Eighth grade is a crucial year at Odyssey: it marks the transition from middle to high school, and is also a key year developmentally. Eighth graders at Odyssey have a fabulous experience, starting early in the year with an all-school trip to MO Ranch, outside of Kerrville, where they experience three days of safe, structured experiential learning and team building.
The Odyssey middle school program offers:
- core academic classes
- weekly Connections classes
- a character-centered community, driven by Tribes instruction
- a regular service-learning component
- an annual eighth grade class trip to Washington, D.C.
- extensive remediation services
- full afterschool extension program
- and the chance to be a member of a positive, dynamic community of learners.
Throughout the year, they will participate in a variety of extracurricular activities: monthly Service Learning days, PSIA competitions, Connections Thursdays, trips to local art studios, and more.
The culminating event of the eighth grade year is a faculty-supervised trip to Washington, D.C. For many of our students, this is a first time away from Mom and Dad, so we build up to it carefully with a series of smaller day trips to destinations in Texas. In the past, these have included Cascade Caverns, The Wimberly Glassworks, News 9 San Antonio, and the New Braunfels Animal Park. Students also study maps of Washington, D.C., prepare oral reports on places of interest, and rehearse navigating the city’s incredibly efficient Metro system.
