Odyssey Charter School

Odyssey Charter High School
2251 South Jones Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89146
Telephone: (702) 257-0578






Odyssey Charter Schools High School can be looked at as a very unique school. According to Odyssey (2013), “Odyssey Charter School is the first hybrid charter school in Las Vegas and Clark County. Its school is a mix of online and in-class instruction-backed by an incredible staff-create a K-12 educational journey that is effective and flexible enough to give kids with wide-ranging needs the foundation for success”. This school is nothing like any traditional school setting. According to Public School Review (2013), there are 38 charter public schools in Nevada serving 18,255 students. Minority enrollment is 46% of the student body (majority Hispanic and Blacks), which is less than the Nevada state average of 62%. The student:teacher ratio of 29:1 is more than the state average of 17:1”. Odyssey Charter Schools are providing students with the skills needed in a productive way that the students can enjoy. “Odyssey Charter Schools have a unique hybrid approach that creates benefits far beyond what students will find at distance-only or traditional classroom schools. A student at Odyssey will experience:

• The flexibility to complete coursework on his or her own schedule

• The benefits of more personalized, tailored instruction

• A dedicated staff of passionate teachers who believe in helping your child succeed, no matter what

• A focused learning environment free from the distractions of the traditional classroom (CCSD, 2014).

Odyssey Charter Schools are designed with the students in mind. Its system goes beyond teaching the students just the basic, but teaches its students important skills needed to succeed in the real-world. Students attending Odyssey Charter Schools gets the hand-on experiences that will carry them to the next level in life. They also learn how to be self-learners through the online courses as well as responsible students. Teachers that participate in this program also makes sure that they are as involved in the students learning as he or she is. The teachers interact with the students by visiting their homes at least once a week to make sure that the students are staying on task and are comprehending the lessons on his or her level of understanding. 

3D Animation Course Welcome Video - Odyssey

In this video it takes a look into one of the courses that is offered at Odyssey Charter School. 

Odyssey Charter School Leprechaun Traps 3rd graders

In this video the students are showing off the traps to caught leprechaun. This video is an example of how the teachers allows the students in the classroom use his/her creative mind. The students are also demonstrating critical thinking skills because they had to come up with the idea first of how he/she wanted to build the trap. Also, each student had to make sure that the trap was going to work the way the it was designed.

References

Clark County School District (2014). Charter Schools. Retrieved from:  http://www.ccsd.net/divisions/student-support-services-division/odyssey-charter-schools

Public School Review (2003-13). Nevada Charter Public Schools. Retrieved from: Odyssey Charter Schools Why Choose Us? - Odyssey Charter Schools

Odyssey (2013). Not Just a Charter School: An Odyssey. Retrieved from:Odyssey Charter Schools Why Choose Us? - Odyssey Charter Schools

For more information on how Charter Schools work click on the link provided Odyssey Charter Schools.

Starkville High School

Starkville High School
603 Yellow Jacket Dr.
Starkville, MS 39090
Telephone: (662) 324-4130









Starkville High School is public school that is unique in its own way. According to Public School Review (2003-14), "Starkville High School serves 1,083 students, the student:teacher ratio of 17:1 is higher than the MS average of 16:1. Plus minority enrollment is 68% of the student body (majority Black), which is more than the state average of 55%". Some of the programs offered at Starkville High School include but not limited to but the following: Department of Business and Technology, Department of Science (which is not limited to just the state required courses), Department of Foreign Languages, Department of Visual and Performing Arts and Department of Military Science to name a few. For a complete list visit the link provided SHS Course Offering. The Starkville High School is a school that practices cultural relevant pedagogy throughout its school. The school encourages its students to think outside of the box and dream as big as they can to achieve. The programs that Starkville High School provide its students with many different choices to choose from and actively engage in the students’ lives during and outside of school. According to Starkville School District (2014), "Starkville High School and Millsaps Career and Technology Center are recognized at both state and national levels for innovative curriculum and advanced instruction. Utilizing a 4X4 block schedule, SHS’s more than 1,200 students are offered in-depth instruction in a wide range of offerings, including more than 140 course selections and 10 Advanced Placement (AP) courses. SHS offers students four units of foreign language instruction in Spanish and French. Students can also choose from a wide range of mathematics courses, Biology, AP Chemistry and AP Physics to challenge even the most advanced student. English and social studies instruction encompasses a wide range of course offerings and provides students a well- rounded humanities curriculum. Electives include world geography, creative writing, Mississippi writers, American novel and journalism as well as AP U.S. History, AP European History and AP Literature".
The school is academic system is built around the student's needs and works closely with the students and parents to make sure that every student is succeeding to their full potential. Students have a wide vary of programs that they can actively participate in that fits his/her interest.

