K Teachers

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Shirley Rotolo

Kindergarten Lead Teacher

Shirley Rotolo has been teaching for the last 18 years and has been part of the Odyssey community for almost seven years. Shirley has several degrees in early education and is a graduate of Western Carolina University. She has been involved in diversity programs such as Building Bridges and Cultural Competence Awareness, and has also taken the Young Hispanic Dual Language Learners Achievement class. Shirley is also an accomplished visual artist with a particular interest in Chinese painting.

Although originally raised in New York City, Shirley has an international background and speaks several languages. Shirley loves to share her experiences from living and traveling in France, Italy, Amsterdam, Montreal, Canada, and the Caribbean Islands in the classroom! In fact, she also teaches French to students from Pre-K through third grade in after school!

In her spare time Shirley loves to explore the different lakes and mountains of Western Carolina with her family. She is an avid reader and reads everything from the classics to fantasy, biographies to sci-fi.

Shirley loves working with kindergarten students and looks forward to sharing her rich, diverse background with them through a calm, effective environment that allows student to learn, explore, and develop.

Samantha Sole

Kindergarten Assistant Teacher

Sam is a native of Tallahassee Florida where she graduated from Florida State University with her Bachelors Degree in Studio Art and Art History.  After graduation, she moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee where she joined the Chattanooga Ballet Company as a principal dancer, graphic designer and instructor.  During her five years with the company, she taught ballet to students in ages ranging from three to adult. She led summer workshops, choreographed for children’s shows, and acted as the Young Children’s Coordinator. While her initial intentions were to remain in the ballet field, she gravitated towards the teaching aspect of her job, loving education, and wanting to work with students on a broader spectrum outside of ballet. Sam values compassion, humor, structure, and fun when in the classroom. In her spare time, she likes to paint, dance, play guitar, and go hiking. Sam is excited for her first year with the Odyssey School.