NEWS FROM ELEMENTARY: The last 2 weeks have been very challenging for our Voyager staff and families as we are striving to keep in person learning going and work with the new strand of Covid. Thank you for hanging in there with us. Thank you for following all safety guidelines and thank you for being flexible and understanding. We will make it through this. We are hopeful things will settle down in the very near future. Listed below are some important reminders for you and your family for the week of January 17-21
PTO SPONSORED LUNCH FOR TEACHERS: The Voyager Parent Group is simply the best. Each month PTO tries to host a lunch for the teachers. This month the lunch is scheduled for FRIDAY, JANUARY 21 (Date Change). If you are able to help provide a food item or help serve the lunch, please sign up on the below link. These lunches are so special and really mean a lot to the teachers.
SCHOOL CLOSED JAN. 17: School will be closed for staff and students on Monday, January 17th in honor of Dr. Martin LUther King Jr.
LEGO LIFE MAGAZINE: Did you know you can sign up to get the Lego Magazine for your child–FOR FREE!!! Log on to LEGO.com/magazine to sign up for your child’s free magazine.
SHOUT OUT TO THE SCHOOL NURSE: Mrs. Chelsea Skoff is our school nurse and she is amazing. She has been working around the clock to provide our families and staff with the most recent health information. She answers hundreds of emails per week, seeks to keep us all safe and loves our students. Please join me in thanking Mrs. Chelsea Skoff for her hard work. What a great idea for your family to send her a card or email that said how much your family appreciated her efforts! Cskoff@voyageracademy.net
WAY TO GO LAYLA: Layla Sawyer was able to RING THE BELL at the hospital this past week to say she has ended this round of cancer treatments. We are all so proud of you Layla.
Literacy at Home: Digital Children's Reading Initiative
In order to provide continuing support for NC’s youngest readers, The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Office of Early Learning has developed and released “Literacy at Home.” This digital resource provides literacy activities at each grade level, pre-k through fifth grade. Families may access this free resource for activities that specifically target the literacy skills of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and oral language. When children grow in each of these foundational areas they are well on their way to becoming proficient readers.
https://www.dpi.nc.gov/students-families/parents-corner/literacy-home-digital-childrens-reading-initiative
**Bookmark this site for future reference. After your child's Mid-Year mClass Assessment report comes home, you may notice areas of weakness that can be targeted at home with activities from this free resource.**
Literacy at Home - Heather Roberts.png
COMING SOON: THE KIDS HEART CHALLENGE IN PE
The Kids Heart Challenge is a community service project for the American Heart Association. Students will learn about the project during their Physical Education classes starting on January 18th. The project will culminate with students participating in Heart-Healthy Station activities in PE the week of February 7-11. (The attachment gives an overview of the project.)
22 Save the Date - no assembly - Marie Flowe Dawson.pdf
YEARBOOK HELP IS NEEDED: 2021-22 Elementary YearbookParents and Families... we are in need of one or two volunteers to assist in putting together the yearbook. If you have some experience in design, please contact Karen Hofmann at the front desk, khofmann@voyageracademy.net
The yearbook will be supported by Strawbridge Studios and their software program for design and submission.
SINGING FRIEND-A GRAMS: February 14th is a fun day for everyone. It is a day we get to say WE LOVE and APPRECIATE you. On Feb. 14th, the elementary school will be striving to help families make their child's day. Families will have the opportunity to purchase a SINGING FRIEND-A-GRAM to be delivered to their child for Valentine's Day. Families will get to chose from 4 different songs. Some of our high school students will visit your child's class on Feb. 14th and will sing to them. This special treat will cost $1.00. More details, including an order form, will be coming your way soon.
SCHOOL SAFETY: Covid is in our community and we are striving to keep everyone as safe as possible. We are following all Voyager safety guidelines and are diligently striving to keep everyone learning. What can you do to help?
Please do not send your child to school if they are showing any signs of sickness.
If your child has been exposed to someone with Covid, please contact us and we will provide you with the next steps.
Send your child to school in a mask each day. It would be wonderful if they could have an extra mask in their bookbag in case their mask breaks during the day.
FIRST GRADE FIELD TRIP: First grade will have an in-house field experience coming soon on January 28th. "The Traveling Tortoise" will be coming to teach us about animals. This field trip will cost $4 (plus fees). Please fill out this permission form and submit payment by January 17th. Field Trip payments will now be made through the Titan Family portal at Family.Titank12.com. It is the same system Voyager is using to deposit funds for lunch. You will need to set up an account first if you have not done so already. Once your account is set up, you will need to select and add "First Grade Field Trip" to your cart.
MATTRESS FUNDRAISER: The Voyager Academy High School Chorus Program Mattress Fundraiser is right around the corner on Saturday, January 29th. There will be 25+ different styles of beds on display for customers to try. The beds are new, brand name, made to order, available in all sizes, and cost less than retail stores. In addition to beds, there will also be luxury pillows, mattress protectors, adjustable power bases and even massage chairs!!
MONTHLY CHARACTER STUDY AT VAES: The students have done an amazing job of showing kindness during the month of January. Students have accepted the daily kindness challenge and our Valiant Vikings have been ticketing students all week long. Way to go students! You are making a difference at Voyager Academy.
ADD THESE DATES TO YOUR CALENDAR:
Jan. 17: School Closed in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Feb.7-11: The Kids Heart Challenge
Feb. 17-18: Teacher Workdays (School Closed for Students)
Feb. 21: Remote Learning Day for Students: Students will have packet work to complete on this date as teachers will be completing Professional Development.
FIELD TRIP PAYMENTS AT VOYAGER: Field Trip Payments will now be made through the Titan Family portal at Family.Titank12.com. It is the same system we are using to deposit funds for lunch. If you have not set up an account yet, I've included the instructions (Spanish & English) to this email. I also created a short video tutorial of the process. Each family will need to set up an account in order to pay for field trip and classroom fees.
Watch the video here:
You will need to create an account on the portal first to begin making payments. Once in the Titan family dashboard
Link your student(s) to your family account. All Voyager students are in the Titan system.
Add a payment method here under profile or in your cart before checking out.
Use the menu on the left to select "Store." This is the future home of all fees payments at Voyager Academy.
Select the item you aRe purchasing (field trip, etc)
Select your student(s) name from the drop down list.
Select the plan selection.
Select your students' grade level.
Select the month of service.
Press the add to cart button.
A pop up button will appear with the option to continue shopping or view the cart. If you have a sibling to register or need an additional plan, click continue shopping. Otherwise, continue to the cart for payment.
Review your cart before completing your purchase. To delete an item. Click the 3 dots to the right of the item.
The system should email you a receipt. You can also view your transaction history from the dashboard menu under "History."
Please do not set up recurring payments within the portal for field trip fees.
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
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.
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. This program began on December 1. WE GAVE OUT OVER 180 Chick-Fil-A gift cards during the month of December and we read 2,875 books. We have challenged the students to read even more during the month of January.
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.