Specials at Odyssey
From Pre-K to 12th grade, students at Odyssey learn through movement, creation, and expression. Our specialized programs in music, art, and physical education aren't extras—they're essential threads woven into our Six Strands, strengthening every student's holistic intellectual, physical, and creative development.
Arts
Visual art at Odyssey runs from Kindergarten through high school, led by CJ Green (K–8) and Nausica Rotolo (High School Fine Arts Pathway). The program is built on the conviction that the goal of art education is not to produce good art — it is to produce people who know how to think about process and keep making.
Students work across drawing, painting, printmaking, clay, collage, sculpture, and cardboard construction, developing technical skills alongside the harder-to-quantify ones: tolerating uncertainty, learning from failure, and trusting their own judgment. In elementary school the emphasis is on play and foundational vocabulary. In middle school, technical skill and conceptual thinking begin to converge. The "yes, and" approach runs through all of it.
High School Pathway
The Fine Arts Pathway gives high school students concentrated, mentorship-level work in visual art with Nausica Rotolo. Students build from foundational drawing and observation through color theory and composition, toward figurative and personal work including portfolio development. The goal is a creative voice students can trust — and the habit of looking closely enough to say something true about what they find.
Physical Education
At Odyssey, the Physical Education program is rooted in the belief that every student is capable of growing in physical skill, confidence, and character. We recognize that movement, play, and wellness are essential components of a well-rounded education and contribute directly to students' academic success, emotional health, and lifelong well-being. We value the opportunity to provide a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment where each student feels seen, capable, and inspired to grow.
Ultimately, our Physical Education program seeks to empower students to become lifelong movers, responsible teammates, confident problem-solvers, and compassionate community members. We believe that physical education is not merely an academic subject, but a foundation for a joyful, balanced, and flourishing life.
Our PreK-12 curriculum is designed to provide developmentally appropriate, sequential learning that fosters a love for physical activity and encourages students to pursue healthy, active lifestyles long after graduation. Through guided exploration, skill instruction, purposeful play, and team-based experiences, students learn to challenge themselves, collaborate with others, and demonstrate integrity in both victory and defeat.
Competitive Sports - Middle and up
We are part of the Hospitality League in Asheville and play Flag Football in Fall, Basketball in Winter, and Soccer in Spring. We also have an Ultimate Frisbee team! All the sports are co-ed.
Music
Odyssey's music program offers a distinctive K-12 pathway built around contemporary performance and production rather than traditional marching band or choir models.
Students develop skills in performing, recording, and producing music through bands and ensembles. Our program emphasizes collaborative music-making, with regular showcases at Coffee Night (high school) and Hot Cocoa Night. Facilities support both recording and live performance, allowing students to build portfolios that demonstrate their growth as musicians and creators.
This approach provides a strong continuum from Pre-Kindergarten through High School, focused on real-world music-making skills.
Minimester:
Middle and High
Minimester is a yearly hiatus from our normal class schedule. During this time, students self select into a focused project group, and spend 7 days working solely on that project. This year, the project offerings are Music: Band (students create a band, learn & write songs, and give a performance at the end of the project), Animated Movie (students will write, animate, and edit a short animated film from start to finish), Mythic Persona (students will create a story around a mythic persona, then create costume pieces to allow themselves to temporarily inhabit that character), and Volunteering at 12 Baskets (a free restaurant in West Asheville where students will prepare and serve food. 12 Baskets is a non-profit run by the Asheville Poverty Initiative). Each group will present the fruits of their labor to the other students during the end of Minimester presentation ceremony.
Past seminars have included Polynesian dance, daily writing sessions in Asheville coffee shops, and collaborative filmmaking projects. Every minimester, a music intensive is also offered. This is learning that goes deep rather than wide, giving students time to immerse themselves fully in topics that spark their curiosity.
Pathways: High School
High school students choose an Arts Pathway to develop throughout their time at Odyssey: Music & Performance with Agustín Palomo Ramos, Materiality, or Fine Arts. These pathways allow students to build specialized skills and explore their creative interests with depth and intention under the mentorship of their teacher guide. Whether recording in professional studios, working with diverse materials, or refining artistic technique, pathway students develop both craft and creative voice.
The pathway is also where Odyssey's faculty depth becomes visible in unexpected ways. For example, this past year some music pathways students wanted to dive deeper into songwriting. Looking across our multitalented faculty and community, Cary Cooper was an obvious choice for support. Cary is one of Odyssey's Kindergarten teachers, a Kerrville New Folk Award winner, founder of the RealPeopleRealSongs songwriting challenge, and a songwriter whose students have included Chappell Roan, and now supports Agustín with pathway students pursuing concentrated work in songwriting. Her involvement is responsive rather than programmatic: when a student wants to go deeper into songwriting as a craft, Cary is there. It is a good example of what a small school with extraordinary faculty can do: we meet the individual goals of our student body and cultivate their skills with flexible support.
