We initially chose Odyssey because it promised a strong sense of community, solid education, and safe educational trips. Unfortunately, our experience was far from what was advertised. My son was bullied by a group of girls for half of his crucial final school year, and when he failed Algebra 2 (with a D grade), the principal--who also taught the class--blamed my son entirely. What was left out was that the principal had to frequently cover for other teachers, making his own teaching inconsistent, and the school even went without a science teacher for half a year. Worse yet, he failed to inform me when my son came forward about the bullying. The teachers at the 8th-grade level didn't step in to stop the bullying until I personally got involved, and that's unacceptable. While the trips were enjoyable, they were not as safe as we were led to believe. There were several issues that my son told me about only after the fact, and I wish I had known earlier. Overall, I can no longer recommend this school based on our experience. read more

Odyssey School in San Mateo has been a gem for our family. Over the years, both our sons went to school and graduated from Odyssey (not at the same time). The impact on them? Huge. As products of public K-12 education followed by college, my wife and I always put academics as a priority. We were a bit wary of Odyssey's smaller size at the start. But, a close friend's endorsement and our interactions with the faculty convinced us to take the plunge. The outcome? Our boys got more than just book smarts; they received tailored education thanks to the smaller classrooms. Importantly, each of the boys didn't just pass through Odyssey; they flourished there. Both boys enrolled in their preferred local private high schools post-Odyssey. While we always emphasized academics, the expeditionary feats at the school--like scaling Mt. Whitney, exploring Japan, or sailing the Channel Islands-- helped make them who they are today. Big kudos to Odyssey for this experience. read more

I continue to be impressed and grateful for the nurturing and welcoming community at Odyssey School in San Mateo. The teachers are hardworking, insightful, and positive. The families are super engaged and organize many special events for the kids and parents. We heard about the school from a former parent who had rave reviews. After visiting the school during an open house session, we were convinced it would be a great fit for our son. The school recognizes the importance of middle school as a time of significant change for teenagers and uses this time to help them find their true north and build confidence so they can do well in high school and beyond. I am so thankful for the positive impact that Odyssey has had on my son's upbringing, and we're planning on applying for our second child there as well! read more

This private middle school is the best kept secret on the Peninsula. The students come out of Odyssey confident, independent, and more than academically ready for high school and beyond. Odyssey has developed in my son a love of learning and desire to do well in school. A couple of highlights: expeditionary learning, strong math and SEL programs, low turnover with exceptional teachers, and a strong parent community. Odyssey used to be a school for gifted and talented, but not labeled as such any longer. Most children though are very smart and want to learn. I have heard many graduates return, saying how much Odyssey prepared them for high school. read more

As a parent, you often don't know the true value of a private school education until years after a child has graduated. You may never actually know, even if you think you do. But during this past pandemic year, Odyssey parents have been given the gift of seeing their child survive and even thrive under the support and guidance of Odyssey teachers, staff, and extended community. This small school has worked endlessly to ensure that students are being nurtured and taught in both an online as well as an outdoor learning environment. Odyssey has worked with San Mateo County to enact safety protocols to allow students to safely return to campus and experience the social aspect of community learning, building, and even giving back. Yes, expeditions have been local and more self-centered than in "normal" years, but Odyssey School has stayed true to its mission and values. As a parent, I'm grateful every day for this environment in which my child gets to grow and learn while navigating the most challenging year they may ever know as a human being on this planet. read more

Odyssey School in San Mateo was and continues to be a gift to our daughter, now a high school senior. Rarely do I hear parents of adolescents describe middle school as a place where their children thrived, but that's exactly what happened on every level for our daughter in the years she spent at Odyssey, a uniquely supportive micro-school community. We hoped that Odyssey would be an exciting and challenging alternative to our huge public middle school, a three-year hiatus from big classes in an impersonal institutional setting; Odyssey delivered! Our daughter spent 6th, 7th, and 8th grades getting to know her excellent teachers and classmates not only on campus but also on the slopes of Mt. Whitney, exploring the Channel Islands by boat, camping in the redwoods, snow hiking on Mt. Rose during a week of snow school instruction, attending the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, biking on Canada Road, etc. Odyssey is an unusually down-to-earth private school where teamwork and inclusion are strong cultural values. Our daughter had the precious opportunity to pass through early adolescence at this very special school, where she felt known, well-loved, and encouraged to explore beyond the classroom. read more

I wish the owners did not place a cell tower right next to the school. Other than that, I've always heard positive things about the school.

