What an amazing week it has been at the elementary school. Our classes are diligently working on their Project Work as they prepare for their first PBL celebrations. The following announcements will be helpful for you and your family for the week of November 8-12
DUKE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL NEEDS OUR HELP: Duke Children’s Hospital needs our help. They are in need of some school supplies so let’s do what we can to help. Please put all supplies in the plastic bin that will be located in the front office of the elementary and middle school. What a blessing it is when we can help those in need,
Please turn in all supplies by November 19.
White cardstock- Kindergarten
Sandwich bags- First grade
Gallon bags- Last name A-L
Jumbo bags- Last name M-Z
Kids scissors 2nd grade
Crayola crayon packs (8 count to 24 packs) 3rd grade
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11 IS VETERANS DAY: Voyager Academy will be closed on Thursday, November 11 in honor of Veterans Day. School is back in session on Friday, November 12.
THANK YOU: A BIG thank you goes out to all of our Voyager parents for providing lunch for the staff on Thursday, November 4. The BBQ styled lunch was amazing. Thank you to everyone for the delicious meal and the incredible support.
DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME: Do not forget to set your clock back one hour this weekend. We are going to gain an hour and then it will not be so dark during the morning car line!
NASHVILLE SONGWRITERS: TICKETS ON SALE NOW FOR NASHVILLE SONGWRITERS AT DPAC. Proceeds from this show will benefit Voyager K-12 Arts Programs. Click on the link below for more details.
SHOW WILL BE HELD ON FEBRUARY 11, 2022 - 7:30 PM
ACCREDITATION UPDATE: Voyager staff has been diligently working to prepare for our 5 year accreditation review with Cognia. The time is finally here. Cognia will be reviewing Voyager’s Accreditation Report and talking with staff, parents and students on November 17-19. Thank you to those parents who have agreed to meet with the accreditation commission. We also have some 3rd grade students who will be meeting with the team. We have received parent permission for any student who is meeting with the accreditation team. If you have any questions about this exciting event, please let Mr. Manning know. Voyager is an amazing school and we are excited to share our pride with Cognia.
PARENT ENRICHMENT NIGHT: Parent Enrichment Night Link
Voyager Academy will be hosting a Virtual Enrichment Night for all parents on Wednesday, November 10 from 6:30 to 7:30. Topics to be covered include: ADHD, Anxiety, Specific Learning Disabilities, OOD, Autism and Depression.
FUNDRAISING MONEY UPDATE: Thank you again for all the support you gave for our fall fundraiser. We have been working hard to improve our school environment. What have we accomplished:
We have ordered additional picnic tables and benches for our elementary building.
We have ordered a new digital keyboard for our music room
We have almost finished our plans to install TWO sensory walks for our students (one for older students and one for younger students).
We hope to improve our technology and upgrade our playground in the near future.
CAR LINE REMINDERS: As we are settling into the colder mornings and afternoons, please keep the following reminders in mind:
We are having about 15 students late each morning. The tardy sign goes up at 7:45 am. I would love to encourage families to leave home about 5 minutes earlier so that we can begin our student’s day with less stress. Car line is very slow from 7:15 to 7:35 and then becomes extremely full after the 7:35 time. If you are able to arrive during the early time, you will lessen your stress level as well.
We have multiple parents who are not waiting in the car line, but are driving up Ben Franklin and then trying to merge into car line without waiting in the line. I understand that waiting in the line is not pleasant, but please be kind and please be patient. Please wait in the line, it is the right thing to do and we have young impressionable students watching our every move.
Thank you to the parents and grandparents who frequently roll down their car windows to say good afternoon or provide the car line staff with treats and well wishes. You are being used to remind us how very special the Voyager family is. We appreciate you.
JOKE FRIDAY: Each Friday, Mr. Manning shares a joke with the students during morning announcements. Many of the students like to share jokes with Mr. Manning as well, so we have an idea. If your child has a joke they would like for Mr. Manning to read during morning announcements, please encourage your students to write their joke out on paper. Have them practice their best penmanship and begin the joke with a capital letter and end the joke with punctuation. Then, they can give that joke to Mr. Manning and he will do his best to use it. Remember to add your name to the joke. This is a great way to have fun and practice our writing skills.
EXCUSED ABSENCE PROCEDURE: if you have a family trip planned that you would like to be considered excused, we ask for parents to go to the school website. Click under parent resources, and then the documents and forms tab to look for the Excused Absence Request Form. You submit that form to Mr. Manning (via email or by dropping off at the front office). He will review and get it back to you and then inform the teacher. The link that is located on the website is also listed below.
https://voyageracademy.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/REQUEST-FOR-ABSENCE-TO-BE-EXCUSED.pdf
VAES FAMILY MARATHON EVENT: VAES has been reminding our students of the importance of exercise by encouraging students and families to walk and talk. Many students have already turned in their Marathon Log. Keep walking everyone. We have until Nov. 19 to reach our goal. Then, each grade level will walk or run the final 1.2 miles at school. Mrs. Flowe-Dawson and Mrs. Boyd encourages parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents and friends to join in. Details of the day and times we will walk the final 1. 2 miles will be sent to all families this coming week.
VAES Family Marathon Instructions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rLMz-runmIkb4SMbiDg3TEhuyiFlNg5SpmcM1nzBMCE/copy
VAES Family Marathon Log: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1clJaA1gBuqZn_39cHJLx-1gzf1qmu6fABFJXQ0POLd4/copy
CHICK-FIL- A READING CHALLENGE: We love Chick-Fil-A (on Roxboro Rd) and how they support our school community. Stay tuned for details about how Voyager Elementary will be partnering with Chick-Fil-A to promote the value of reading. We will explain this new program in November and begin on December 1.
VAES BIRTHDAY ROCK: The Voyager Birthday Rock is a BIG success. The students seemed thrilled with it and parents have done an amazing job of showing their creativity. If you are interested in signing up to paint the Voyager Elementary Birthday Rock for your child, please click on the link below for details.
Birthday Rock Details and Sign Up
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS CONCERNING COVID: Voyager’s amazing school nurse has created a document for all of our families entitled FAQ Concerning Covid. We understand how challenging and stressful this situation has been and we appreciate your support and partnership. I highly encourage you to click on the link below and read the health information so you can stay informed and will better understand the guidelines Voyager is following as we seek to keep all students and staff safe.
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 remote assignments for your student. 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.