Visit our website at www.odysseycharterschool.com
April 2009
CALENDAR
Our Mission For Every Child
The mission of Odyssey Charter School is to work in partnership with the family and
community, with the aim of helping each child reach their full potential in all areas of life.
We seek to educate the whole child with the understanding that each person much
achieve a balance of intellectual, emotional, physical, spiritual and social skills as a
foundation for life.
Volunteer News
Our supplies are low, and we know funds are tight for everyone, but if we could get a donation of 3 reams of regular copy paper from each family to the front office , we would give
a volunteer hour. We will have a donation sheet at the front desk to sign to be sure to get
your hour.
Thurs., April 2—
Captain Conservation
Pre-K - 3rd Grade, 9 am
Fri., April 3—
Middle School Report
Cards Issued
Mon., April 6-Fri. April 10 —
Spring Vacation
Wed., April 15 — PTO meeting, 6 pm
(Mrs. Nolder’s/ Ms. Rouzer’s Kindergarten
class will be performing.)
Tues., April 21 —
Book Fair Family Fun Night, 4-8 pm
Thurs., April 30 —
OCS Board Meeting, 4 pm
Also, we are looking for a couple of parents to volunteer as crossing guard as the city of
Palm Bay took both of our crossing guards away.
Principal’s Corner
All hours have been updated, and all volunteer applications have been entered into the
school board data base for background checks for the 2008/2009 school year. You are
welcome to email or call me for your total hours. Whenever you sign out on the volunteer
computer, it will also give your total number of volunteer hours. Thank you to all who have
taken the time to give to our children, by volunteering at Odyssey. Here’s to an even better
2009/2010!
Please accept my personal thanks on behalf of our
faculty and staff for your support and love so far
this year. Many great things have occurred. We
are looking ahead to more great things next year
from extended gardening in early grades to more
advanced classes in upper grades. We expect and
appreciate your continued involvement.
Please keep the volunteer hours coming in until the end of the school year. A good opportunity to get 4 hours per month in is with our read aloud club. Forms may be downloaded
online. Please feel free to contact me anytime at marcinikd@odysseycharterschool.com , or
733-0442 xt. 101.Thanks to everyone for all that you do.
You should be having conversations with your
child’s teacher regarding your child’s promotion or
retention. As I have stated before, summer school
is pretty much not an option.
Enrichment
The district is offering summer school for any third
grader who scores an FCAT 1 in Reading. Please
check with Julia Apple.
Last chance to sign-up for the Spring Camp April 6-9, 2009.
Come join our “Spring Fiesta” featuring a trip to Disney Epcot
Center. For information and a registration form, call the
Enrichment Coordinator at 733-0442-ext.110 or visit our website:
www.odysseycharterschool.com. Also look for our Summer
Camp information, coming soon! If you want us to send you the
summer camp info as soon it becomes available, send an e-mail to
riveran@odysseycharterschool.com.
Montessori Village Green
Montessori Village Green is now accepting applications for the School Year 2009-2010 for
all children ages 3 through 5. Current students must reserve their spot by April 30th to
guarantee admission for the next school year. Our program accepts the Early Learning
Coalition tuition assistance program. Before and aftercare option is available. For more
information or for a program tour please call the Enrichment Coordinator at 733-0442-ext.
110. Come and have your child receive the best Montessori education in Brevard.
We will offer a multiple-choice test (the Stanford
Achievement Test-10) for kids who need it for
Good Cause Exemption. You must score a certain
percentile to qualify for a Good Cause Exemption.
Good Cause Exemption plans are found in the
Student Progression Plan. It is at http://secondarypgms.brevard.k12.fl.us/SPP.pdf. Please check
with Janine Frahm.
Kindergarten News
The Kindergartens enjoyed a wonderful field trip
to the Henegar Center last week. We saw “The
Tortoise and the Hare Race Again”, a play that
continues from the original story and discusses
littering and recycling. A fun time was had by all!
ODYSSEY CHARTER SCHOOL • 1755 Eldron Blvd. S.E. • Palm Bay, Florida 32909 • Phone: 321.733.0442 • Fax: 321.733.1178
Lights! Camera! Book Fair!
Children’s Writing Workshop
We’re rolling out the red carpet so join us the week of April 20th for our book
fair. We have a Hollywood theme this time. On Tuesday, April 21 for our Family
Fun Night, we are going to take “Glamor Shots” and you can make a donation to
our One for Books. One for Books™ provides an easy and effective way to unite
the school community and provide more books for kids and teachers. All funds
collected through One for Books are used to buy more books from the Book Fair.
Each year, thousands of schools across the country participate in One for Books.
Scholastic matches the monetary donations schools generate, with a donation
of up to one million books to three national non-profit organizations dedicated
to helping kids and families in need: Kids in Distressed Situations, Inc., National
Center for Family Literacy, and the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. We are not
only helping our school, we are going beyond our campus with this program.
The Space Coast Writers’ Guild and the City of Melbourne
Leisure Services will present the Fifth Annual Brevard
County Children’s Writing Workshop. The workshop will be
held at the Eau Gallie Civic Center on Sunday, April 26 from
1:00 to 4:30 p.m. It is open to all Brevard students grades
3-6. Preregistration is required, forms are available at the Eau
Gallie Civic Center. There is no charge for the workshop.