Our child is having an incredible experience at Odyssey Middle School. For parents looking for a transformative middle school experience Odyssey is the best in the Bay Area. What sets Odyssey apart is dedicated leadership and teachers. Our child loves the accelerated and integrated academics and the close knit community. Added bonus, the incredible expeditionary program! read more

Our son continues to thrive at Odyssey Middle School during his second year. I am impressed with so many aspects of the school. The expectations for the students are high, and students are appropriately pushed to their limits. This is all done in a high quality supportive, warm, and understanding environment. Odyssey students are smart, polite, well-behaved, and will be future leaders. Odyssey enhances the healthy growth of young adolescents as lifelong learners who are ethical, good citizens, competent, self-sufficient and optimistic about the future. At this age our son is undergoing rapid physical, social, emotional, and moral changes. Odyssey is a safe and happy environment we entrust with the healthy development and education of our son during these crucial years of growth. The new head is unparalleled, and the teachers and staff are wonderful. Our son loves going to Odyssey everyday. read more

Ask where these kids go to high school! Many are turned down by all private schools! This school does not provide help in applying to high schools either. Teacher turnover has been very high with the strong gems leaving over the last few years. Math is a study hall class with "mini lectures" given at random and asynchronous to the material the child is studying. This class requires your child to largely teach himself or herself math. Ask parents how problems are handled and whether the head of school remembers to honor his agreements. The head prides himself on not keeping written documentation. read more

Odyssey is filled with very supportive teachers and personnel. My son relishes his time there, and looks forward to school. He no longer feels different when he raises his hand to every question. His curiosity is inspired, and his confidence has grown with many outdoor experiential learning opportunities. There is a great climate of like minded parents who are participatory, and involved in making the middle school years as bright as possible. We couldn't have asked for more from a little school like Odyssey. read more

Our gifted son is in 7th grade and joined the Odyssey School this year after being homeschooled previously. The transition couldn't have been smoother. This school is a truly special place! The teachers go above and beyond daily. Their generosity of spirit, warmth, sense of humor, understanding and unwavering expectation for the best from each child is absolutely priceless and commendable. A very small, close knit community in a magical setting. Our son can not wait to get to school every day! Worth every penny of the tuition!!! read more

If your younger is extremely self-motivated and you know 100% what he/she is doing outside of home everyday, he/she probably will succeed in any public school, let alone private schools. But if your little one is definitely intelligent and gifted in many ways, but he/she keeps feeling bored at school, spending much more time at video games than school work, sometimes afraid to go to school because of bullies... it's hard to find a better private school in the Bay Area that's safer, more challenging and nourishing for the adolescents than Odyssey Middle School. Our daughter has joined Odyssey for almost a year now, and we all love the school and I would highly recommend anybody who treasures middle school education to his/her child to pay a visit to this wonderful school and to learn more about this "hidden jewel". First of all, we feel Odyssey provides a very supportive and safe environment for adolescents at middle school age. At Odyssey, all the students are like siblings so you don't ever feel embarrassed by anything you say, or any mistake you make. The teachers are so close to the students, they're mentors and friends to the kids. The students also keep a private journal with his/her advisor that nobody else can see. I know my daughter has dumping anything she cannot talk to Daddy and Mommy there. My daughter was a shy girl and used to be reluctant to speak her opinion publicly. After a few months at Odyssey, the teacher sometimes has to stop her from talking too much in class and she feels more comfortable at school than at home. Secondly, the teachers here are wonderful! They have the amazing ability to challenge these bright young souls academically in a very hands-on and fun way. So my daughter sometimes has spent hours at homework at night but she never complained like she used to because that's something she wants to have an answer too. Because of the small class-size, the teachers know each student so well that they can give them individual attention and guidance. I feel that they're also very open and collaborative with the parents. Last but not least, Odyssey teaches the kids to be a well balanced and community-driven person. From the morning swim, yoga, hiking... to outdoor education in Santa Barbara; from the hours of community service each semester to making lunch themselves at school, the school also gets the kids ready physically and mentally and teach them to keep a kind and sensitive heart... Looking at the kids graduating from Odyssey, I know that my daughter is in best hands both academically and socially. If you believe middles school may be the last chance that we can shape a child and leave them solid value that they can carry for the rest of their lives, Odyssey will not let you down. read more

Odyssey is a jewel of a middle school: located in a wooded area, the education is hands on and integrated into real world issues and events. Kids read Shakespeare, Michael Pollen, study Japanese, dissect pigs and do public service projects. The school is tiny; it's almost like having private tutors for your child. The expectations are high. If your child is bored in elementary school, check out Odyssey. read more

Our son, who is now a sophomore at a local public high school, had a fantastic experience at Odyssey Middle School. Odyssey helped him grow academically, intellectually, athletically, personally, interpersonally, socially, and emotionally during his three-year journey through a carefully designed series of hands-on experiences and big challenges. He left Odyssey happy, confident, and resourceful. One example: early in their first year at Odyssey, students attend the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to see plays in the open-air Elizabethan theater. During the day, one of their tasks is to split up into pairs then navigate through town for a scavenger hunt. For many students, this is the first time that they have had to navigate on their own without parents to help. Over the subsequent three years, the size and complexity of the challenges that they are given grow until they ready for the keystone Odyssey experience where the third-year students go to Japan for a three-week-long immersion in Japanese culture. The students again split up into pairs but instead of figuring out how to get from point A to point B in a small American town, they have to get from Kyoto by bullet train to Tokyo and back in a single day with a fixed budget. In Tokyo, they have to choose whatever "point B" they would like to visit using only public transit (bus, subway, foot) -- no taxi) and speaking only in Japanese with locals to get directions or ask for their help in filling out a cultural survey that each student has created and has to get 100 responses to. Odyssey is full of experiences like this, building the students' resiliency by taking on an ever-more-complex set of challenges inside and outside of the classroom. The best way to get to know Odyssey is to go through the application process. Odyssey told us that by the end of the application process, we would know if our son was a fit for Odyssey and if Odyssey was a fit for him. They were right. read more

