It has been another great week at the middle school. The students and staff are working hard to understand the expectations for each team of teachers. The very best thing you can do for your child this year is to make sure they attend school if at all possible and that they arrive on time and get their work turned in on time. Thanks for all you are doing!
STEP IT UP: Voyager will kick off its fall fundraiser on Sept. 1 with a 4-5 virtual assembly and a 6th, 7th, and 8th grade In Person assembly. We will have one grade level at a time for the In Person assembly. At the end of the assembly, your students will bring home their GOLDEN TICKET packet and the fun will begin. We will be raising funds to purchase additional play area, add some shade tents, upgrade classroom technology and possibly add some picnic tables. The fundraiser will end on Sept. 16. Your job is to help your child complete the GOLDEN TICKET on the evening of Sept. 1 and bring the ticket back to school on Sept. 2. More information about Step It Up and our Day of Awesomeness can be found at the following link https://p.stepitupkids.com/
Curriculum Nights: Thanks to all of you who attended Curriculum Night (7th grade In Person) or Curriculum Night (4th, 5th, 6th and 8th) virtually. I hope you learned lots about your child’s grade level as the teachers did an awesome job sharing information with all of us!
ORIGINS NIGHT: Thursday, Sept. 9 from 6:00 to 7:00 pm Voyager is hosting an Origins Night. Research the places your ancestors came from. Share what you learned. Do you have a talent, skill or craft that is representative of a different culture? Contact Mr. Mitchell at rmitchell@voyageracademy.net if you would like to perform during Origins Night.
QUARANTINE GUIDELINES: Listed below are the guidelines we have been given as they are related to quarantine:
When your children need to stay home to learn, always contact me and your child's teacher.
The teacher will provide assignments for your student. When quarantining as long as the student is doing some work at home and you complete the attendance link provided below they will be counted present. The link to complete your child’s attendance is HERE
Because your student has been directly exposed to someone, outside of school, who has tested positive for COVID, your student needs to quarantine for 10 days. They may return to school after the 10 days of quarantine have been completed AND have no symptoms from the time of exposure.
The 10 day quarantine protocol is not school days, it also includes the weekend. For example, if your child was exposed on Aug. 9, they can return to school on Aug. 20 (10 days).
Please keep me, your child’s teacher, and our school nurse, Mrs. Skoff updated on your child’s symptoms and/or test results.
See below for details for siblings where ONE tests positive, another tests NEGATIVE. Or for students and a parent tests positive, but student tests NEGATIVE.
Your positive student will need to complete a 10 day quarantine and may return to school after those 10 days so long as they are fever free for 24 hours and their symptoms are improving. With regard to siblings - as of now, IF you are able to isolate the positive child from the family, eat in separate spaces, wear masks in the home, use separate bathrooms, etc the negative child may return at the end of the positive child’s 10 day quarantine IF you were able to ensure the above protective measures were taken in the home.
The negative child(ren) would need to have NO symptoms and obtain a COVID test NO SOONER THAN 5 days following their last exposure to the positive sibling. So, if you used Monday as Day 1, they could test after Friday. If that test is negative AND you have been able to keep the positive student isolated the entire time, then the negative siblings could go back to school after the positive child's 10 day quarantine is over. We would request that you provide us documentation of their negative PCR tests before the children return. IF any of your other children develop symptoms at any point, they should get tested. If they then test positive they would then just complete a 10-day quarantine from the onset of symptoms.
These are the recommendations that the Durham Health Department has provided us as of today. They will continue to assess and monitor the situation and may update their guidelines. We will make changes to our protocols here at Voyager if that happens.
WHAT DO I DO IF MY CHILD HAS BEEN EXPOSED TO COVID?
Contact Mrs. Johnson and your child's teacher
Mrs. Johnson or the school nurse will contact the family and talk you through the quarantine/isolation process.
Students may still work from home during this period. The teacher will provide assignments for the student and the parent will
Need Information:
As always if you have questions or have concerns or have suggestions feel free to contact me at gjohnson@voyageracademy.net. I am happy to help you or if I don’t know the answer, I will find out for you!
Loaner Computers
Help, we have not received all of the loaner computers that were provided for the past school year. We need all of the loaners returned so please drop off the loaner during the school day. Make sure you also bring the charger! We really need these loaners ASAP so we can do maintenance if needed and provide students with them.
Thanks for your continued support!
Gwen
Gwen Johnson
Middle School Principal
gjohnson@voyageracademy.net