SHS Band at Disney

One of the ways that Starkville High School has shown it's accomplishment through its music program is by getting the opportunity to play at Disney Land. The students and teachers had to build a strong relationship as well as work together to be able to accomplish this goal.










Championship Robotics at Starkville High School

Another program that Starkville High School students are exceeding in is it's science and technology program. Students are actively working together to build and create different things. The students are learning to work together as well as learning skills that can be carried with them into their everyday lives.









Starkville High School has found a way to capture and hold its students attention through the many programs offered. Its programs are designed to allow students become innovators of the future. Each programs has something to offer each students based off of his/her interests.

Reference

Public School Review (2003-14). Starkville High School. Retrieved from: http://www.publicschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/45592

Starkville School District (2014). Welcome to Starkville High School. Retrieved from: http://www.starkvillesd.com/starkville-high-school/

For more information about Starkville High School click on the link provided.

UCLA Community School

UCLA Community School
700 South Mariposa Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90005
Telephone: (213) 480-3750








UCLA Community School is a pilot school and teaching students in a different way compared to other public schools. A pilot school is a school that teaches children who experience language-based learning barriers. However, UCLA Community School does more than teach students how to speak and understand English. According to Harmon (2013), “hundreds of UCLA students, staff and faculty from more than 26 units across campus have engaged and meaningfully interacted with the school in a wide range of programs and initiatives through the unique partnership among the university, the Los Angeles Unified School District, and the local community”.  Some of the organizations that UCLA Community School has partnered with include the following: Alliance for a Better Community, BruinCorps, CARECEN, Children’s Institute and Centro Latino. Each one of these organization has collaborated with UCLA Community School and have came up with innovated ways of teaching students to learn. According to Public School Review (2013-14), UCLA Community serves 978 students in grades KG-12, the student:teacher ratio of 25:1 is higher than the CA average of 22:1. Minority enrollment is 100% of the student body (majority Hispanic), which is more than the state average of 74%.  From the reviews Public School Review has on UCLA Community School, the school has a majority of Hispanic students attending the school. The reason this is because of their cultural differences that can be seen. These students would not be able to fully comprehend and succeed in a public school with the majority of the students speaking English as their first language. This is not to say that all Hispanic students would have problems because in reality there has been some students who have overcome the language barrier and succeed.
UCLA Community School has found a way to solve this issue of the language barrier that has been an issue for many years. According to UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies (2014), in 2012-13 UCLA students served more than 9,000 hours at the school across the following units and programs:

UCLA Program/Unit	# of UCLA students	# UCLA faculty/staff	# hours served
BruinCorps Tutors	7	1	594
. Center X Teacher Education Program-Dream Fellows	2	2	1000
Center X Teacher Education Program—Novice Student Teachers	5	1	741
Center X Teacher Education Program—IMPACT Residents	2	2	1872
Design for Sharing/UCLA Live	2	2	217
Multiple units:  Seminar Volunteers	4	8	50
UniCamp	4	2	232
U-C Links After School Program	30	4	1900
UCLA Arts Ed	15	3	402
UCLA Center for Community Learning—Service Learning Programs	13	6	579
UCLA Pathways Internship	1	1	341
UCLA Yoga and Nutrition	6		234
UCLA STEM partnership-Biology Recovery Class,Math PD	3	4	930

                                   

                                                    Total              9,093     

As it can be seen from the table UCLA Community School is dedicated and devoted to providing their students with the appropriate education that he or she deserved. UCLA Community School is the kind of school that teaches the students as an individual plus as a group. Students can learn a great deal of knowledge from attending this school and would achieve greater success in their lives. Students learn in a culturally relevant environment that focuses on teaching the students 21st-century skills in an innovated way. These students learn with more hands-on experiences and are able to critically think and solve problems to real-world issues. Here are some videos that gives some testimonies about UCLA Community School and how the school works to teach its students. 

UCLA Community School Pilots Success 

RFK’s Expensive Community School in Los Angeles

References

Harmon, Joanie (2013). The pilot school sees to shape students into self-direct learners, masters of academic content and skills, and active participants in society. UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. Retrieved from: http://ampersand.gseis.ucla.edu/ucla-community-school-open-house-at-innovative-pilot-school-april-29/

Public School Review (2003-14). UCLA Community. Retrieved from: http://www.publicschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/135690

UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies (2014). Service. Retrieved from: http://cs.gseis.ucla.edu/ucla-x-cs/

For more information about UCLA please visit UCLA Community School Website by clicking on

the link provided.

For more information about UCLA Community School partners visit Alliance for a Better Community, BruinCorps, CARECEN, Children’s Institute and Centro Latino by clicking on the link provided.