I have 3 children and all have been to public elementary schools, and subsequently and now are in 3 different private schools, catholic, large private non-denominational and Odyssey. Odyssey is unique in that your child's personality, strengths and weaknesses will be well known by all the faculty. This will be communicated to you, the parents, by student/parent/teacher conferences. They are unique in the bay area by offering experiential learning through numerous "expeditions" that are not field trips but physically, academically and emotionally challenging expeditions that are part of the academic curriculum. The academic curriculum is more advanced than our local public middle school. In addition to the academic curriculum Odyssey taught my child how to study, communicate with teachers/professors, the gamesmanship of academic achievement, teamwork and how to physically and mentally challenge oneself to achieve goals. All the kids are in great shape from the miles of hiking and mountaineering. They learn how to work as a team to achieve goals such as climbing Mt Fuji, thrive on a marine research vessel for many days and hike many miles, the last expedition was 70 miles, through academically rich environments throughout the world. Odyssey has left our child very academically, socially and emotionally enriched. If you are looking for a small school where your child will get individual attention and attain skills not found at other public or private bay area schools you need to have Odyssey on your list of must schools to consider. read more

My son attends Odyssey and I have found the head of school and all the teachers to be fantastic. They really get to know your child quickly because they go to an outdoor ed type of thing every September for about 8 days at a skills building retreat and then go onto a Shakespeare Festival for 3 more days. The teachers all go to that with the kids - talk about dedication. Odyssey is concerned not only with the kids IQ and academics, but also with their emotional quotient. I wish all schools had this approach. They have a great self science program too. If you want to see your child grow both academically and emotionally and be in a safe and caring environment, Odyssey is the way to go. They also do a 5 day spring out door ed trip each year. These outdoor ed programs and all the great field trips are included in the tuition! They have adivsory groups and occassionally they go out to lunch in their advisory groups and the kids have to bring $10 but I think it is well worth it. I can't recommend the school and the staff strongly enough. The Japanese teacher has been a great mentor to my son and and the new math teacher is terrific. The head of school has always been open to meeting with me and has always made me feel welcome to discuss anything. His parent meetings are also very insightful. Just a great school. read more

What an amazing place! We have lived in the area for years, and when it came time to look for a middle school for our son, we looked in all of the usual places. We did the rounds of open houses and for some reason; Odyssey just wasn't on our radar screen. I'm not sure why, its 5 minutes from our house, and very convenient to the freeway. At the urging of some friends we gave Odyssey School a call and are we ever glad. This small school has a big agenda. They manage to inspire middle school kids in a safe and nurturing environment. My son needs personal attention in order to thrive and this is Odyssey's specialty. Small class environment, serious academics taught in a fun way, outstanding math, science, humanities, language, and physical education like I've never encountered before. Odyssey's cultural arts program enriches the students beyond their perceived comfort zone to create independent thinkers and world citizens. They leave the classroom regularly for community service, hands on learning and educational travel opportunities. The middle school experience culminates with a three week trip to Japan. Outstanding. read more

Our daughter attended Odyssey after leaving a local public school for gifted and talented students which was not meeting her needs in the least. In fact, she was nearly a year behind in math, despite being a very talented student. She was unmotivated and having trouble adjusting to the social issues associated with middle school. Needless to say, the difference was astonishing and her progress was absolutely exponential! She was excited to learn Japanese and became driven to catch up in math (indeed--she completed two years of math--mastery--not a perfunctory knowledge--in less than a year). Irrespective of the academics, the social and emotional training and experiences the children receive are incredible. The degree to which my daughter matured and grew during the school's "expeditions" was astounding. This school "gets" middle school. While it's small size may not work for everyone, I feel no compunction about sending my youngest to Odyssey. I honestly didn't even mind writing the tuition checks. It was worth it. read more

odysey is great my son got into stanford

Ask about high school acceptance rates for the 2015 class. The earlier reviewer is misinformed. The 2014 graduating class had few acceptances into private schools with one top Odyssey male being rejected by every private school! Acceptance data is misleading with less than 50% of students attempting applications to private high schools. The school provides no formal guidance on high school selection and no counseling on the application process for either the student or the parents. Although the lack of guidance may lead to the very poor acceptance rate, likely it is the lack of rigor in the science and math programs. In recent years the school moved to a study hall style math, citing flexibility of independent study and ability to soar ahead. The reality is many students use Aleks.com for their entire math curriculum. No wonder students are demotivated and end up repeating algebra in 9th grade. The school prides itself on a lack of text books. There are none used in Japanese or science. The occasional electronic article provides some background information, but the science curriculum is run as a very loose cursory overview of topics year to year. read more