Odle Middle School
Encyclopedia
Odle Middle School is a public middle school
in Bellevue, Washington
, USA
. The school is one of seven middle schools in the Bellevue School District
, and was named posthumously after Frank Odle, who taught in the district for 55 years before retiring in 1968. The name is sometimes used as a reverse acronym
standing for "One Dynamic Learning Environment." Odle is located across from Stevenson Elementary, a primary feeder elementary school
for Odle. Odle is primarily known for its hosting of the PRISM program, a gifted program
for high-performing children. As of the 2009–10 school year, the school's principal is Eric McDowell and assistant principal is Jacqueline McKenzie. As of the 2011-12 school year, the assistant principal is Eric Shearer.
In the 2001–02 school year, Odle Middle School was one of two schools in the state to be awarded a Blue Ribbon
by the U.S. Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive.
basis), equalling a student-teacher ratio of 20.1. 37% of the students are Caucasian
, 41% are Asian
/Pacific Islander
, 9% are Hispanic
, 10% are multi-ethnic
, and 4% are African American
.
for grades 2 through 12. The district superintendent stated, in February 2006, that "the only other program that we know of like this is in Australia". PRISM at Odle Middle School follows the GT curriculum acceleration from Spiritridge Elementary School and continues into the experimental high school GT program at Interlake High School
, the Gifted High School Program (G.H.S.P.).
. Reading and Quantitative scores must be of the 90th percentile or higher, one of which at or above the 97th percentile.
The GT program is for students that have high academic and intellectual ability, but do not wish to skip grades, as this usually puts the student in an environment with older children that the student may feel uncomfortable in. GT allows the student to remain with students of similar age and similar academic skills.
, math
, language arts
, and social studies
for all grade levels. The curriculum for science consists of two years of integrated science followed by one year of biology
. Science is taught at one grade above grade level. Language arts and social studies classes are combined into a two-class block for all grade levels. In sixth grade, students may choose to take LA/SS (Language Arts and Social Studies) 6, a class consisting fully of sixth graders, or take LA/SS 6/7/8 in sixth grade, which is a class with sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. In seventh grade, all seventh graders take the LA/SS 6/7/8 class. In eighth grade, students who took LA/SS 6 in sixth grade will take LA/SS 6/7/8, while those who have already taken two years of 6/7/8 will take LA/SS 9 in eighth grade, a class with a mix of Philosophy
and Ancient Studies. For mathematics, students take a placement test to enter math grade levels two grades or higher than the student's grade level.
at Interlake High School
. In the IB program, PRISM students complete the IB diploma during 10th and 11th grade, rather than the usual 11th and 12th grade. The University of Washington
provides special English and Social Studies classes for GT students in their senior year. In addition, Bellevue College provides math and other humanities courses to students who have completed prerequisite courses in the GT program.
, band
, choir
, dance
, and photography
.
Odle no longer offers analog photography classes as of the 2009–10 school year, but still offers video production classes and has added a new class, Technology Applications.
s and electric boats.
At Odle, in spring 2003, 76 percent of eighth-graders met standards in science, one of the highest success rates in the Seattle Metropolitan area
. This success was attributed by then principal Kenneth Lyon to this academy since 96.3 percent of the 54 eighth-graders in the academy succeeded on the science Washington Assessment of Student Learning
.
The Academy of Math, Science, and Applied Technology is not an available course option for PRISM students, as the PRISM curriculum is one year ahead.
(AMC), Math is Cool (MIC), Mount Rainer Math Invitational (MRMI), MathCounts
, and other events. Students from Odle received first place in the team contest in the Washington State Mathematics Championship (WSMC) for 6th and 7th grades in 2008. In the WSMC 2009, they took 1st place in 6th and 8th grades, and 2nd and 3rd places in 7th grade.
The chess team has also claimed first place in the Washington Middle School Team Championship for the school years 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, and 2010–11.
and Social Studies
teacher Debra Benzinger, received 5th place in the Future Problem Solving Program International Competition in 2007. The team has a history of sending students to the International Competition, and many students continue FPS in high school.
The Knowledge Masters Open Team, also led by Benzinger, placed first in Washington State and 31st worldwide in Fall 2007. In Spring 2008, they placed first in state as well as 12th internationally. In Fall 2008, they placed second in state as well as 26th internationally. Odle Middle School also placed second in the state and 49th internationally in Fall 2009.
's money, and also plan dances and socials.
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
in Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 122,363 at the 2010 census.Downtown Bellevue is...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The school is one of seven middle schools in the Bellevue School District
Bellevue School District
Bellevue School District No. 405 is a public school district in King County, Washington, USA that serves the communities of Bellevue, Clyde Hill, Medina, Hunts Point, Yarrow Point, Beaux Arts Village, and portions of Newcastle, Kirkland and Redmond. As of October 1, 2010, the district has an...
