November Principal's Corner

This year, as part of our Culture of Contribution, we want to look beyond the walls of our school and find meaningful ways to make a difference in our community. We want to be a campus that reaches out, serves others, and becomes a force of good and love throughout the West Valley!

During the month of November, we are partnering with The Singletons, an organization that helps single-parent families battling cancer. Please see the flyer below for the items your child's grade level is collecting. Contributions can be dropped off in the front office. Thank you for your support!

Each month, our Goodyear Campus will highlight and support different local causes and organizations. We would love for our Odyssey families to partner with us as we work together to serve those around us.

Please don't feel obligated to participate in every monthly project—unless, of course, you'd like to! 😊 Instead, we encourage you to be on the lookout for the causes and organizations that speak to your heart and find opportunities for your family to get involved.

Together, let's show what a true Culture of Contribution can do and make a meaningful difference in the West Valley! 💚

In our K–3 classrooms, teachers frequently incorporate learning centers to give scholars opportunities to practice and strengthen grade-level skills in creative, engaging, and hands-on ways. At Odyssey, we understand that giving scholars opportunities to move, interact, and explore new and creative ways to practice skills is essential to helping move learning from short-term to long-term memory. Repeated practice in varying ways helps scholars develop strong foundational skills they can continue to build upon as they tackle more complex critical-thinking and learning tasks in the upper grades.

While scholars are building their academic skills, they are also developing important cooperative learning and social skills. Through centers, scholars learn to take turns, divide work fairly, respectfully disagree, work with peers when perspectives or answers may differ, and build their ability to stay focused and on task for a designated amount of time.

What may look like fun and games is actually an essential part of learning and social development for our youngest scholars! Learning centers also provide teachers with valuable opportunities to pull small groups for differentiated instruction, allowing them to target specific skills and meet the individual learning needs of each scholar.

Stay tuned for our December Newsletter Focus on Learning! We'll take a closer look at how our teachers use small-group instruction to differentiate learning and provide meaningful support and enrichment for every scholar.

There will be no school for scholars the week of November 23-26th. We will see everyone back on campus on Monday, November 30th!

Join us for our Winter Concerts!

• Kindergarten - Wednesday, December 9th @ 4:45 pm - Scholars should report to their classroom starting at 4:30.
• 1st Grade - Wednesday, December 9th @ 5:45 pm - Scholars should report to their classroom starting at 5:30.
• 2nd Grade - Wednesday, December 9th @ 6:30 pm - Scholars should report to their classroom starting at 6:15.
• 3rd & 4th Grade - Thursday, December 10th @ 4:45 pm - Scholars should report to their homeroom class starting at 4:30.
• 5th & 6th Grade - Thursday, December 11th @ 5:45 pm - Scholars should report to their homeroom class starting at 5:30.

Our event/volunteer coordinator, Katelyn Smith, will be your contact for all campus-wide volunteer opportunities. Some opportunities available:

• Recess & Lunch Supervision
• Large campus events
• Fundraising Opportunities (Cookie Dough, Fun Run...)
• Staff Appreciation (Hand written notes, surprise treats, appreciation week...)
• Classroom Support - Contact your child'd teacher(s) directly for specific info

If you have any questions for Katelyn or have additional ideas to support our campus needs, please email her at gyevents@topamail.com.

**All volunteers must read and sign the Parent Volunteer Guidelines and Agreement in order to be approved to volunteer on campus.

Any scholar dropped off at school between 6AM and 7AM will be supervised in the before care program and charged the fee. If you wish to avoid the fee, drop your scholar off after 7AM.

Any scholar not picked up by 4:15 will be checked into the Aftercare program and supervised for a fee.

Any questions regarding transportation should be directed to Matt Caraway, mcaraway@topamail.com, Cell: (623) 251-1651.

ParentVUE is the online portal our school uses to help families stay informed and engaged in their child’s education. By logging in, parents and guardians can view real-time information about grades, attendance, assignments, discipline records and health visits.

"Teachers, staff, parents and the Goodyear community are all team members."

There are many meaningful ways to support your child’s success—both at home and on campus. You can get involved by reinforcing academic skills at home, encouraging independence to support social and emotional growth, or volunteering on campus in the classroom, during recess, or at school events. Your partnership makes a difference!

One of the main contributors to academic success is empowering scholars to take ownership of their learning. To do so, scholars set goals, track their progress and celebrate growth. As a parent, you play a crucial role in your child's education, understanding grade level targets can help you identify where your child is in the progression of learning. When teachers, parents and scholars are working together towards achieving academic goals, scholars have the best opportunity for success.

Understanding where students are developmentally - what their growth patterns and typical capacities are at each age - will help teachers and parents nurture and support them as they grow.

Purchase Here

Wood, Chip. Yardsticks, Child and Adolescent Development Ages 4-14. 2017 by Center for Responsive Schools, Inc.

• Providing a safe environment for our scholars is a priority at Odyssey. Our teachers work tirelessly to build and foster a classroom community where all children feel safe to learn, make mistakes and grow.
• We have campus policies, procedures and expectations for scholars, staff, parents and guests that are created to maintain a safe environment for all.
• We work closely with the Goodyear Police Department to implement, and routinely practice our Safety Response Protocol, following the protocol provided by iloveyouguys.org.
• All doors accessing the building remain locked. Front office door and door leading to campus opens with remote access only.
• Parents or guests are welcome on campus with a previously scheduled appointment.
• In order to be permitted access to campus, beyond the front office, you must have a scheduled appointment and provide a government issued ID for a background check.
• Campus is monitored by cameras at all times.

There are five specific actions that can be performed during an incident. Execution of the action is performed by active participants, including scholars, staff, teachers and first responders. The SRP is based on the following actions: Hold, Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate, and Shelter.

We work closely with our school resource officers from the Goodyear Police Department when implementing, and practicing these actions.

Office Hours: Monday-Thursday 7AM - 4:30PM

Attendance

attendancegoodyear@topamail.com

Front Office Team:

• Campus & Family Services Manager: Anne Krofcheck - topagoodyear@topamail.com
• Front Office Manager: Elizabeth Mitchell - topagoodyear@topamail.com
• Manager of Student Services & Operations: Jessica Allaire - jallaire@topamail.com

Principal

Nicole Woods: nwoods@topamail.com

Email: TOPAGOODYEAR@TOPAMAIL.COM
Website: www.odyprep.com
Location: 17532 West Harrison Street, Goodyear, AZ, USA
Phone: (623) 882-1140