Parent Portal
Covid-19 Update 6/9/2022
Odyssey’s five and half acre campus is currently a “mask-optional” environment, meaning that we encourage the use of facial coverings but do not currently require them (as of June 2022).
In the summer of 2022, here’s what we are doing to mitigate risk of Covid-19 transmission:
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We are continuing to utilize a layered approach to COVID safety to mitigate risk on Odyssey’s campus. Below is a summary of definitions that more fully detail our responsibilities and we ask that you review this page or call our main office for up to date guidelines:
- Optional masking in building: individuals may make a choice to be unmasked or masked.
- Required masking in the building: regardless of vaccination status, all students and staff on site at school are required to be masked at all times while inside the building.
- Eating outdoors whenever possible and spacing out in a larger physical space, such as the gym, when weather conditions are too dangerous outside.
- Physical distancing indoors: masked students are to be distanced by 3’ whenever possible while indoors in accordance with NC Safe Schools and CDC guidelines
- Sending symptomatic children home: children showing any symptoms of illness will be quickly isolated and caregivers called to bring them home and pursue testing or quarantine.
- Contact tracing and required testing: in conjunction with the Buncombe County Health Department and the NC Strong Schools public health program, any students or staff with positive COVID test results are to quarantine in line with current recommendations. As a school, we reserve the right to screen and require testing to monitor for the presence of COVID.
- Keeping windows open in classrooms to allow for greater fresh air exchange in compliance with guidelines to reduce the concentration of any potential viral particles in the classroom.
- Installing appropriate filters on the air handling equipment in accordance with recommendations.
- Policy adjustments as needed: Odyssey reserves the ability to make adjustments to classroom spaces, student groupings, building use, or any other measures to lower risk or improve instruction, and to clearly communicate these changes to the Odyssey community as we adapt to new information, research, and changing conditions.
With sincere gratitude and appreciation for your partnership, consideration, and compassion,
The COVID Committee of the Board of Trustees of Odyssey School
General Covid Update 9/10/2021
Faculty Meeting Agenda 8/28
Happy first week of school!
Today’s meeting includes:
*Centering
*Morning/After School Supervision
*Parent Orientation Planning
*Faculty Service Assignments
Faculty Orientation 2019
Here are a few helpful links to documents/presentations used in Orientation.
Schedules (Master, Location, Team Schedules)
Professional Portfolios Presentation
Vertical Tech Workshop Presentation
10/17 In-Service Agenda
*2:30-3:00 Best Practice + Announcements
*3:00-4:00 Break Out Meetings: Review student progress & 4-6th talk about Duke TIP nominations
*4:00-5:15 Group review re: preparing Nov Conference Reports
9/26 Agenda
*Let Jen know about sick days.
*Learning Partners Check In (How are your goals progressing; what do you need to be successful?)
*Buddy Lunch discussion
*Equity Conversation
- Observation Form 1 (Please make a copy to edit)
- Follow up Form 2 (Please make a copy to edit)
*Attendance
*ACT Preparations (Accommodations, Centering, Art)
Faculty Meeting 9/12
*Sign up for Service Assignments
*SMART Goals
*Ask for lower grades students to be quiet as they move through HS spaces
*Share your Portfolio folder by name and year. Included docs: Abbreviated pacing guide, full pacing guide, prof. goals & action project & lesson plans.
*Full Pacing Guides vs. abbreviated pacing guides: We need almost everyone’s full pacing guide
*Review preparation needs for Listening Conferences
*Review process for getting to Master Student Email List and setting individual passwords
8/29 Agenda
First Faculty Meeting of the 2018-2019 school year!
Kitchen Tasks: In order to take care of keeping shared spaces clean, we will continue with our successful program of Kitchen Crews! Each group cleans the kitchen only 2-3 times per semester.
Skipping Specials? If you plan to miss a specials class, please let teachers know ahead of time.
Closing up the building procedures.
Morning/After School Supervision Reminder
- K-2nd go immediately to aftercare if there’s no pickup.
- 3rd and up can wait outside until 3:45.
Parent Orientation Planning (copied from the handbook):
Our first Community Meeting is Parent Orientation Night. This evening is a chance for teachers to communicate more of the academic, procedural, and detail-oriented information. Please see the list below for information to cover:
- Teacher introduction that focuses on personal/professional teaching philosophy, “This is why I am here. What are we going to give to their children?”
- Introduction of parent names, child’s name, grade level, etc. We may ask parents of younger children why they chose Odyssey School. Parents of older students might ask the question: What do you hope for your older student (5th-12th grade) this year?
