Odyssey's founder and former CEO, C. Robert
Mitchell, Ph.D. (Educational Leadership, University
of Alabama, 1979), spent nearly thirty years
in a variety of leadership positions with some
of the very best school systems in states throughout
the country, including Washington, Virginia and
Alabama.
Prior to founding Odyssey, Dr. Mitchell was
the first Superintendent of Schools for the Hoover
City Schools. Dr. Mitchell has helped several
other communities form their own school systems,
has coordinated numerous public school leadership
searches and has been a featured lecturer at
school conferences nationwide. Dr. Mitchell also
has been a 
teacher, a high school principal,
an Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and
Instruction, a visiting professor at several
colleges throughout the country, and for three
years served as Co-Director of the National Conference
for School Restructuring.
From Odyssey's inception, Dr. Mitchell believed
that the curriculum, and its emphasis on age-appropriate
learning, would set Odyssey apart from other
childcare companies. Odyssey has assembled and
maintained a strong leadership team and faculty
at each school who share the same philosophy
and commitment. Each child is treated as a unique
individual whose desire and aptitude for learning
must be nurtured and developed. This focus requires
that we use only the best practices. Rather than
adopting a single program and approach, the Odyssey
curriculum draws from a wealth of proven concepts
from early childhood professionals.
From a child's perspective, learning must be
meaningful as well as something that is fun.
Within this setting, Odyssey introduces each
child to a comprehensive curriculum that includes
language development, creativity (including arts
and crafts and dramatic play), Spanish, math,
science, music, computers and technology. Perhaps
more than anything else, we take pride in seeing
each child develop a genuine interest in and
respect for learning. We truly look forward to
the opportunities and joy of each new day.
The Odyssey curriculum is continually refined
and enriched as we observe the way children interact
and learn. Our curriculum leaders have developed
a library of more than 75 different weekly themes
with corresponding age-appropriate activities
for each of our infant, toddler, preschool and
school-age programs in each of the primary learning
areas provided at Odyssey.
The result is much more time spent engaged in
meaningful and fun activities throughout the
day, leading to more successful learning opportunities.
We call this our “silent structure,” and we believe
that a good curriculum is one that provides a
variety of experiences that keep children engaged,
interacting and having fun. Professionals who
visit our program marvel at the amount and scope
of interactive learning that children experience
at Odyssey.
Odyssey's children are accustomed to sharing
their ideas in front of their classmates. Children
at Odyssey develop the confidence necessary to
interact within the school setting and the joy
that comes from pursuing more challenging learning
activities. This is why we like to say, “The
Journey Begins at Odyssey.”
The proof is in our performance. Almost all
of the many children served by Odyssey since
1995 have graduated from our pre-kindergarten
program already possessing the basic reading
and writing skills generally taught in kindergarten
and first grade in most school systems. And they
also possess the most important skills of all
– they enjoy school, respect teachers and have
a great attitude toward learning. Many of our
“graduates” return to Odyssey for our after-school
and summer enrichment programs, where they continue
to have fun.
Our parents believe in Odyssey because, first
of all, they know that the best investment they
will ever make for their child is their selection
of their child's pre-school. Parents also find
out that, at Odyssey, we do exactly what we say
we will do. We take this responsibility seriously
and we ask you to consider Odyssey, a genuine
“Early School” that truly respects and cares
about children and learning.
