Odle Middle School is a public middle school in the Crossroads neighborhood of Bellevue, Washington, United States. The school is one of seven middle schools in the Bellevue School District and was named posthumously after Frank Odle, who taught in the district for 55 years before retiring in 1968.[1][4] Odle is located near Stevenson Elementary, formerly a primary feeder elementary school for Odle. Odle is primarily known for its hosting of the ALS program, a gifted program for high-performing children. As of the 2023–24 school year, the school's principal is Joseph Potts and its assistant principals are Keith Altenhof and Danielle Virata.[5]
In the 2001–02 school year, Odle Middle School was one of two schools in the state to be awarded a Blue Ribbon by the U.S. Department of Education,[6][7][8] the highest award an American school can receive.[9][10]
Demographics
As of the 2021-2022 school year, the school had an enrollment of 948 students. 61% of the students are Asian, 20% are Caucasian, 9% are Hispanic, 7% are multi-ethnic, and 3% are African American. 45% speak a first language other than English, and 17% are eligible to receive free/reduced price meals.[11]
Academics
Odle's Mission
Odle Middle School aims to "empower all students academically, socially, and emotionally in a welcoming, equitable, and safe environment, so they can grow as critical thinkers, problem solvers, and responsible members of local and global communities, “ based on their website.[12]
AL Program
The AL program at Odle is part of the Advance Placement program offered in the Bellevue School District for grades 2 through 12.[13]
GT is a selective program; applicants must have 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.[14]
The high school AL program extends the science, English and social studies classes further in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at Interlake High School.[15] In the IB program, AL students complete the IB diploma during 10th and 11th grade, rather than the usual 11th and 12th grade.[16]
Extracurriculars
Rocketry
In 2016, Odle Middle School's rocketry club sponsored three teams in the Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC). In the competition's qualifying round, two of the teams placed in the top 100 teams in the nation, earning them a spot at the TARC national finals, the third team placed as a second alternate.[17] One of the teams, the Odle Middle School "Space Potatoes," won the 2016 Team America Rocketry Challenge, earning more than $20,000 in prizes and scholarships and a trip to London to compete in the International Rocketry Challenge.[18] The team went on to win International Rocketry Challenge at the Farnborough International Airshow on July 15, besting the top student rocketry teams from the United Kingdom, France and Japan.[19]
The Chess Team has won many prizes all over the nation and the state.
Odle Middle School earned first place in the 2006 national K–8 chess championship[20][21][22] and got seventh place in Chess Supernationals 2013 K-8 chess championship. The chess team has also claimed first place in the Washington Middle School Team Championship for the school years 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, and 2010–11.[23][failed verification]
In April 2014, members of the Odle Chess Team will go to Atlanta, Georgia, to compete in the National Junior High Chess Championship. The team is currently has the highest average rating as a team for the K-8 division.[citation needed]
Odle Middle School tied for 1st place in the national 2016 K-8 chess championship.
The Odle Science Bowl Club has participated in the U.S. Department of Energy'sNational Science Bowl since 2017. Over the years, it has gotten:
- National 2nd Place in 2017
- National 1st Place in 2018
- National 3rd Place in 2021
- National 1st Place in 2022[27][28]
2014-2016 remodeling
In 2014, Odle Middle School decided to remodel the old building; implement about 200 kW worth of new solar panels, the most solar power put on any BSD school building to date.[29] The solar panels were built specifically for the newly designed classrooms created for classes involving STEM and the arts. Alongside solar panels, expansive athletics infrastructure, thermal floors, etc were also implemented.[30] During the two year construction period of the new building, which is next to Stevenson Elementary School, Odle Middle School was moved to the Bellevue School District's designated swing school, Ringdall Middle School.[31] The redesign however failed to compensate for the extensive backup of traffic onto 8th and 140th during morning drop-off hours leading to continued dissatisfaction among the parent community.
^"CIBA cited as one of the best by Education Department". Journal Inquirer. November 16, 2006. Archived from the original on August 19, 2007. 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.
^Team America Rocketry Challenge (April 8, 2016). "2016 TARC National Finalists"(PDF). RocketContest.org. Team America Rocketry Challenge. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
^DeAngelis, Allison (June 20, 2016). "The Bellevue Reporter". Newspaper. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
