Head of school update, 10/26
Dear Odyssey Community,
On Friday night, the High School Student Government Association (SGA) hosted our first Coffee Night of the year. This is a quarterly event that highlights the musical talents of current students, staff, and alumni in an intimate setting. The night is a fundraiser for the SGA to help finance the end-of-year trips and it is a quintessentially Odyssey event that is all the more special because it is barely advertised; if you know, you know. Huge thanks to our SGA members, led by President Jordan Novak, and to staff members Agustin Palomo Ramos, Liz Lesley, Gabe Johnson, and Andrew Rabin for making it all happen.
New to Middle School is a 5-8 Student Council, which had its first meeting last week. Their first order of business is working with parent volunteers to plan our November 14th dance, which will host students from many of our sister schools. The Student Council is also focused on improving the physical conditions in the building, creating more hot lunch opportunities, having a book drive, resurfacing our tennis courts, creating a more inclusive school culture, and a dozen other goals. The Council is eager to improve Odyssey and their leadership and enthusiasm is inspiring and contagious.
Finally, Odyssey signed a contract this week with the Montford Neighborhood Association (MNA) and the City of Asheville to implement Project Uplift, which is part of the City’s work to make neighborhoods more resilient. Our project will buy the technology to enable high fidelity video conferencing for MNA meetings, which are held at Odyssey. It will also support internet access in case of future natural disasters and also purchase bike racks to help make our campus more accessible.
With Gratitude,
Anne and Peter
Upcoming Events
October 31: Halloween at Odyssey! Please see costume guidelines below.
Next Month: Teacher-Led Conferences, November 6 & 7. No school PreK-12
Next Month: Veteran’s Day, November 11. No school PreK-12
Halloween at Odyssey
Students may dress up for school on October 31. Please keep these guidelines in mind:
Avoid costumes that are bloody, violent or scary in any way. Our Odyssey community includes very young students; please make sure your costume would not scare a young person.
No masks or anything that covers a student’s face.
No weapons of any kind (even if they are soft).
Make sure your student can go to the bathroom without help while wearing their costume.
Do not wear costumes that portray any group (gender, social class, race, religious group, ability, etc) in a stereotypical or disrespectful way.
A general rule to keep in mind: if you’re not sure your costume is appropriate, don’t wear it.