, and was named posthumously after Frank Odle, who taught in the district for 55 years before retiring in 1968. The name is sometimes used as a reverse acronym
Backronym
A backronym or bacronym is a phrase constructed purposely, such that an acronym can be formed to a specific desired word. Backronyms may be invented with serious or humorous intent, or may be a type of false or folk etymology....
standing for "One Dynamic Learning Environment." Odle is located across from Stevenson Elementary, a primary feeder elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
for Odle. Odle is primarily known for its hosting of the PRISM program, a gifted program
Gifted education
Gifted education is a broad term for special practices, procedures and theories used in the education of children who have been identified as gifted or talented...
for high-performing children. As of the 2009–10 school year, the school's principal is Eric McDowell and assistant principal is Jacqueline McKenzie. As of the 2011-12 school year, the assistant principal is Eric Shearer.
In the 2001–02 school year, Odle Middle School was one of two schools in the state to be awarded a Blue Ribbon
Blue Ribbon Schools Program
The Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States government program created in 1981 to honor schools which have achieved high levels of performance or significant improvements with emphasis on schools serving disadvantaged students. The program centers around a self-assessment conducted by the...
by the U.S. Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive.
Demographics
As of the 2010–11 school year, the school had an enrollment of 701 students and 34.8 classroom teachers (on an FTEFull-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent , is a unit to measure employed persons or students in a way that makes them comparable although they may work or study a different number of hours per week. FTE is often used to measure a worker's involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an organization...
basis), equalling a student-teacher ratio of 20.1. 37% of the students are Caucasian
Caucasian race
The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
, 41% are Asian
Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
/Pacific Islander
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islander , is a geographic term to describe the indigenous inhabitants of any of the three major sub-regions of Oceania: Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, these three regions, together with their islands consist of:Polynesia:...
, 9% are Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
, 10% are multi-ethnic
Multiethnic society
A multiethnic society is one with members belonging to more than one ethnic group, in contrast to societies which are ethnically homogenous. In practice, virtually all contemporary national societies are multiethnic...
, and 4% are African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
.
PRISM
The GT program at Odle is part of the Gifted and Talented Education (G.A.T.E.) program offered in the Bellevue School DistrictBellevue School District
Bellevue School District No. 405 is a public school district in King County, Washington, USA that serves the communities of Bellevue, Clyde Hill, Medina, Hunts Point, Yarrow Point, Beaux Arts Village, and portions of Newcastle, Kirkland and Redmond. As of October 1, 2010, the district has an...
for grades 2 through 12. The district superintendent stated, in February 2006, that "the only other program that we know of like this is in Australia". PRISM at Odle Middle School follows the GT curriculum acceleration from Spiritridge Elementary School and continues into the experimental high school GT program at Interlake High School
Interlake High School
Interlake High School, also known as IHS, is a public high school in Bellevue, Washington. The school is one of the six high schools in the Bellevue School District. It is known for its diversity, its students' scholarship, and the International Baccalaureate program located at the school. The...
, the Gifted High School Program (G.H.S.P.).
Qualification
GT is a selective program; applicants must have a minimum score of 144 on the Cognitive Abilities TestCognitive Abilities Test
The Cognitive Abilities Test is a K–12 assessment designed to measure students’ learned reasoning abilities in the three areas most linked to academic success in school: Verbal, Quantitative and Nonverbal...
. Reading and Quantitative scores must be of the 90th percentile or higher, one of which at or above the 97th percentile.
The GT program is for students that have high academic and intellectual ability, but do not wish to skip grades, as this usually puts the student in an environment with older children that the student may feel uncomfortable in. GT allows the student to remain with students of similar age and similar academic skills.
Classes
The program consists of separate core classes in scienceScience
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, math
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, language arts
Language arts
Traditionally, the primary divisions in the language arts are Literature and Language, where language in this case refers to both linguistics, and specific languages....
, and social studies
Social studies
Social studies is the "integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence," as defined by the American National Council for the Social Studies...
for all grade levels. The curriculum for science consists of two years of integrated science followed by one year of biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
. Science is taught at one grade above grade level. Language arts and social studies classes are combined into a two-class block for all grade levels. In sixth grade, students may choose to take LA/SS (Language Arts and Social Studies) 6, a class consisting fully of sixth graders, or take LA/SS 6/7/8 in sixth grade, which is a class with sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. In seventh grade, all seventh graders take the LA/SS 6/7/8 class. In eighth grade, students who took LA/SS 6 in sixth grade will take LA/SS 6/7/8, while those who have already taken two years of 6/7/8 will take LA/SS 9 in eighth grade, a class with a mix of Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and Ancient Studies. For mathematics, students take a placement test to enter math grade levels two grades or higher than the student's grade level.