Meet the Specials teachers
Corey “CJ” Green
Agustín Palomo Ramos
Laura Foster
Nausica Rotolo
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K-12 Arts Teacher
CJ Green is a multidisciplinary artist and educator who uses whimsy, ethics, and the artist way to define what it is they are working towards as a growth minded human. Hailing from Creedmoor, N.C., CJ spent most of his early life bouncing to different schools and environments while exploring storytelling and anthropology. Through these processes, CJ found a way to further their development in the arts and sciences as they deepened their perception of space and conceptualization.
As an art teacher, CJ looks to teach students critical thinking and creative problem solving. Using his own passions in comedy, writing, social sciences, and visual arts CJ uses his working experience to instill reflection and collaboration within his students. Through this CJ creates a classroom that allows for oneself to be free to explore... themselves. CJ also spends his free time deep diving bookstores and reference sections in your local library or meandering at a coffee shop.
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HS Fine Arts Pathway Teacher
I am a painter and art educator based in Asheville, North Carolina. I studied studio art at Warren Wilson College and later continued my education at the American University of Rome, where I focused on painting, creative writing, and classical art.
My personal work is rooted in oil and watercolor painting, often leaning toward a figurative surrealist style. I’m drawn to symbolic imagery and dreamlike compositions that explore the space between reality and imagination guided by both close observation and intuitive reflection.
As a teacher, I’m passionate about helping students build confidence in their creativity and develop a strong foundation in visual art. I teach essential techniques in drawing, painting, perspective, color theory, and design, while encouraging students to take creative risks and find their own unique visual voice. My goal is to foster a classroom environment that’s inclusive, supportive, and intellectually engaging, where each student feels empowered to grow as both an artist and a thinker.
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K-12 PE Teacher
My name is Laura Foster and I am thrilled to be part of the Odyssey family as a K-12 Physical Education teacher. I have 30 years of experience teaching health and PE for NC public schools, and have coached several sports at the high school level, including basketball, volleyball and golf. I retired in 2023 but soon realized I missed teaching kids and being part of a school family.
I am very grateful and excited to be a part of this amazing community at Odyssey. I am looking forward to a great year together. We will have lots of fun, while incorporating teamwork, sportsmanship, competition, leadership, and other life skills in PE.
I live in South Asheville with my 3 dogs, Sophia, Skylar and Sadie. I enjoy working out, playing pickleball, reading, listening to podcasts, and hanging out with friends and family. I love to try new foods (just no meat, I am a pescatarian) and coffee, as I have recently become a coffee drinker (better late than never).
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K-12 Music Director
Agustín is the Director of Music and PreK-12th music teacher at the Odyssey School in Asheville. Agustin is a national and international musical artist born in San Jose, Costa Rica. He earned a degree in Education & Social Behavioral Sciences from the University of Central Florida (UCF), and later attended Florida State University for Jazz Studies. He is a lifetime member of the IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) union, Asheville chapter #278. He has been a Qualified Professional in North Carolina and has over 20 years of experience working with the IDD (Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities) community.
As a drummer and percussionist he performs, tours, and is a recording artist with his bands. Agustin is currently featured in the original rock band ExciterBox, who have a newly released album. He plays with Zabumba, a Brazilian drumline and dance troupe based in Asheville, NC. Some past ensembles include the 1995 Madison Scouts Drum & Bugle Corps and Walt Disney World (3 ensembles). He has also played in several orchestras/symphonies, concert bands, percussion ensembles, steel drum bands, jazz bands, marching bands, percussion for theater productions and many pop/rock bands.
Since 2021, he has been the music teacher at the Odyssey School in Asheville NC for pre-kindergarten through high school students. He is a resident teaching artist at LEAF Global Arts (Schools & Streets program) in Asheville, NC. His music pedagogy work has included Winter Park and Trinity high schools in Florida, The Austin Waldorf School in Texas, and as a percussion master class clinician at festivals and conventions. He arranged and composed for Appalachian State University, UCF, Wake Forest, and high schools.
Agustín is also a live event producer and a sound mixing engineer whose Front of House/Monitor A1 work can be heard with XL Live Media USA, IATSE, local production companies and independently. Some of his past crews in Austin, TX include the Bass Concert Hall, Erwin Center, and numerous events (Broadway Across America with The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Mama Mia!, Jersey Boys, The Lion King, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, George Strait, John Meyer, Neil Young, George Clinton & The Parliament Funkadelic, SXSW, Austin City Limits, Santana, Willie Nelson, Blueman Group, Tom Petty, and Deadmau5). In New York City his credits include work at Studio Instrument Rentals (SIR), Rocket Studios, and more (Fiona Apple, Beyonce, Trey Anastasio, LL Cool J, My Chemical Romance, Burning Spear and The Foo Fighters).
Curious? Come on a tour and see what sets us apart.
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