Don't forget tomorrow - Friday, April 17 - is an Early Release Day. This means all elementary students will be dismissed for the day at noon, and all secondary students will be dismissed for the day at 1:30 p.m. Faculty and staff members will use the afternoon for a half-day of professional development. If your child attends ½ day pre-kindergarten please contact the school for details of how that will be handled. Again, tomorrow is an Early Release Day.

There will be one more Early Release Day after this one, on May 22.

Congratulations to this Odyssey of the Mind team from New Tech Odessa for qualifying for the 36^th Odyssey of the Mind World Finals in May! More than 800 teams from around the world are expected in what has become the world's largest creative, problem-solving competition.

In about three months, three new elementary schools will open - our first new elementary schools in 25 years! The three principals are busy working to hire a staff, buy supplies and furnishings, and make sure they are ready for business when the new school year starts.

A couple of weeks ago many of them got a quick tour of the new buildings - the group above is walking through Buddy West Elementary, located at Kellus-Turner Park in west Odessa. The group below is from Edward K Downing Elementary near West 16^th & Knox. They described this site visit to their future campus as emotional, exciting and inspiring.

Next week is School Volunteer Appreciation Week. It is also the time we honor our VIPS (Volunteers in Public Schools) and our community partners with an awards luncheon. We are not exaggerating when we say our volunteers are the best - in the last two years the State of Texas has recognized some of our volunteers and partners four times for their outstanding work!