September 2018

Storm Troupers

Well, then! Some weather we've (almost) been having!

Thank you all so much for your patience and flexibility in response to our school schedule changes due to Hurricanes Lane and Olivia. We are thankful that both storms affected our island only moderately, and glad that even our neighbor islands most affected were spared the worst. In the spirit of emergency preparedness, though, please be sure to send in an Emergency Kit with your child this week! Our first Shelter-in-Place drill will be Monday. In the words of Elephant and Piggie, "WE MUST BE READY!"

As we approach the midpoint of our first trimester, students and teachers are applying themselves in earnest to their learning journeys. Some classes have begun excursions off-campus to extend their learning into the community, visiting the Kanewai Pool for water safety (1st and 2nd grades), the McCully-Mo'ili'ili Library to check out works of quality literature (3rd through 6th grades), or Moonshot Lab-Hawai'i at Halau Inana for some training in using Virtual Reality technology (7th and 8th grades). For their part, Kindergarten hosted Honolulu Theatre for Youth's traveling show, Sparkle!

The next few weeks will see our students experiencing the arts in deep and creative ways, visiting UH-Manoa's Kennedy Theatre to see The Cat in the Hat, Tenney Theater to see Filipino Folktales and Other Fables, and the Hawai'i State Art Museum to view masterworks of Hawai'i-based artists and respond through the medium of poetry (Art Bento program). It promises to be a rich and rewarding time of year for our students across the grades, and we can't wait to see how Voyager students bring these out-of-class experiences back to integrate with their classroom learning.

To support your keiki in their journey of learning over the next three weeks and through Fall Break (October 8-16), please ensure they get to bed early, eat a nutritious breakfast, and arrive on time each day with the required supplies, permission forms and materials. And don't be shy about asking what their day was like at school. To get you started, here are a few suggestions from PBS about how to get your child talking about their school day.

We look forward to watching your keiki soar as they apply themselves to learning in the weeks and months to come. Mahalo for partnering us in this joyful adventure!

Sincerely,

Evan Anderson, Trisha Donaldson, and the entire Voyager PCS Staff

Baldrige-Based Quality: A Brief Introduction

One of Voyager's primary "methodologies," or ways of teaching, is based on an approach to continuous organizational improvement called the Baldrige Framework. In the Baldrige Framework, an organization is never "good enough" and never "done" getting better. A QUALITY organization is committed to seeking feedback from all its stakeholders--the customers, the employees, and the public--in the interest of finding ways to improve.

What this means at Voyager is that we are always interested in getting the students', parents', and teachers' stories of what's working and what's not working in our classrooms, and throughout the school as a whole. Such "360 degree" feedback allows the school to improve its processes to better meet the needs of our "customers"--the kids. Feedback can also help us determine whether we are making progress toward the improvement goals that we have set for ourselves. In our classrooms, teachers lead students through the same continuous improvement process with regard to their learning, setting a Vision and Mission statement for the class and using many of the same survey and feedback tools that we use organization-wide.

Recently, Mrs. Donaldson, Miss Anne and I attended a full-day share-out at Adventist Health-Castle Medical, an organization that recently won the NATIONAL award for Baldrige-based quality improvement. The level to which Castle seeks out and addresses the weak spots in its organization was inspiring, and it was clear that from the CEO, to the nurses, to the patients themselves, everyone at Castle knew what their goals were, and how they contributed to the overall mission and success of the hospital. It is our hope that we will be able to say the same about Voyager in a few short years.

Voyager will be submitting at application for the Hawai'i Excellence Award, the state-level equivalent of the national award, in the upcoming school year. Your participation in the process will be required, so stay tuned! You can learn more about the Baldrige framework, and read about other organizations who have won the prize, here.

