Friday, February 14, 2025

Boys & Girls Club Opens Doors to Fire-Displaced Odyssey Charter School Students

Students resume classes after six-week disruption from Eaton Canyon blaze

The Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena has transformed its two main clubhouses into temporary classrooms for Odyssey Charter School students, providing educational continuity for 840 children displaced by the Eaton Canyon fire.

The partnership, announced February 13, enables students to resume their education after a six-week interruption caused by the destruction of one campus and the other being deemed unsafe and uninhabitable.

“We’ve been 100% focused on how to help Odyssey get kids back with their teachers,” said Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena Chief Executive Officer Lisa Cavelier. “The Eaton Fire hit before these kids returned from their winter break, so their time out of school turned into six weeks. We felt we had to take action to help them settle back into a safe, educational routine, so we opened our doors. It’s the right thing to do. Though admittedly cramped, the important thing is that the children and staff are together.”

The arrangement began Monday morning, February 3, with almost three-quarters of Odyssey’s students reuniting with their teachers at Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena’s East Pasadena and Northwest Pasadena locations.

Building on a long-standing partnership for out-of-school care, Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena will provide space through the school year’s end.

To accommodate older students, Odyssey has also partnered with Art Center College of Design’s South Campus, which will host 200 sixth through eighth graders.

The impact of the fire extends beyond educational disruption. Many students from the fire-affected Odyssey South Campus also lost their homes. The community has responded with substantial support, providing financial assistance, school supplies, and essential items to affected families.

“All you have to do is walk through the space to see that the arrangement is working,” said Executive Director Carlos Garcia Saldana of Odyssey Charter Schools. “Our teachers and staff are creatively finding ways to use every inch of space to do what they do best — reach our kids in a very special way. All kids deserve a safe place to learn, and we’re grateful to Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena for giving this to us.”

The Eaton Fires have affected approximately 2,000 students across more than six schools in Altadena. While space constraints remain a challenge, particularly as more students return, school officials maintain optimism. “Odyssey Charter Schools is a unique school with a very tight-knit community of families committed to the school rising again,” continued Garcia Saldana.

Founded in 1999 with 160 students, Odyssey Charter Schools became the first charter school approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Education. Under founder Kathleen O’Sullivan’s vision, the school expanded in 2018 with Odyssey Charter Schools-South to meet growing community needs. As of fall 2024, Odyssey served 470 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, while Odyssey Charter Schools-South served 370 students in transitional kindergarten through eighth grade. The school embraces individual learning styles in a diverse by design environment, focusing on academic excellence, social emotional wellbeing, and social responsibility.

Established in 1937, the Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena serves more than 2,000 youth annually, ages 5-18, through programs focused on Academic Success, Healthy Lifestyle, and Good Character and Leadership. The organization operates four locations: the Slavik Branch on E. Del Mar Boulevard, Mackenzie-Scott Branch on N. Fair Oaks Avenue, and previously two locations at Odyssey Charter Schools’ campuses, with the South location lost to the Eaton Fire.