We are also having a guessing game and will serve popcorn
on our Family Fun Night. Come and join us for some great fun!
Dates and times: April 20-24, 2009 open daily from 8:00-2:30.
Family Fun Night is Tuesday, April 21st from 4-8 p.m.
Odyssey’s Media Specialist and loving it!
Mrs. Baker
Car Loop
MORNING CARLOOP SAFETY
For the safety of all students we will be closing the outside lane during morning
arrival. Students will only exit their vehicle at a designation station at the sidewalk. Please be patient as we work through this necessary change to make the
carloop flow smoothly and safely.
SPEED LIMIT REMINDER
The carloop speed limit is 5 mph at all times. Please be sure to adhere to the
speed limit and watch the crosswalks for the safety of our students.
NO LEFT TURN
The ending time for no left turns in the morning has changed
from 8:00 a.m. to 8:10 a.m. in the morning when exiting the
school on to Eldron Boulevard.
THANK YOU
Thank You to the parents of the car riders who remember to hang up their rear
view mirror tag. It really helps the teachers out and helps to move dismissal
along. If anyone needs another one, they can contact Mrs. Archibald.
National PhysicsQuest
Odyssey Charter School seventh and eighth grade science classes have paired
up to participate in the National PhysicsQuest 2008 Challenge hosted by the
American Physical Society. This year’s topic is “Nikola Tesla and the Electric Fair”.
The object of the challenge is to complete a series of lab experiments; each
successful experiment reveals a clue to solve the mystery. Once students believe
they are successful, they submit their answers to the APS Society who will review
them for accuracy, then determine whether they move to the next level in the
competition. Thousands of middle and high schools nationwide compete yearly
in this event and Odyssey is proud of the students for tackling this difficult
curriculum. We wish them luck and encouragement over the next four weeks
as they complete their experiments and final reports.
Chess Club
Did you know that Odyssey has a chess club? Two enterprising young men in our
middle school, Daniel McCormick and Kyle Pettis, saw a need and spear-headed
a campaign to have a chess club. They collected signatures of people who might
be interested in attending, recruited teachers to help supervise, and began meeting a few weeks ago. They have great attendance and held their first ‘tournament’
recently. They meet Tuesdays and/or Fridays from 3 to 4 p.m. Anyone interested
should see Ms. Wendi Nolder in room 207 for a permission form.
Science Fair Winners
4th Grade1st: Vita Bagley 74pts. “Is premium cat
food healthier than expensive brands?”
2nd: Mariah Charriez 70pts.
“How does Alka-Seltzer affect your stomach?”
3rd: Victoria Rosado 69pts.
“How does an oil spill affect the Ecosystem?”
4th: Anthony Baranishyn 65pts
“Which dishwater soap breaks down fat the most?”
5th Grade1st: Andrew Capley 95 pts. “Do you want to double dip?”
2nd: Maya Vazquez 86pts.
“How does salt affect the human Heart?”
3rd: Nate Briggs 83pts.
“Which wastes more water a bath or a shower?”
4th: Evani Golden & Nia Clark 82pts.
“ Which cafeteria surface is most contaminated?”
6th Grade1st: Dakota Conklin 96 pts. “Fire Ants”
2nd: Jeremiah Carpenter 83pts. “ The Great Wood Rot”
3rd: Emily Capley 81 pts. “ Bacteria on the Beach”
Matt Green 81 pts. “Can you detect if someone was a liar by
their body language?”
4th: Drave Henry 76 pts. “ Sleep Wizard”
Fired Up Fridays
Calling all Students, Faculty, Staff and Parents... The Legislature will complete their session sometime in May where
decisions will be made regarding the funding of your child’s
education. Funding for education continues to deteriorate with some reduction estimates as high as 17.8%. This
would have a devastating impact upon our school. We are
standing firmly with the Brevard County School District for
“Fired up Fridays!” and ask that all staff, faculty, students, and
parents join with us to preserve educational funding. All are
welcome to come to school during the following Fridays,
dressed according to these guidelines:
Friday, 4-3-09: “SAVE OUR SCHOOLS” (SOS)
Wear BLACK this day (T-shirts, black ribbons, etc.)
4-6 through 4-10-09: Call your Legislators
Friday, 4-17-09: “THREE STRIKES you’re out!”
Wear BLUE shirts this day and attend a Family Night at the
Manatees baseball game from 4-7 pm; $5 at the gate
Friday, 4-24-09: “Cuts to Education NEVER Heal!”
Wear RED shirts this day and a Band-aid.
Friday, 5-1-09: “Florida Sunshine Friday”
Wear YELLOW shirts this day (flip-flops, shades, hats, etc.)
We are encouraging you to call Governor Crist and our
legislative leaders, Senate President Jeff Atwater and House
Speaker Larry Cretul, along with our delegation members
to let them know that public education is a priority and that
our state should not rank 50th in the nation for education
spending ever! A complete list of legislative contacts is also
listed on the first page of our website.