Dear Voyager Community,

Reflection is one of our core values at Voyager as we use past experiences to guide future decision making. As educators we utilize data in so many ways to plan for instruction and help foster growth for our students and our school to continuously improve. When I reflect on my time at Voyager this year the word that comes to mind most for me is community. I am so grateful for our caring and connected community.  The joy and wonder I see in our students, the creativity, dedication, and innovation I see in our teachers, the guidance and support from our school leaders, and the warmth and caring involvement of our parents that volunteer make our school community so very special. I am thankful and honored to partner with all of you to enrich the lives of our students and inspire life-long learning in every Viking.

This is the time of year that we celebrate thanksgiving for all of the joys and blessings in our lives. Each of your children are gifts that you entrust to the Voyager team to guide, educate, and nurture along their journey. I am thankful for your family, thankful for our team, and grateful to be part of a joy-filled and caring school community.

Giving back to others in need is another great way to celebrate the Thanksgiving season. Our student support team has organized a food pantry to support our students who experience food insecurity. Our National Junior Honor Society is also sponsoring a holiday toy drive to support the Durham Rescue Mission. Please review the details below for information on how you can assist those in need.

I hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday surrounded by your family and friends. Enjoy the fun filled adventures and all the quiet moments with your loved ones as you celebrate together. Our family will be celebrating in Boston together this year as we await the birth of my first grandchild due on Thanksgiving day. I can’t even imagine how exciting this new stage of life will be for our family. Please remember that school is closed for the Thanksgiving holiday from 11/22-11/26.  Have a wonderful break!

All the best,

PS – Good luck to our Men’s Soccer Team playing for the state title on Saturday!!

                 Go Vikings Go!!

We’re all so proud of your awesome season!

 

Upcoming Events:

11/22/21- Elementary Family Fitness Walk Club Wrap Up

11/22-26 - School Closed for Holiday

11/29/21 – High School Project Celebration

12/2/21 - SIT Team Meeting

12/9/21 - Board Meeting

12/13-12/16- HS Final Exams/EOCs

12/15/21 - Parent Night - Healthy Living

12/17/21 - Extra early release - no after care

1/22/21 - Charter Recruiting Fair - Raleigh

 

Cognia Engagement Review

The Cognia Engagement review was finalized this week.  Thank you to the many students, staff, and parents that participated in the interview process. The Cognia team provided great feedback to the leadership team on Friday morning and were very impressed with their review of our evidence provided and the feedback from all of our stakeholders.  The final report will be shared with Voyager in December.

Nurses Corner

November is National Gratitude Month. It is a great time to pause and reflect on things we are thankful for and also look for ways to give back to those in need. Research has shown that people who take time to practice gratitude are generally happier, and healthier.  As we celebrate this season of gratitude and thanks, why not consider including mindfulness into our daily practice? So, what exactly is mindfulness? Mindfulness is the simple practice of bringing a gentle, accepting attitude to the present moment. It is rooted in paying attention to the current moment in a nonjudgmental manner. It can help young children, students, parents, and caregivers by promoting happiness and relieving stress. Here are a few ways for families to start exploring and incorporating mindfulness.

Embrace Imperfection: Everyone makes mistakes – adults and children alike. Making mistakes is what makes us human. When we move toward a place of acceptance of our mistakes along with a willingness to learn, we can better practice self-compassion.  When we are compassionate toward ourselves, we can become more compassionate toward others.

Listen with Curiosity: This type of listening allows for fewer misunderstandings, more clarity, and greater connection in our relationships. Try taking a moment to pause and really listen the next time someone is speaking. It’s natural to have our thoughts constantly moving from one thing to the next. But when we pause and really listen to one another, we can better engage with our relationships with others.

Practice Appreciation: While words of affirmation may not be everyone’s love language, feeling seen and appreciated is always a welcomed experience.  If we allow ourselves time to slow down, we often find that there are so many small moments where we have the opportunity to show appreciation to someone else. Acknowledging children for small tasks, or taking the time to thank a spouse, a teacher, or a friend can go a long way. 

STUDENT SUPPORT

  • Voyager Academy Food Pantry: The Voyager Academy Student Support Services Team is respectfully requesting donations to build and sustain our food pantry for students who have ongoing food insecurities. Non-perishable food donations and/or donations of gift cards to grocery stores are GREATLY appreciated! Any contribution size - from one food item or $1 to a car-full of groceries or $100 - makes a difference! For questions or to provide a donation, please contact Dr. Monique Link, School Social Worker at 919-433-3301 X 146 / mlink@voyageracademy.net 

  • Our final Parent Enrichment Night for 2021 will be held on December 15th from 6:30-7:30p. Please join the Student Support Services Team and a special guest presenter for an information packed night focused on healthy living topics! Flyer and Zoom link are forthcoming.

        

National Junior Honor Society Toy Drive

 

Nashville Country Songwriters Night at DPAC To Support Voyager Arts Program

 

We are grateful to everyone who participated in the 2021 Auction and Raffle for STEM. Thank you! Your participation raised $2,400 that will be used to increase student exposure to STEM experiences. Bidders who were notified that they won can pick up their items at the middle school. The winner of our 50/50 raffle was Leah Selvy with a cash prize of $250! The Gas card winner is Karen Whitesell, a grandmother of one of our kindergartners! It was a great turnout! Thanks again for taking part!

