greenlightready.com. Once your account is set up you can also use their chat feature.