NEWS FROM ELEMENTARY: Happy almost Thanksgiving! Listed below are some important reminders for you and your family for the week of November 21-25.
SCHOOL IS CLOSED FOR STUDENTS AND STAFF: Voyager Academy will be closed November 22-25 for all students and staff. If you celebrate Thanksgiving, we hope you have a wonderful time with family and friends.
PARENT ENRICHMENT NIGHT: Parent Enrichment Night – Fall Seminar: WE HEARD YOU! Please join the Student Support Services Team on Monday, December 5th from 6p-7:40p for an exciting night filled with enriching topics that are meaningful to YOU! Participants will be able to choose TWO of the three available sessions to attend, in seminar format. We kindly ask that you sign-up in advance in order to help us plan for space, refreshments, and childcare. We are looking forward to this evening of enrichment and fellowship with you! For questions or support signing up, please contact Dr. Link at mlink@voyageracademy.net or 919-433-3301 X 146.
YEARBOOK PURCHASE: If you would like to order a yearbook please click on the link and follow the steps. You can order a yearbook for $22.00 until Feb 1st. After Feb 1st the price will go up to $27.00. The deadline for ordering yearbooks is March 1st.
https://strawbridge.fotomerchanthv.com/search/YB26681
SWEATSHIRT AND HOODIE POPUP MARKET: The PTSO is hosting a Popup Market.
This opens today and closes 11.28.2022/Monday at midnight (after we return from Thanksgiving break).
Items delivered the week of Dec. 15
CLICK HERE.....
https://markabull.commonsku.com/shop/fc82249d-ede4-4e09-9335-34f03e25e0d5
WELCOME MATH INTERVENTIONIST: Voyager Academy is excited to welcome Mrs. Tery Gunter to the Voyager Staff. Mrs. Gunter is a UNC graduate who has worked with DPS and the Duke School for over 30 years. She will be working with small groups of students in the area of math. Mrs. Gunter will be with us on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and will be working with our 1st and 2nd grade students.
REMOTE LEARNING DAY: Voyager will be hosting its next remote learning day on Monday, November 21. Each classroom teacher will provide independent work for students on this date. The students will not need to zoom in with the teacher on this date.
VOYAGER READ-IN: The month of November is National Native American Heritage Month. Our students have been learning about various Native American groups throughout the month. They have also created some great artwork. On November 30, we will be hosting a Read-In, where every class will be reading books about Native Americans. We will have many guest readers coming to share knowledge with our students on this date. Be sure to ask your child about this great reading adventure.
VAES ELECTIVE CLASSES: Do you want to see some of the amazing things that your child is learning and doing during specials at VAES? The VAES specials team has just started an instagram to keep our families updated. Follow us on instagram! vaes_specials
THANKFULNESS TREE: Voyager elementary students have created a Thankfulness Tree. In our lobby, we have put up a tree and we have covered it with leaves. The students have listed various things they are thankful for on the leaves. Please stop by and take a look. We hope it reminds you that your students are thankful for all that you do.
LEARNING FROM A DUMMY: Ms. Hohstadt's Hounds had the chance to learn from a dummy on Monday October 31st. During Book Character Day Ms. Hohstadt's mom, a ventriloquist, brought her dummy Herman to help her read a special story. Mrs. Hohstadt and Herman taught the students the importance of not calling themselves or anyone else dummies. They learned that a dummy must have someone do their talking, moving, and thinking for them. Humans are not dummies, only puppets. Thank you Mrs. Hohstadt and Herman!
AMAZING THIRD GRADERS: The third grade Project Celebration was Thursday. They became an endangered species biologist. They educated the public about the animal that needs help. They created models of the zoo entrance, habitat, and animal. They worked hard researching and writing throughout this project. There was also a music performance, Big Dreams, right after the celebration. It was an amazing celebration!
UPDATE FROM SCHOOL NURSE: COVID-19 COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION WEEKLY UPDATE: Our CDC COVID-19 Community Level is: LOW
People may choose to wear a mask for any reason at any time.
People with a positive test for COVID-19 MUST wear a mask for 10 days.
People with symptoms or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should wear a mask.
Flu 2022-2023 Update: The Flu is OFFICIALLY HERE
The CDC has been actively tracking flu cases and there has been an early increase in seasonal influenza (flu) across the United States and especially in the southeastern and south-central areas of the country. Over the last week, there has been an uptick in both confirmed flu cases and individuals experiencing flu-like symptoms here in Durham and in the Voyager community.
Some of the most common symptoms of flu include:
Flu signs and symptoms usually come on suddenly
Fever/feeling feverish or chills
Cough
Sore throat
Runny or stuffy nose
Muscle or body aches
Headaches
Fatigue/tiredness
Vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults
Notes for Families:
If your child is complaining of not feeling well before the school day starts, please honor their symptoms and keep them home for further monitoring. Students should return to school when they are feeling well enough to actively participate in learning during the school day.
If your child has a fever (temp above 100.4F), please DO NOT GIVE THEM A FEVER-REDUCING MEDICINE and send them to school. Fever is a sign of active illness and they can spread illness to others during this period. When the medicine wears off, the student’s symptoms return and the school will notify parents asking you to come pickup your sick student.
If an individual has a fever, vomiting, or diarrhea, they must stay home until those symptoms have been resolved for at least 36 hours without the assistance of medication per the Voyager Academy Sick Policy and Parent Handbook.
Voyager Academy remains a mask-friendly environment and individuals may choose to wear a mask at any time. With holidays and gatherings with friends and family coming up, now is a great time to discuss wearing a mask for families interested in adding an extra layer of illness prevention and protection. Students showing symptoms of illness will be asked to wear a mask while at school as outlined in the 2022-2023 Voyager Academy Sick Policy. Individuals returning to school after a COVID-19 isolation period will be required to wear their mask for the duration of their 10-day masking period per the CDC guidelines.
Voyager Academy still follows the CDC guidance for COVID-19 that highly recommends COVID-19 testing for any individual with symptoms of illness and the required isolation and masking periods for individuals that test positive.
We are doing our best to protect our classrooms and keep our students, teachers, and staff as healthy as possible as we head into the Fall and Winter months. The best first step is keeping sick children home.
We greatly appreciate each family’s understanding and cooperation.
ELEMENTARY FAMILY MARATHON: Students, staff and families enjoyed walking 1.23 miles on Friday, as we finished up our Family Marathon Challenge. Thank you to each family member who encouraged their child to walk and talk during the month of November. Thank you for those of you who were able to come out on Friday to support our goal of encouraging healthy habits.
PTSO UPDATES: Our PTSO is very busy. Listed below are a few upcoming events:
Freddy’s Spirit Dinner 12/07
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. The October challenge begins Oct. 1. We are almost reading to begin our October Reading Challenge! 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.
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)