Repeat: Kokua Requested

Our friends over at the Department of Transportation gave me a call last week with an offer/demand to help us improve our dismissal procedures. Their concern is the blockage we sometimes cause at the freeway entrance, leading to a backup on University Avenue that can extend across the Dole Street intersection. I sent the DOT our full set of guidelines to parents, and await their recommendations. In the meantime, we have set a goal to complete dismissal each day within 15 minutes, without clogging University, and we are getting close to meeting that goal regularly. To help us with reducing the pickup line backup and achieving our goal, please follow these important guidelines:

DO NOT LINE UP ALONG WILDER AVE UNTIL 3PM (1:45PM on Wednesdays). No students will exit until that time.
STAY IN YOUR VEHICLE. WE WILL ASSIST YOUR CHILD WITH OPENING THE DOOR, LOADING AND BUCKLING.
IF WILDER AVE IS FULL, ENTER H-1 FREEWAY AND CIRCLE AROUND VIA WILDER EXIT.
CONSIDER CARPOOLING, OR PARKING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND WALKING TO PICK UP YOUR CHILD.

It is CRITICAL that NO CARS stop before the freeway entrance "split"; drivers may be cited and Voyager will receive complaints. Also, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church's lot on the corner is NOT for parent use. We have contracted with them for a limited number of staff spots and our insurance only covers us for those. Thank you.

By following these three guidelines, we hope to bring our dismissal time down to a manageable 15 minutes (see chart below). With your help, we can say "Bye-Bye to the Backup!"

Please review this video for more detail on how to make our pick-up line safe and swift.

Now Enrolling: Kindergarten, 4th, 7th and 8th Grades

Due to greater than anticipated movement on our admissions wait list this summer, we have a few spots remaining for prospective students in K, Makalapua (3rd/4th), and Ka'apeha (7/8). If you or someone you know has a child who might benefit from Voyager's emphasis on Joy in Learning, please direct them to the Voyager office to fill out an application. Office staff can be reached on all school days between 7:30am and 4:00pm, in person, via phone (521-9770), or via email (voyagerinfo@voyagerpcs.com). Application materials can be found on our website at voyagerschool.com/enrollment/. Mahalo for spreading the word!

School Uniform Orders, Round 2

We are arranging with Kula Threads to set a second printing and delivery date for October. Stay Tuned!

School Meals: eTrition is Coming!

We will soon be updating our student meal tracking system--aiming for a Fall Break change-over, and we look forward to offering our students and families a smoother meal balance tracking and payment experience. Mahalo to our school meal service coordinator and office clerk Naome Barretto, for initiating the upgrade. The new system is bound to make breakfast and lunch service, accounting, and communication a smooth, seamless experience. For those of you who have been with us for many years, thanks for hanging in there with the old system! Free and reduced-price meal applications are available online or in the Voyager office.

Voyager Public Charter School is an equal opportunity provider.

Mahalo to our Morning Volunteers! More Help Welcome!

Thank you to our MVP (Most Valuable Parent) volunteers who have stepped up to help supervise play from 7:30am-7:45am on our makai side play structure yard! We now can use a couple more hands each day greeting students curbside and helping the younger ones with unloading during this time.

If you are available to help our keiki exit their vehicles safely, please email Principal Evan Anderson at eanderson@voyagerpcs.com with your preferred days. Mahalo!

Voyager Co-Ed Flag Football

If your keiki (age 9-13) is interested in participating in the Police Activities League Flag Football season this fall, don't worry--you haven't missed a thing! Last weekend's games were cancelled due to the likelihood of saturated fields at Kalihi Valley District Park. Thank you to Coach Scott Harney for working on the roster and giving our Voyager kids this opportunity. Be on the lookout for registration form turn-in and practice day announcements this week! Coach Scott can be reached directly at harneys002@yahoo.com.

Your PTSO Needs YOU

The Voyager 'Ohana PTSO is currently seeking a President (Mr. Anderson is filling this role as Pro Tempore). If you are curious about what PTSO board membership or officer-ship entails, please join us at our meeting this coming Tuesday, September 18th at 5:15pm in room 204.

Save the Date: September 28th and November 4th

Please mark your calendars for the following two events:

September 28th: Eat at Panda Express Voyager 'Ohana PTSO Fundraiser (King Street location)

November 4th: Ice Palace Night! Details TBA.

Fall Break: October 9th-16th

Looking for an enriching change of pace for your keiki? Check these programs out:

• Lyon Arboretum

• Honolulu Zoo Camp

•Hawaii Nature Center

• Art Explorium Open Studio

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