From the Voyager Academy Managing Director, April 2, 2021

Dear Voyager Community,

Happy spring to everyone!  Hopefully, the warmer weather returns for our spring break next week. School will be closed during spring break from April 2, 2021 through April 11, 2021. Spring is in the air on campus and our teachers have incorporated project based learning experiences to support student growth and engagement. Our EC Middle School students in Mrs. Allen’s class have planted strawberry patches as part of the science program.  We can’t wait to watch them grow.   

 

Transition to Plan A (K-12) Effective April 12, 2021

We are excited to welcome all in-person learners as well as our remote learners back when we return from spring break under Plan A on April 12, 2021.  Voyager will continue to implement Covid health screenings during carline and implement all recommended CDC and NCDHHS guidelines. Voyager has also received a grant to fund a part-time nurse that will join us after spring break and help support us with health related issues and concerns. Thank you to all families and staff for your patience, understanding, and grace this year as we have navigated through the many challenges we faced due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We appreciate the partnership and support of all families with remote instruction to ensure the success of all of our students. We are ready for a strong finish to wrap up the 4th quarter of the school year.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – Parent Night – April 20th – “You Belong at Voyager”

Voyager is committed to being a diverse and inclusive learning community for our staff and families. This year we have continued to offer professional development to support our staff grow and learn more about the important topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are excited to take the next steps in this important work and engage our families in the dialogue to help us continue to grow.  We are establishing a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee with the overarching theme, “We’re Better Together”.  We have planned our first parent/staff event to broaden our conversations and include our families in the process.  The parent night “You Belong at Voyager” will help us better understand the needs of our community and identify our goals for the future. Please review the flyer below and register to attend this important event to join in on the conversation. Register here.

 

    

Middle School – Morning Carline School Supply Drive – April 19- 23rd, 2021

The MS Service Club is sponsoring a carline school supply drive to support the UNC Hospital School.  Please bring school supplies for donation during the morning carline from April 19, 2021 through April 23, 2021.  We appreciate our families for your support and we are proud of our student leaders working together to support our community.

 

 

Summer Camp Opportunities

Voyager will be offering multiple opportunities this summer for enrichment, remediation, and camp experiences on campus.  Identified third graders that have not met the Read to Achieve requirements will have the opportunity for Summer Reading Camp to focus on literacy skills. Students in K-8 that are not at grade level in math and literacy will have the opportunity to participate in the Summer Jumpstart program.  Additionally, Voyager will be offering a traditional summer camp with exciting programs and enrichment opportunities to keep your children engaged and learning during summer break.  Program details will be sent out after spring break.

 

Please know that we are all here to support your child grow, learn, and find their passion.  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 resources.

Just a reminder, school will be closed on Friday, April 2nd – April 11th for spring break.  We look forward to welcoming everyone back on April 12, 2021. Have a wonderful spring break with your family!

All the best,

 

Upcoming Calendar Events:

April 2-9 - Spring Break

April 12 – Plan A Reopening

April 13- ACT WorkKeys

April 14 - Student Social

April 15-EXPO Parent Night Zoom-Understanding Dyslexia

April 19 – 23 – MS Carline School Supply Drive

April 20 - Parent/Staff Night- Diversity/Equity/Inclusion - You Belong at Voyager 

April 23 - Learning Annex Grand Opening - 9 am

May 10-26- EOG/EOC/EXT1

 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Parent Enrichment Night

“You Belong at Voyager” - February 20, 2021 – 6 pm

Register here

 

Congratulations Science Olympiad Award Winners

Our Junior Varsity Elementary Science Olympiad Team (1st-3rd graders) did a great job at the regional tournament! Together they competed in 10 science related events and medaled in 4 of them! It’s even more impressive considering the tournament didn’t have enough JV teams to group them together, so our JV team had to go against the other varsity teams instead (who typically have mostly 4th & 5th  graders)! We are so proud of the work these students put into learning and competing in their events: Elise Lemm, Ella Ritter, Arianna Snipes, Phoebe Oakley, Connor Markham, and Thaddeus Robinson.

Our Varsity Elementary Science Olympiad Team (4th & 5th graders) did an amazing job at the regional tournament! Together they competed in 11 science related events and medaled in 7 of them! We are so proud of the work these students put into learning and competing in their events: Reagan Gross, Rory Jantz, Reid Oakley, Max Ford, Zach Robinson, Shreya Pani, Insoo Shin, Jason Iwara and Lane Zebrowski.

 

Student Support Services

News from the Student Services Team

Resources for Talking to Children about Anti-Asian Racism

In light of the recent violence and discrimination against people of Asian descent, the Student Services Team has compiled a list of resources to help parents/guardians talk to children about anti-Asian racism (Resources for Talking to Children about Anti-Asian Racism).  If your child needs additional support, please reach out to your child's school counselor and/or the school social worker. 

April Student Social

Join the Student Services Team on Wednesday, April 14 for a fun game of 20 Questions.  See the flyer for additional information (April Student Social).

