Odle Middle School is a public middle school in the Crossroads neighborhood of Bellevue, Washington, USA. 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. 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 2019–20 school year, the school's principal is Aaron Miller and its assistant principals are Renee Del-Barut Fierro and Danielle Verata. 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, the highest award an American school can receive.
Demographics
As of the 2017–18 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1059 students. 55% are Asian/Pacific Islander, 23% of the students are Caucasian, 12% are Hispanic, 8% are multi-ethnic, and 2% are African American. 42% Speak a first language other than English, and 25% receive free/reduced price meals. 25% of the teachers are Nationally Board Certified.
Academics
PRISM
The GT program at Odle is part of the Gifted and Talented Education program offered in the Bellevue School District for grades 2 through 12. 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.
High school extension
The high schoolGifted and Talented program extends the science, English, and social studies classes further in the International Baccalaureate program at Interlake High School. In the IB program, PRISM students complete the IB diploma during 10th and 11th grade, rather than the usual 11th and 12th grade.
Extracurriculars
Rocketry
In 2016, Odle Middle School's rocketry club sponsored three teams in the Team America Rocketry Challenge. 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. 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. 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.
Chess
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 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. 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. Odle Middle School tied for 1st place in the national 2016 K-8 chess championship.
2014-2016 remodeling
In 2014, Odle Middle School decided to remodel the old building, implement new solar panels, build specially designed classrooms for classes involving STEM and the arts, expansive athletics infrastructure, thermal floors, etc. 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 Dirstict's designated swing school, Ringdall Middle School.
