The Odyssey Preparatory Academy, Inc.

Odyssey will address unfinished learning through the acceleration model by prioritizing grade level content and instructional rigor and depth of instruction with support; maintain the inclusion of each and every learner and identify and address gaps in learning through instructional best practices. Odyssey will use state approved assessments such as AIMSWeb Plus for benchmarking and progress monitoring. Odyssey uses the FastForward program for intervention. It is a research-based reading intervention program approved for use by the State of Arizona. It is designed to help pre-readers, struggling readers, students with IEP's, and ELL students. This uniquely designed program begins by improving the underlying cognitive skills associated with reading struggle and delivers personalized intensive practice across a wide range of language and reading tasks to help scholars make rapid improvement. The program provides the English phonics training, intensive grammar, vocabulary practice and oral speaking necessary to build both basic and English proficiency. Support staff work directly with identified scholars as they move through the program identifying where they continue to struggle and provide offline support through targeted lessons.

Odyssey uses a combination of research based instructional methods that include whole group tier 1 instruction, utilizing benchmark data to assign scholars to small groups for Tier 2 or 3 intervention based on their needs. Scholars may be identified based on socio-economic status, ELL status, and/or Special Education status. Significant small group instruction time is implemented into the schedule daily. Classroom teachers, paraprofessionals, and special education teachers are all involved daily in the organization and implementation of structured support during small group and whole group instruction. Odyssey utilizes instructional methods such as "think-pair-share", cooperative learning, Socratic seminars, hands-on activities using manipulatives, real world experiments, and other best practice instructional activities daily. Scholar growth is monitored through bi-weekly progress monitoring by data collected through a variety of evaluation methods. Data is recorded and analyzed frequently by teachers and administration. Instruction is then adjusted where necessary to continuously address gaps in foundational skills.

An outsourced School Counselor will provide additional support to both special education and general education scholars identified as having a need for additional social-emotional support in the educational setting. Scholars will be identified by teachers and other educational stakeholders who work with them on a regular basis within the classroom. Scholars will be referred to the School Counselor when interventions and classroom supports have been tried but found to be not successful. The School Counselor will provide both individual and small group sessions to teach scholars skills related to their social-emotional learning such as: self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, emotional regulation, problem solving, responsible decision making, career development and planning, as well as helping scholars learn to build positive peer relationships and social interactions using evidence-based practice resources to guide the therapeutic interventions.
The School Counselor is trained in research-based approaches through her clinical education, professional organizations, and through continuing education to maintain her state certification. In addition, the school counselor will support the use of the evidence-based programs utilized by the School including CASEL (https://casel.org/programs-resources/). The School Counselor will keep regular notes, consult with teachers, and track changes in scholar behavior related to their responses and interactions in various social situations in the classroom. Based on this tracking, additional supports and teaching can be adjusted for each individual scholar.

Other non-grant funded support includes:
-our counseling team providing extensive community outreach support through email, phone, Zoom and in-person communication with families
-partnering with The City of Buckeye to provide an on-sight School Resource Officer who is engaged in daily community outreach as well as in-classroom support
-annual state-mandated suicide prevention training to all K-12 staff and follow-up training throughout the year
-Odyssey teachers participating in weekly professional development training that emphasizes effective strategies for working with all scholars including those in vulnerable communities