Odle Middle School

In 2001-02, Odle Middle School was one of the two schools in the state to be awarded a Blue Ribbon by the U.S. Department of Education.⁴⁵⁶ This the highest award an American school can receive.⁷⁸

Demographics

As of the 2007-08 school year, the school had an enrollment of 665 students and 33.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 20.5.¹ 41% of the students are Caucasian and 37% Asian/Pacific Islander.⁹

Extracurricular awards

Odle Middle School earned first place in the 2006 national K-8 chess championship.¹⁰ ¹¹¹² The chess team has also claimed first place in the Washington Middle School Team Championship for the school years 2007-2008, 2006-2007¹³, and 2005-2006. 14 year old student Michael Lee has a National Master rating from the United States Chess Federation as of February 2008.¹⁴

Students received 1st place in the Washington State Math Championship for 6th and 7th grades in 2007. PRISM student Shijie Joy Zheng was part of the Washington State MathCounts team that placed 7th nationally in May 2007.¹⁵

Odle Middle School's Future Problem Solving Club, led by teacher Debby Benzinger, received 5th place in the Future Problem Solving Program International Competition in 2007.^{citation needed} The Knowledge Masters Open Team, also led by Benzinger, placed first in Washington State and 31^st worldwide in Fall 2007.¹⁶ In Spring 2008, they placed first in state as well as 12th^th internationally.¹⁷

PRISM

The PRISM program is part of the Gifted and Talented Education (G.A.T.E.) program offered in the Bellevue School District for grades 1-12.¹⁸ The district superintendent said in February 2006 "The only other program that we know of like this is in Australia".¹⁹ PRISM at Odle Middle School continues the curriculum acceleration from Stevenson Elementary School and continues into the experimental G.A.T.E. program at Interlake High School. PRISM is a selective program; applicants need a minimum score of 144 on the Cognitive Abilities Test. Reading and Quantitative scores must be of the 90th percentile or higher, one of which must be at or above the 97th percentile.

The program consists of separate core classes in science, 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. Language arts and social studies classes are combined into a two-class block for all grade levels. For mathematics, students must take a placement test to enter math grade levels higher than one grade higher the student's grade level.

The high school program, which is in its first year of implementation in the 2006-2007 school year, extends the science, English, and social studies classes further in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program 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 classes for PRISM students in their senior year when they have enough credits to graduate early.

Academy of visual and performing arts

The Academy of Visual and Performing Arts offers classes in theater arts, academy visual arts, academy orchestra, academy band, academy choir, academy dance and photography.²⁰ Academy courses are more rigorous classes than normal classes for mainly 8th graders.^{citation needed}

Academy of math, science, and applied technology

In the Academy of Math, Science, and Applied Technology students spend a two-period block each day working on Academy projects. 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.²¹

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d [1], National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed 7 October 2008.
^ Cornwall, Warren; Shevory, Kristina (2003-10-23). "Some who shaped Bellevue", The Seattle Times. Retrieved on 25 February 2008.
^ http://www.scn.org/bellehist/bsd8.html Bellevue School District Timeline, Retrieved on 2008-02-25
^ "Bellevue middle school receives national recognition", Washington State School Directors' Association, May 29, 2002.
^ "BLUE RIBBON SCHOOLS PROGRAM, Schools Recognized 1982-1983 Through 1999-2002" (pdf). U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
^ Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized - 2003 Through 2006 (PDF), United States Department of Education. Accessed May 11, 2006.
^ CIBA cited as one of the best by Education Department, Journal Inquirer, November 16, 2006. "The Blue Ribbon award is given only to schools that reach the top 10 percent of their state's testing scores over several years or show significant gains in student achievement. It is considered the highest honor a school can achieve."
^ Viers Mill School Wins Blue Ribbon; School Scored High on Statewide Test; The Washington Post. September 29, 2005 "For their accomplishments, all three schools this month earned the status of Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor the U.S. Education Department can bestow upon a school."
^ "Odle Middle School", School Tree.org, accessed 7 October 2008
^ United States Chess Federation (2006-04-12). "1123 Young Chess Enthusiasts in Louisville". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-02-25.
^ "National News, 1123 Young Chess Enthusiasts in Louisville", Chess Review Online, The Newsletter of the United States Chess Federation 3 (13), 2006-04-13, http://www.uschess.org/news/newsletter/2006/060413/USNews.php
^ 2006 Tournament Chess News
^ http://www.alchess.com/chess/07/jhs/?page=TEAM&xsection=K8 accessed 2008-02-25
^ Mulady, Kathy (2008-02-17), National chess master at 14, http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/351660_chess18.html, retrieved on 25 February 2008
^ "Toddler run over by car, killed", Seattle Times, May 15, 2007
^ [2], Knowledge Masters Open Results for Fall 2007 Middle School Division.
^ [3], Knowledge Masters Open Results for Spring 2008 Middle School Division.
^ "Gifted Programs", BelleVue school District, accessed 25 February 2008'
^ "Fast track at Gifted High", Rachel Tuinstra, Seattle Times, February 22, 2006
^ "Special Offerings at Odle", Bellevue School District, accessed 27 February 2008
^ "WASL science results poor", Gregory Roberts, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 18, 2003

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