LD Resources

Sanford Shapiro looks at The Odyssey School
© 2007 Sanford Shapiro

The Odyssey School is located in Stevenson Maryland, nearby to Baltimore, and is primarily for dyslexic students in grades 1-8. The campus is on forty-two acres of beautiful rolling hills. Begun in 1994 with 20 kids, it now stands at nearly 160 students. Odyssey is one of small but growing number of schools that has responded to the more recent research that identifies dyslexia as a language processing disorder (specifically phonological) by having a significant Speech-Language presence.

In addition to the having three full-time speech-language pathologists and in response to the phonological research mentioned, Odyssey utilizes a structured approach to literacy development called Phono-Graphix. Intending to place more emphasis on phonemic processing than other phonics based teaching, Odyssey hopes this approach is particularly well suited to its students. Besides being structured and explicit, Phono-Graphix differentiates itself in part, by reportedly putting much less emphasis on rule memorization.

The school was very careful and measured in its approach to adopting the program, from initial training of its teachers and tutors to the yearlong pilot testing they used on a group of their younger students. The speech and language chair of the school was one of the two heads of the initial work and continues to head up its implementation. They have done their own studies and are excited at the results. They see growth and improvement in phonological awareness and rapid naming, both considered critical skills for reading and spelling.

Integral to Odyssey students’ schedule are daily fifty minute, one-to-one tutorial sessions. Collaborating with the speech/language personnel, trained tutors create lessons for each student. Again, the speech language department plays an important role and administers the initial assessment to determine the needs and provide consultation to tutorial staff. Another integral part of this school is its emphasis on the arts, including drama. In addition to the usual drama clubs and talent shows, the school invests in having visiting artists create special workshops for the kids. While I was visiting there was an interactive musical performance going on in the school’s performing arts center.

Of course, being in Maryland, Lacrosse is big here and the kids get the opportunities to play on a variety of sports teams. They also have their own brand of an outdoor adventure program as part of the physical education choices.

Related at this site: The Odyssey School