 

Parent Expo Meeting – Thursday, April 15, 2021

Topic: EXPO Meeting

Time: Apr 15, 2021 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/96369089170

Meeting ID: 963 6908 9170

Passcode: 555614

 

Before and After Care

Enrollment for the Before and After school care (BASC) programs is now open for full time (4/5 days) registration. BASC will transition to full time care beginning Monday, April 12th. To ensure we are properly staffed for students to ratios we will use the following.

  • The enrollment deadline for the April 12th start date is April 2nd

  • The enrollment deadline for future weeks will be on the first Monday after 1 week. i.e.  If you register on April 9th, your students start date will be April 19th. 

  •   Fees are charged on a monthly basis and are due by the first of the month.   

    • Early Care:  $50 per month (No sibling discount)  

    • After Care: $205 per month for 1st child and $195 per month for siblings.

    • There is a one- time non- refundable registration fee of $30.

  • BASC Programs hours:

    • Early Care: 6:45am – until carline opens for Elementary, Middle School and High school

    • After Care: 2:45pm – 6:00pm for Elementary and 3:15pm – 6:00pm Middle School.

  • Voyager Academy will offer Day Camp programs for Summer 2021.

    • Registration will begin Monday, April 19th.

    • Camp dates are June 7th – July 2nd.

    • Specialty camps will be also available.

Voyager Academy BASC knows what it takes to keep children safe, so you can feel comfortable 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/recoveryOnce 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 Program

Here are a few lunch program reminders in preparation for our transition to Plan A in April.

  • Lunch ordering is now available through the end of May.

  • Lunch orders must be placed at least one week in advance. Orders placed less than that will not be honored. A refund will be issued and you will need to provide lunch for your student that day.

  • K & W Cafeteria will provide lunch on Monday & Thursday.

  • Chick-Fil-A will provide lunch on Tuesday & Friday. 

  • 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.

  • Payment options are by debit/credit card or ACH bank draft. Order Lunch online at  CharterPay.org.

LUNCH REFUNDS AND ORDER CANCELLATIONS

There were a few remote days, a teacher workday and an adverse weather remote day in the month of March where lunch orders were placed. The following actions were taken on your account to reconcile those balances.

  • If you placed a lunch order for Thursday March 18th, your order has been transferred to Thursday, April 1st. You do not need to order lunch for April 1st. 

  • Orders placed for March 15th, 25th and 26th were issued a refund for those orders on Friday, March 19th.

  • If your student will be absent for a scheduled appointment, please contact us to cancel your order at least two days in advance.

  • Refunds cannot be issued once orders have been placed with the vendor. The items will likely be discarded once delivered to the school.

  • Refunds usually take 1-3 days to finish processing. If you have not received your refund or have questions about your refund/order, please contact Charter Pay  Support at support@chartersuccesspartners.com or 888-485-4643.

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.

 

Greenlight App –

REMEMBER TO SET UP YOUR GREENLIGHT ACCOUNT AND CHECK IN EVERYDAY.  THIS WILL BE USED FOR THE HEALTH SCREENING DURING CARLINE.

We have partnered with Duke and Greenlight Ed to complete our daily health screening to ensure our school. 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  

Middle School- activate account here: https://glit.me/go/voyager-middle

High School - activate account here: https://glit.me/go/voyager-high

High School Students - Students may register for accounts using this link: https://app.greenlightready.com/go/voyager-high 

 

Instructional slides for instructions on how to set up the account

 

 For parents/guardians who already have an account, please email help@greenlightready.com with the student’s name, and we will help set students up onto their account. That is a bug that we are working on addressing, but wanted to get this to you ASAP.

Account set up questions should be directed to help@greenlightready.com

The app is not yet in the app store so you can't just download it at this time.  The developer is currently waiting for approval from Apple. Once you set up your account you can send the link   https://app.greenlightready.com/  to your phone. Additional resources are below to assist with setting up your phones for easy access to our Greenlight health screening.

 

All questions should be directed to help@greenlightready.com.

Videos to Help you set up your account and add it to the home screen on your phone

Here is a link to a video that walks through registering for Greenlight:

https://youtu.be/RymqAluzxbY

Greenlight Video from Claire –instructions to add Greenlight to your home screen on your phone

For iPhone users:

https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/add-a-web-link-to-home-screen-iphone-ipad/

For Android users:

https://www.howtogeek.com/667938/how-to-add-a-website-to-your-android-home-screen/

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.

Stay healthy and safe – Practice the 3 W’s

Staying current on all of the health metrics and data is also part of our ongoing process.  As we work together to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, please remind your children about the importance of the 3 W’s (Wear, Wait, & Wash). Wear a mask, practice social distancing by waiting and maintaining a 6-foot space between others, and wash hands frequently to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Outlined below are some helpful links and resources if you are interested in learning more about the latest data and recommendations.

StrongSchoolsNC Public Health Toolkit (K-12)

StrongSchoolsNC FAQ

NCDHHS COVID Dashboard

Durham Public Health COVID Dashboard