NEWS FROM ELEMENTARY: We hope your week was wonderful for you and your family. Listed below are some announcements for the week of September 19-23.
VAES ELEMENTARY YEARBOOK CONTEST:
Hey there all VAES ARTISTS! We need your help in designing the cover for the 2022-2023 school YEARBOOK! Any VAES STUDENT may participate. Simply create your own original color artwork that you feel reflects the Elementary school spirit and life during this year.
Contest Rules:
Submission should be completed BY ONE STUDENT ONLY on a SINGLE WHITE SHEET OF 8.5” X 11” PAPER.
All submissions must be in color using either COLORED PENCILS OR MARKERS. Please DO NOT use crayons.
Artwork may optionally include the school’s name and year “Voyager Academy Elementary School 2022-2023”. If you do not include the school name and year, it will be added to your artwork digitally. If you choose to include it yourself, please make sure it is neat and legible.
Using pencil only, please print the artist name, grade and homeroom teacher on the BACK of the artwork.
Ensure your artwork meets the guidelines above and then send your entry via your RED folder or bring it to the front office and give it to Mrs. Oakley no later than OCTOBER 7TH. Questions? Please email Angie Oakley at aoakley@voyageracademy.net.
Several finalists will be selected from all entries and some will be featured inside the yearbook if not on the cover. The one OVERALL contest winner will receive a FREE YEARBOOK song with their artwork on the cover! Thank you for participating in this fun
SUPPORT VOYAGER CHEERLEADERS: Come support the Voyager Middle School Cheerleaders and get discounted tickets to the Duke vs. NC A&T football game!
The girls will be performing during the 2nd quarter of the Duke home game on Saturday, September 17th at 6pm for Cheerleader Day!
If you or your family would like to purchase game tickets for $15 each please see the link below or the attached flyer with QR code. We would LOVE to see as many Voyager families there as possible.
Purchase Tickets HERE
STEP IT UP: Our fundraising program has been amazing. Thank you!! To date, Voyager has made a profit of over $50,000. We have had so much fun with this program. Our Day of Awesomeness will be held on Friday, October 7. This will be a morning filled with fun as ALL students celebrate being a Viking. We will have numerous inflatable activities for the students to enjoy. If you are a parent and you would like to volunteer to help at this event, please click on the link below:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080c49afae2fa64-step1
What is a Day of Awesomeness? Click on the link below:
https://www.pop4kids.org/video/d-of-a
FALL CONFERENCES: Friday, September 23 is listed as our Conference Day for Voyager families. Each elementary family is required to attend an in person or virtual parent/teacher conference each fall. This will give us an opportunity to share an update on your student and give you the opportunity to ask any questions you may have. Students are out of school on this date.
REMOTE DAYS AT VOYAGER: Thursday, September 22 is a remote learning day for Voyager Elementary. The classroom teachers will be providing at home review assignments for all students. The students will not need to zoom with their teacher but it is expected that students will complete the at home assignments.
CARLINE CHANGES: Beginning Monday, September 19,we will be asking Voyager families to NOT arrive on campus before 2:15 for the afternoon car line. We have many cars that arrive 1 hour before the car line begins. This causes concern for us as we still have students walking around campus. The traffic also makes it difficult for emergency vehicles and delivery drivers to arrive on our campus. Cones will be placed in the bend of the elementary drive until 2:15. Cones will also be placed at the middle school entrance until 3:10. The SRO has been instructed to not allow cars to sit and wait on Ben Franklin before the 2:15 time. We truly feel this will help keep our campus safer and more accessible. This will also give families much time back as they are not sitting and waiting for the car line to begin.
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT TEAM: Voyager Academy has a school improvement team that meets every month to help Voyager be the amazing school that it is. This team consists of the managing director, the school principals and assistant principals, 2 teacher representatives from each school and 2 parent representatives from each school. The elementary teacher representatives are Mr. Perry and Mrs. Stewart. Our parent representatives are Mrs .Ana DuBois and Mr. Edgar Deharo. Our first meeting for the year will take place on Sept. 20th. Thank you to these amazing adults for giving their time to help our school become and even more amazing place.
