NEWS FROM ELEMENTARY: The faculty and staff of Voyager would like to wish you and your family a happy holiday season. The following announcements will be helpful for you and your family for the week of December 19-21.
SCHOOL WILL BE CLOSED FOR WINTER BREAK DEC. 21 (DISMISSES AT 11:15 AM)-JAN. 04. STUDENTS RETURN TO SCHOOL ON JANUARY 5.
REPORT CARDS: The second quarter grading period will end on Dec. 21. Report cards will be issued to students on January 11, 2023.
LOST AND FOUND: Our elementary lost and found is GROWING! Any items left at school after Dec. 21 will be given to charity. Will you help us decrease our lost and found?
Remind your child to visit lost and found each week to claim their items. Teachers will be taking each class to lost and found this week.
Parents are encouraged to stop by lost and found, before Dec. 21, to help claim your child’s belongings.
Write your child’s name on their jackets, water bottles, lunchboxes and more so that we can return the items to their owners.
THANK YOU TO ALL THE VOYAGER FAMILIES WHO HAVE SHOWN SUCH KINDNESS TO THE VOYAGER STAFF DURING THIS HOLIDAY SEASON. WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT MORE THAN YOU KNOW!
LOTTERY OPENS JANUARY 1: Voyager Families, the lottery for the 2023-2024 school year will open on January 1, 2023. If you currently have a child attending Voyager and you are interested in the sibling attending next year, your family will need to complete the lottery application for the sibling.
SECOND GRADERS EAT MORE CHICKEN: This week each second grade class got to visit Chick-Fil-A on Roxboro Road to go along with their second project celebration! While their classes toured the kitchen, talked with Mr. Fernandez, and of course, ate lunch. Soon second grade students will focus on changing Voyager's community and this week they were able to learn how Chick-Fil-A changes the Durham community. Thank you Roxboro Road Chick-Fil-A!
BEFORE AND AFTER CARE UPDATE: We understand the importance of providing a high quality affordable before and after care program to meet the needs of our families. We are very thankful to the staff that have led our program this year to make that possible. As you know we have been challenged with securing enough permanent staff for our before and after care services with the current labor shortages. The Board has approved our transition to having our before and after care services provided by the YMCA. Our goal is to ensure that the pricing and current staff remain in place throughout the remainder of the year to ensure a smooth transition. Families currently enrolled in before and after care should look for an email from our Operations Manager, Latasha Lunsford, with details about information sessions.
On December 21st there will be NO aftercare!
SPRING ELECTIVES: Registration for Enrichment Programs is open until Friday, January 20th for grades K-8! The sessions this spring are Hip Hop Dance, Yoga, Basketball, Piano, Gaming for Kids, Guitar & Ukulele, Cooking, Spanish Club, Art Club, Robotics, and Soccer Shots. Please note each class has a maximum and minimum enrollment. If a class exceeds enrollment after registration, you will be notified the class is full and a refund issued. The class may be canceled if it does not meet the minimum enrollment. Be sure to visit the Enrichments website for more information.
Enrichments Link: https://www.voyageracademy.net/resources/beforeafter-care/enrichments/
VAHS GAME DAY CHEER CAMP: Presented by Voyager Academy High School Cheerleaders. Come join us for an evening of cheerleading on Tuesday, January 24. All camp participants will attend camp from 3:45pm – 6:00pm. At 6:00 pm, campers will join the cheerleaders to cheer during the first half and half-time of the Voyager Academy High School Varsity girl’s game against Eno River Academy. Parents, family, and friends are invited to join us at the game. The Varsity girl’s game starts at 6:00.
JESSIE THE THERAPY DOG: Meet Jessie. He is a trained therapy dog who has begun working with some of our students at Voyager. In the future, we hope that Jessie will visit more classrooms. Each family will receive a permission form and details before Jessie begins to visit their child’s class.
STUDENTS OF THE MONTH: Each month Voyager is selecting a Performing Arts Student of the month; A Visual Arts Student of the month and two Athletic Students of the month. The selected students for December are:
December Performing Student of the Month: Peyton Lopez
December Visual Arts Student of the Month: Godiva Vargas -Montar
December Athletes of the Month: Wyatt Merritt,Maia Welikson
We are so proud of all of our students. Academic Accolades and Character Trait Accolades will be announced at the end of this grading period.
DECEMBER READING CHALLENGE CALENDAR: Encouraging your children to read is one of the best things you can do to assist your child’s teacher. The more we read, the stronger student we will become. Attached is a reading challenge calendar where you could encourage your child to read AT HOME in some fun and unique way.
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
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
DECEMBER READING CHALLENGE: Reading is so important. Mr. Manning has created a few reading challenges for our students. We hope you will encourage your child to read as much as possible during the month of December. Our reading challenges are listed below:
WRAPPED UP IN A GOOD BOOK: Teachers have wrapped great winter read aloud books. Each day a student will unwrap one of the books for the teacher to read to the class.
15 MINUTE READING CHALLENGE: Each class has been challenged to read an extra 15 minutes per day during the month of December, when we reach our goal, each class will have a winter celebration!
CAUGHT READING: Teachers are taking photos of students they catch reading during the day (when reading is not required). We are posting those photos on our first floor bulletin board. PARENTS–IF YOU CATCH YOUR CHILD READING AT HOME, TAKE A PHOTO AND SEND TO YOUR CHILD’S TEACHER.
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 December challenge begins Dec. 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.
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.
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.
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.