We hope you and your family enjoyed Veteran’s Day. If you are a veteran or currently serve in the military, please know how much we appreciate you. The following announcements will be helpful for you and your family for the week of Nov. 15-18.
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
VOYAGER ACADEMY ELEMENTARY MARATHON WRAP UP EVENT: Our K-3 students and families have been participating in a family walking challenge and now it is time to finish STRONG. The last 1.5 miles of our family marathon will take place at school ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19. Parents, grandparents and guardians are encouraged to attend during your child’s designated time. We will be meeting at the outdoor soccer field to complete our walk. Each grade level will have 40 minutes to walk. The grade level walking times are listed below.
3rd Grade: 8:15 - 9:05
Kinders: 9:15 - 10:05
1st Grade: 10:15 -11:05
2nd Grade: 11:15 -12:05
VOYAGER MIDDLE SCHOOL TOY DRIVE: The NJHS will be hosting a Toy Drive for the Durham Rescue Mission like we did last year. Last year's drive was so successful we wanted to bless more children in Durham again this year. Toys must be new and unwrapped. DRM will accept all toys but are in greatest need of toys for children ages 8-12.
SCIENCE OLYMPIAD: Voyager Science Olympiad Competition Teams
If you are interested in joining our science olympiad competition teams this year, please fill out this INTEREST FORM. We will have a zoom info meeting next Wednesday, Nov 17th at 7pm. Meeting details will be sent to those who fill out the interest form. Our teams prepare to compete in STEM related events at the Science Olympiad tournaments in the spring.
PTO UPDATES: There will be a PTO General Body Meeting, November 16th 7pm, on zoom. Meeting will be recorded. Please mark your calendar now and try to attend.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84442668391?pwd=aWNaWW5ObFc5T0dIQnY5dUJTMDlZQT09
Meeting ID: 844 4266 8391
Passcode: 485086
The New Cheddar Up Link is now Open- Streamlining the staff gift process- One of the PTOs goals is to streamline the teacher gift collection process to make sure all staff receive a token of our appreciation during the upcoming season (and end of year). Parent donations are completely voluntary. This Cheddar Up will make it easy to give a gift and divide it among your child's teachers! Check it out: https://voyager-staff-holiday-gift.cheddarup.comIf you are a room parent, please reach out to PTO Board member Tiffany Henrikson at tiffie130@yahoo.com and she will outline how she will work with you with regards to collection for your room and disbursement. What a great way to honor our staff during this special time of the year.
ENVIRONMENTAL FIELD DAY: On Tuesday, the Durham Soil and Water Conservation District provided the 3rd Grade students with an environmental field day. The students learned from various resource professionals, participated in hands-on science activities, and learned about nature and the environment. The students became more knowledgeable about landforms, aquatics, bats, and forestry. The learning games were very exciting and fun.
APPLE FUN IN 2ND GRADE: Ms. Hohstadt's Darling Dragons experimented with apples. Their goal was to figure out how apples brown the fastest. They came up with a hypothesis and then tested it. Apples were placed into four containers; vinegar, milk, lemon juice, and air. Students predicted that air would cause the apples to brown the fastest. They checked the apples every two hours throughout the school day. The end result was that vinegar browned the apples the fastest. Lemon juice preserved the apple. Milk and air also browned the apples, but not nearly as fast as the vinegar.
IS YOUR CHILD READY TO RETURN TO SCHOOL AFTER A COLD? OR ALLERGIES? A TEST IS BEST! Parents, please remember that our current Sick Child Policy REQUIRES that if a student stays home from school with ANY symptoms of illness - such as cough, sore throat, headache, fever, loss of taste or smell, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea - that they MUST obtain a PCR COVID test with a negative result or have a note from their doctor before they are able to return to school. Even if the symptoms are mild - or they just appear to be a cold or allergies. We apologize for the inconvenience, but at this point in time we cannot allow children to return to school without a negative COVID test. This policy helps keep students, teachers, and the Voyager community safe. For convenience, there is a PCR testing facility right down the street from Voyager that offers free, no-appointment required COVID testing.
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.
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.