GRANDPARENT AND FRIENDS TEA: Monday the third grade hosted grandparents for a light luncheon tea. It was so much fun practicing our hospitality and manners. We set the table and introduced our guests to our classmates. We practiced having good conversations and noticing our guests' needs. We had small gifts we had made for our guests and enjoyed a photo booth and performing a song we learned in music last year entitled, I Think You're Wonderful. It was so fun getting to meet our classmates, grandparents and special friends!
PARENTS OF STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS: Mrs. Tracey Edler, the Exceptional Children Program Director, will meet with members of the Exception Children Parent Organization of Voyager Academy and non-member parents and teachers to discus the state of EC Program and other related matters.
All are welcome to attend this highly valued talk on Thursday, September 29, at 6:00 PM. This meeting will be conducted remotely via Google Meet (see the link).
EXPO First Meeting of the Year
Thursday, September 29 · 6:00 – 7:30pm
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/hns-qehq-srv
Or dial: (US) +1 650-567-3366 PIN: 952 435 308#
BOOK FAIR: Voyager will be hosting its Fall Book Fair the week of September 26-30. More details will be provided in the near future.
HOW CAN YOU HELP YOUR CHILD BE SUCCESSFUL AT SCHOOL? We are partners working together to help create independent life-longt learners. What can you do to help your child have the most academic success?
READ WITH AND TO YOUR CHILD EACH NIGHT. READING IS THE KEY. THE MORE WE PRACTICE THE BETTER WE WILL BECOME.
REVIEW 5 MINUTES EACH NIGHT WITH YOUR CHILD. ASK THEM WHAT THEY LEARNED AT SCHOOL AND THEN TALK ABOUT IT. SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE WITH YOUR CHILD.
IF YOUR CHILD IS IN THE 3RD GRADE–PLEASE, PLEASE BEGIN TO PRACTICE THE MULTIPLICATION FACTS.
ALLOW YOUR CHILD TO KEEP A JOURNAL–THEY CAN PRACTICE WRITING, SPELLING AND HANDWRITING SKILLS VIA A JOURNAL.
MAKE SURE YOUR CHILD GETS ENOUGH REST EACH NIGHT.
CARLINE REMINDERS: The word CARLINE causes many of us to increase our blood pressure. We understand the difficulties associated with carline and we appreciate all you do to partner with us. I want you to know we have been meeting with a group of parents to try and brainstorm some solutions that MAY help.
Please be kind and neighborly. Jumping in line is just the wrong thing to do.
We should only make right turns when trying to come to the Voyager carline. If you turn in at Lowes and you see all the other cars waiting on Ben Franklin, it is not right to turn left and get into the line while so many other cars are sitting on Ben Franklin.
We have asked middle school parents to turn their flashers on (in the afternoon) so elementary parents will know if they have ended up in the middle school car line.
There should be NO Voyager parents parking at the businesses on Ben Franklin
Parents should NOT park and walk students to the elementary or middle school. This is not safe.
CHICK-FIL-A READING CHALLENGE: We are so honored to partner with Chick-Fil-A on Roxboro St. They will be giving a FREE gift card to students every month who read 15 books. This challenge began on Sept. 1. As your child reads or you read to your child, please record the books on the reading log and return it to your child’s teacher once you have 15 books listed. Your child can earn one free gift card per month.
GOOD MORNING MR. MANNING AND MRS. WEILAND: Beginning in September, Mr. Manning and Mrs. Weiland will be hosting morning meetings in grades K-3. This will give the students another opportunity to learn more about their principal and assistant principal.
COVID UPDATE FROM THE SCHOOL NURSE: Here is the CDC COVID-19 Community Level to be included in your principal’s communication for the week of 9/12-9/16. Durham has been downgraded from High to Medium I have also included a screenshot straight from the CDC website.
The health and safety of our students, teachers, staff, and volunteers are our top priorities. Voyager Academy is following the CDC COVID-19 Community Level guidance. We sincerely appreciate your consideration.
Our CDC COVID-19 Community Level is: MEDIUM
**Masks are encouraged indoors if you or a loved one are at risk of severe illness**
If you have symptoms of illness, COVID-19 testing is highly recommended
MONDAY’S SCHEDULE: Each and every Monday, Voyager will dismiss students at 12:45 pm. Since our staff attend meetings every Monday, it is imperative that students are picked up on time.