Athletics

Fall Sports:

The men’s soccer team beat Rosewood High School this past Tuesday, 1-0 and earned a spot in tomorrow’s NCHSAA State Championship game against Christ The King at 11:00am.  The bus will depart from the front of the high school at 9:00am if anyone wants to help send off the team.  Please come out and support them as we’ll be right up the road in Cary at WakeMed Soccer Park.  Tickets for the game can only be purchased through this link: https://gofan.co/app/school/NC1661 

Winter Sports:

The women’s basketball team opened up their season with a big 50-22 win over Research Triangle High School.  Jaden McCullough and Niahilah Khan combined for 22 points, 26 rebounds, and 17 assists in the team’s win! 

Unfortunately, the men’s team did not do as well and lost their second straight game of the season to Research Triangle High School, 44-56. The men’s team looks to get their first win this evening as our men’s and women’s team will host Franklin Academy.  JV Men 4:30, Varsity Women 6:00pm, Varsity Men 7:30pm.  Tickets are $5 at the gate.  Current Voyager Academy students can get in free when showing their Voyager Academy student ID.  

Our boys and girls middle school basketball teams kicked off their season last night at Falls Lake Academy and both teams had double digit wins!  Next home game for the boys will be December 3rd as they host Duke School and the girls are back home on December 16th as both teams will be hosting Kestrel Heights.  

Our Varsity swim team continues to train hard in and out of the pool as they prepare for their first conference meet on December 3rd, where they will travel to the Orange County Sportsplex in Hillsborough for their 4:30 meet.  

Notes:

I am still in desperate need of someone to work the basketball scoreboard for the men’s and women’s basketball games.  If you are interested please email me at jgatcomb@voyageracedemy.net

There will be an Athletic Boosters Club meeting on November 29th in the High School at 6:30pm. I encourage parents to attend as this is a great opportunity to get involved with our athletics department and to share your thoughts and ideas!  

As always, thank you for your continued support of Voyager Academy Athletics.

Go Vikings, Go!

LET'S STAY CONNECTED

Let’s stay connected! Scroll on over to our Voyager Academy website to see all the updates and additions. Be sure to follow, friend, like and subscribe to all our Social Media accounts! #GoVikingsGo #VoyagerVikings

 

Amazon Smile

It’s the most wonderful way to support all of the great things we are doing at Voyager and to help us expand our program offerings in academics, extracurricular activities, professional development, athletics, the arts and more! 

Now, it’s easier than ever to support us just by shopping online! Whenever you make an eligible purchase from Amazon, Voyager Academy will benefit at no additional cost to you.  All you have to do is select Voyager Academy Inc. as your charitable organization on Smile.Amazon.com. You shop…Amazon donates!

What is AmazonSmile?

AmazonSmile is a simple way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. AmazonSmile is available at smile.amazon.com on your web browser and can be activated in the Amazon Shopping app for iOS and Android phones. When you shop with AmazonSmile, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added benefit that AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases to Voyager Academy Inc.

 

Lunch Program

The Linq system is updated each Friday with your Titan account balance. Accounts with a negative balance on their Titan Family Portal account will not be permitted to order lunch online in the LINQ system. Meals ordered will be cancelled if payment or arrangements have not been made. If you need assistance with paying off your account balance, please contact the Finance Department at ext. 107 to make arrangements. Please be sure to send your student(s) to school with lunch, if no meal was ordered. You can pay on your balance using either form of payment below:

  1. Online at  https://family.titank12.com  There is a $2.80 flat fee charged by the bank per deposit online. (Example: $100 deposit + $2.80 fee = $102.80) 

  2. A check/ money order made payable to Voyager Academy. Please include your child's name and id# on the memo line. You can also use this pre-printed form. 

Lunch menus are published for the month of December. Be sure to select your milk preference. Milk is included with each meal at no additional cost. The lunch ordering rule is a week in advance. If you need assistance email foodnutritionservices@voyageracademy.net.

Before & After Updates

There are currently no openings in after care and the waitlist is full. We will not reevaluate space availability until we have additional staff. Your placement on the waitlist will remain the same. We will make an announcement via email once the status changes. 

 

Updated Covid Safety Protocols and Procedures

Voyager Mask Policy

Voyager Covid Guidelines FAQ

Voyager Sick Child Policy & Guidelines

NCDHHS Toolkit

K-12 Public Health Guidance 7/21

 

INTERESTED IN PART TIME WORK AT VOYAGER – SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS

PART TIME POSITIONS AVAILABLE FOR BEFORE AND AFTER CARE

  • Competitive hourly rate

  • Great staff and friendly children

  • Organized programming for before and after care

  • Apply on employment site on Voyager website under “About Voyager”

PART TIME BUS DRIVER OPPORTUNITIES

  • Safely transport students to field experiences and athletic events

  • Maintain safe bus environment for students

  • Available to drive activity bus for field trips and athletic events

  • Flexible hours

  • Competitive hourly rate

  • CDL license required

  • Apply on employment site on Voyager website under “About Voyager”