High School Extension
The high school program, which is currently in its fourth year of implementation in the 2009–2010 school year, extends the science, English, and social studies classes further in the International Baccalaureate (IB) programIB Diploma Programme
The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is a two-year educational programme for students aged 16–19that provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into higher education, and is recognised by universities worldwide. It was developed in the early to mid-1960s in Geneva by...
at Interlake High School
Interlake High School
Interlake High School, also known as IHS, is a public high school in Bellevue, Washington. The school is one of the six high schools in the Bellevue School District. It is known for its diversity, its students' scholarship, and the International Baccalaureate program located at the school. The...
. In the IB program, PRISM students complete the IB diploma during 10th and 11th grade, rather than the usual 11th and 12th grade. The University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
provides special English and Social Studies classes for GT students in their senior year. In addition, Bellevue College provides math and other humanities courses to students who have completed prerequisite courses in the GT program.
Academy classes
Academy courses are a more rigorous and in-depth option that students can choose to take as an alternative to normal classes offered at Odle.Visual and Performing Arts
The Academy of Visual and Performing Arts offers classes in theater arts, orchestraOrchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, band
School band
A school band is a group of student musicians who rehearse and perform instrumental music together. A concert band is usually under the direction of one or more conductors...
, choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
, dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
, and photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
.
Odle no longer offers analog photography classes as of the 2009–10 school year, but still offers video production classes and has added a new class, Technology Applications.
Math, Science, and Applied Technology
In the Academy of Math, Science, and Applied Technology, students spend a two-period block each day studying and applying scientific concepts. Academy science students participate in several design projects, building things like mousetrap carMousetrap car
A mousetrap car is a small vehicle having only one form of motive power being from a mousetrap. Variations include the use of multiple traps, or very big rat traps, for added power....
s and electric boats.
At Odle, in spring 2003, 76 percent of eighth-graders met standards in science, one of the highest success rates in the Seattle Metropolitan area
Seattle metropolitan area
The Seattle metropolitan area in the US state of Washington includes the city of Seattle, King County, Snohomish County, and Pierce County within the Puget Sound region. The U.S...
. This success was attributed by then principal Kenneth Lyon to this academy since 96.3 percent of the 54 eighth-graders in the academy succeeded on the science Washington Assessment of Student Learning
Washington Assessment of Student Learning
The Washington Assessment of Student Learning was a standardized educational assessment system given as the primary assessment in the state of Washington from spring 1997 to summer 2009. The WASL was also used as a high school graduation examination beginning in the spring of 2006 and ending in 2009...
.
The Academy of Math, Science, and Applied Technology is not an available course option for PRISM students, as the PRISM curriculum is one year ahead.
Math Team
Odle's math team, entirely consisting of PRISM students, can be considered one of the strongest in the nation. Odle's math team consists of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who compete in competitions such as American Mathematics CompetitionsAmerican Mathematics Competitions
The American Mathematics Competitions are the first of a series of competitions in high school mathematics that determine the United States team for the International Mathematical Olympiad . This team, consisting of six high school students, competes in the IMO and has traditionally performed well...
(AMC), Math is Cool (MIC), Mount Rainer Math Invitational (MRMI), MathCounts
MathCounts
Mathcounts is a middle school mathematics competition held in the United States. Its founding sponsors include the CNA Foundation, the National Society of Professional Engineers, and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The competition is designed for sixth, seventh, and eighth...
, and other events. Students from Odle received first place in the team contest in the Washington State Mathematics Championship (WSMC) for 6th and 7th grades in 2008. In the WSMC 2009, they took 1st place in 6th and 8th grades, and 2nd and 3rd places in 7th grade.
Chess team
Odle Middle School earned first place in the 2006 national K–8 chess championship.The chess team has also claimed first place in the Washington Middle School Team Championship for the school years 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, and 2010–11.
Future Problem Solvers
Odle Middle School's Future Problem Solving Club (FPS), led by PRISM Language ArtsLanguage arts
Traditionally, the primary divisions in the language arts are Literature and Language, where language in this case refers to both linguistics, and specific languages....
and Social Studies
Social studies
Social studies is the "integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence," as defined by the American National Council for the Social Studies...
teacher Debra Benzinger, received 5th place in the Future Problem Solving Program International Competition in 2007. The team has a history of sending students to the International Competition, and many students continue FPS in high school.
The Knowledge Masters Open Team, also led by Benzinger, placed first in Washington State and 31st worldwide in Fall 2007. In Spring 2008, they placed first in state as well as 12th internationally. In Fall 2008, they placed second in state as well as 26th internationally. Odle Middle School also placed second in the state and 49th internationally in Fall 2009.
Leadership
Leadership is a club at Odle similar to a student government; however, anyone can be a member. The members vote on ways to spend the Associated Student BodyStudent council
Student council is a curricular or extra-curricular activity for students within elementary and secondary schools around the world. Present in most public and private K-12 school systems across the United States, Canada and Australia these bodies are alternatively entitled student council, student...
's money, and also plan dances and socials.