BIRTHDAY ROCK: The Voyager Birthday Rock is such a popular thing! We hope you and the students enjoy seeing the various birthday designs. The Birthday Rock is available on a sign up basis. The sign up was sent out late summer. If you would like to see if there is any availability left, please click on the link below.
LUNCH UPDATE: Voyager Academy will offer a hot lunch meal option from K & W Cafeteria! Hot meals will be delivered daily to each school prior to meal time. The meals are made fresh offsite at K&W’s kitchen. They are delivered in individual hermetically sealed meal plates kept warm in commercial grade insulated food delivery bags. These meal containers closely resemble microwave meal trays. We assure you that the meals are made fresh daily following the USDA National School Lunch Program (NSLP) meal requirements.
Lunch orders are placed on the LINQ Online Ordering system (https://family.onlineordering.linq.com/) The cost for lunch is $4.50 per student per meal for all students not participating in the Free and Reduced lunch meal program. There is a Vegetable Plate option listed under A la Carte items. It generally has the vegetables of the day and a starch item. The cost is $4.50 for a vegetable plate entrée. It does not qualify for the NSLP pricing & program.
All meal purchases are prepaid. You will add money to your student’s account via the Titan Payment portal (https://family.titank12.com/). It is recommended that families set up reoccurring payments by week or month. This ensures you have enough funds on account when preordering. You can also make one time payments/deposits. You can order meals by the week or month. We recommend purchasing by the month to ensure your family doesn’t miss the ordering (7 days in advance) deadlines. A week’s worth of lunch is $4.50 (price per meal) x 5 days (school week) = $22.50+ processing fees* a week or $90 + processing fees* per month (4 weeks). The processing fee for lunch is $2.60 per deposit.
We will only serve meals to students who have pre-ordered and paid for lunch. All families participating in the school’s lunch program regardless of their status (Free, Reduced or Paid) have to use this system to pre-order the meals. All meal orders must be in by 11 pm. There is a 7 day advance order cutoff policy to allow the vendor time for meal planning and preparation.
LUNCH FUND DONATIONS
Some families require more help than others with daily purchases and outstanding meal balances. A few extra dollars from families with the ability to donate can help us make sure all of our children have consistent access to nutritious school meals, while keeping Voyager Academy’s finances strong! If you would like to contribute to the Voyager Academy Lunch fund, you can do so on the School Store at https://Family.TitanK12.com
What you need to know:
There are two systems that work together for ordering and payment
LINQ ONLINE ORDERING - View and order student/staff meals.
TITAN FAMILY PORTAL -Pay your school fees, manage your students accounts and apply for free and reduced meals.
Pre-Payment Options - Please take advantage of the options to prepay your student's meal accounts.
The online payments are a simple, safe and a secure way to make payments to your students account 24 hours a day at your convenience.
Online at https://family.titank12.com There is a $2.60 flat fee charged by the bank per deposit online. (Example: $100 deposit + $2.60 fee = $102.60)
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.
Send/mail Check or money order to school with your student. Please place the payments in an envelope marked clearly with your student's name, their ID #, their teacher's name, the $ amount and the check #. Turn in prepaid deposits to the teacher or school office.
Download and Print Out a pre-formatted #10 Envelope for making Deposits
Ordering Rules
You can pre-order meals for the week or the full month.
There is a week advance Order Cutoff date. All orders must be made the Monday of the week before.
We can not accept same day orders. Changes/cancellations can be made up to 2 days before the meal date.
All orders must be pre-ordered and pre-payment made to the Family Portal account on Titan or sent to school.
Lunch Menus are available on the School Nutrition website
Images/photos on the menu are for promotional purposes and are not actual meal photos.
Free and Reduced Lunch meal pricing is available at Voyager Academy.
Applications must be renewed each school year. If a new application has not been completed, the student will automatically revert to “paid” status.
Verification of income will be requested. You will be required to submit supporting documentation during the verification process.
View the USDA Child Nutrition Programs Income Eligibility Guidelines (2021-2022)