- Identify what makes our class unique, what to expect, thematic units, etc. Possible ways of exploring this include: 6 Strands in our classroom, Essential Learning Skills, and Design Thinking. Please use curricular-philosophical language.
- Include at least one learning artifact about The Integral Model from your first week of teaching with the kids.
- Classroom discipline and management. Identify theory and practice with rationale. This is your chance to cultivate buy-in for support.
- Daily schedule
- Newsletter/communications/modes of communications
- Take an inventory of parents who use Facebook. Update your secret Facebook classroom group from your roster after the meeting
- List pathways for expressing concerns and grievances
- Pass around a sign-up roster to ensure correct/preferred email addresses for newsletters
- Directions about where to find homework assignments, check (5th-12th) grades / receive (K-4th) narrative reports
- This meeting gives parents the opportunity to explore what kind of classroom culture you want for your children and for yourselves: Volunteer Jobs that your class needs, what are they looking forward to in terms of community? All parents are required to do 4 hours volunteer hours per family per month.
- Take volunteers for class parents. Print and share this document of responsibilities with them!
- Have all parents review and sign the Door Code Agreement
- Classroom & The Parliament, all school, Facebook groups
- Consider including some mention of food and celebrations as they are celebrated in your classroom. These can include: lunches, snacks, sugar policy, etc.
- Describe parent conferences, pass around sign up schedule for Listening Conferences.
- Ask parents to note conference times throughout the year and to mark their calendars (plea for keep to this pre-arranged time for conferences, rather than rescheduling outside this time).
- Please talk about the Odyssey School student emails for grades 3 and up. Remind parents that we expect them to have access to these email accounts. Teachers will have access to it. The basic premise is that there is no student privacy on that Google Odyssey School email.
- Please reference the Parent Handbook.
Intermediate & High School Specific Notes
- Grading Philosophy
- College Readiness Support (HS)
- Restorative Justice & Mediation
- Experiential Seminar (HS) / Outdoor/Service Learning (IS)
- Absences/Tardiness Policy
5/16 Agenda
Sadly, we are all done for Best Practices! They were really incredible this year: thank you for sharing your passions and skills with our professional learning community!
In today’s meeting we will collaboratively create a pool party schedule for end of year class parties, and otherwise this time should be used for:
- Completing Professional Portfolios in preparation for your end of year meeting with Megan
- Working on end of year narrative reports and grading
- K-5 Meeting to discuss their calendar revision proposal
- Upper grades team meetings regarding overnight trips, as needed
Next week will be our last in-service of the year! Please plan to stay until 5:15.
There are a few things that will be coming up as we wrap up the year in the next two weeks! Please make a note of this list and be prepared to schedule time to complete the following:
- Missing conference reports must be turned in before the end of day on June 1. For reference of still-missing reports, click here.
- Summer Projects assignments (after getting the okay from Megan) should be distributed to students before the year is out and a final draft shared with the admin team (Cory, Jen, Alyssa, and Megan) so we can help distribute them to next year’s rosters.
- Next week, you will receive a stack of black and white, draft copies of end of year certificates for your students. Please review each carefully to make sure all information is correct and return them to Alyssa or Jen before next Friday. We will then print color, final versions for the honoring ceremonies.
- On June 1st, you will need to close out your classroom. This will involve rounding up and turning in technology, storing away all items you don’t want accessible to camp groups that may use your space, and for some of you preparing to have your things moved to your 2018-19 classroom! We will have a check list for you, and Cory has likely already spoken to you about packing up for moving if you need to do that (if she hasn’t, you likely don’t).
- On June 1st, we will have a closing faculty meeting at 3:00 pm. Teachers who organize happy hour… let us know where you’re headed!
There may be other things added to this list, but this should give you a good idea of what’s to come.
5/2 Agenda
Today we will open with a Best Practice by Robin, followed by May Day preparations!
4/25 In-Service, All-Faculty Agenda
Today’s in-service will begin with a Best Practice presentation by Cat, followed by a few items to check in about. Following these discussion items, we will do:
4/18 Agenda
In today’s meeting, we will discuss CPR Training, Summer Reading, the 2018-19 Conference Schedule, a review of narrative reports, and finally we’ll discuss Virtual Reality Day with 4th-12th grade teachers.
As a friendly reminder, next week is our in-service and we will meet until 5:15.
Please check the Kitchen Door for this week’s and upcoming crews!
Summer Reading Examples/Resources
4th-5th Grade Integral Summer Project
New York Times Summer Reading Project
Non-Reading Summer Project Ideas for emerging readers or to supplement reading and inspire writing!