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http://www.startribune.com/stories/1592/5696439.html
Students there can take classes both at the city's public schools and at the state-run academies for the deaf and blind.
Wearing a baseball cap and dark, amber-tinted sunglasses, Kyle Hanneman easily blends in with the hundreds of other students at Faribault High School.
He stops at his locker to exchange textbooks before fighting the crowds to get to his second-hour Minnesota history class.
The 17-year-old Lakeville native, however, is not a typical Faribault High School student. He is officially registered as a student at the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind and, through a partnership unique in the state, also takes courses in the Faribault public schools.
And those wraparound-style sunglasses are not just for looks. They are prescription glasses he must wear as a result of his retinal dysfunction, an abnormality that makes his eyes sensitive to light and color and that will worsen over time.
A mainstreaming program between Faribault Public Schools and the state academies for the blind and deaf allows Hanneman and others to access courses and electives not offered at the public, state-run institutions.
"I'm mainstreamed pretty much the whole day, but I take one class [at MSAB] because of my eyes," Hanneman said.
His day starts at Faribault High School, where he takes typical courses ranging from history to astronomy and then returns to MSAB -- where he also stays overnight during the week -- for math. He returns to Lakeville most weekends to stay with his family.
Hanneman said that at the public middle school he attended in Lakeville, administrators didn't have the capacity to work with his retinal dysfunction.
"I'm really doing a lot better, as far as grades and just understanding things," he said.
More than 30 students are mainstreamed to Faribault schools from the state academies this year at the elementary, middle school and high school levels. Students also have the option to "reverse mainstream," to take classes at the state academies. About two dozen students from Faribault Schools are expected to take classes at the state academies this year, many in American Sign Language courses or learning the skill of reading and creating Braille.
"Those types of skills can be offered [at the state academies] that you might not see in a public-school setting," said Roxie Mitchell, liaison between the two systems.
Morgan Anderson is an energetic third-grader taking classes such as American Sign Language, speech and math at the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf. Later in the day she takes reading, writing and current events classes at Roosevelt Elementary through the mainstreaming program.
Morgan has limited hearing, which also affects her speech. She is continuing to improve her speech and is also able to communicate through American Sign Language.
Patrice Anderson, Morgan's mother, who is deaf, said through an interpreter that she also took classes at MSAD before moving to Little Falls, where she graduated from a public high school.
"I prefer her [Morgan] going to a public school," Patrice Anderson said. "I think that she can get a good education there, and it is more challenging."
Socializing with peers, though, is important, and that works best at MSAD, she said.
Mitchell said the option for students to attend both schools works well.
"I say it's a good marriage because for those kids going [to Faribault public schools] it gives them selections of new class options that may not be available here," she said. "Being a smaller school, you can't have as many electives or options for electives for the students to take that you would have at a school such as Faribault High School."
Students there can take classes both at the city's public schools and at the state-run academies for the deaf and blind.
Wearing a baseball cap and dark, amber-tinted sunglasses, Kyle Hanneman easily blends in with the hundreds of other students at Faribault High School.
He stops at his locker to exchange textbooks before fighting the crowds to get to his second-hour Minnesota history class.
The 17-year-old Lakeville native, however, is not a typical Faribault High School student. He is officially registered as a student at the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind and, through a partnership unique in the state, also takes courses in the Faribault public schools.
And those wraparound-style sunglasses are not just for looks. They are prescription glasses he must wear as a result of his retinal dysfunction, an abnormality that makes his eyes sensitive to light and color and that will worsen over time.
A mainstreaming program between Faribault Public Schools and the state academies for the blind and deaf allows Hanneman and others to access courses and electives not offered at the public, state-run institutions.
"I'm mainstreamed pretty much the whole day, but I take one class [at MSAB] because of my eyes," Hanneman said.
His day starts at Faribault High School, where he takes typical courses ranging from history to astronomy and then returns to MSAB -- where he also stays overnight during the week -- for math. He returns to Lakeville most weekends to stay with his family.
Hanneman said that at the public middle school he attended in Lakeville, administrators didn't have the capacity to work with his retinal dysfunction.
"I'm really doing a lot better, as far as grades and just understanding things," he said.
More than 30 students are mainstreamed to Faribault schools from the state academies this year at the elementary, middle school and high school levels. Students also have the option to "reverse mainstream," to take classes at the state academies. About two dozen students from Faribault Schools are expected to take classes at the state academies this year, many in American Sign Language courses or learning the skill of reading and creating Braille.
"Those types of skills can be offered [at the state academies] that you might not see in a public-school setting," said Roxie Mitchell, liaison between the two systems.
Morgan Anderson is an energetic third-grader taking classes such as American Sign Language, speech and math at the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf. Later in the day she takes reading, writing and current events classes at Roosevelt Elementary through the mainstreaming program.
Morgan has limited hearing, which also affects her speech. She is continuing to improve her speech and is also able to communicate through American Sign Language.
Patrice Anderson, Morgan's mother, who is deaf, said through an interpreter that she also took classes at MSAD before moving to Little Falls, where she graduated from a public high school.
"I prefer her [Morgan] going to a public school," Patrice Anderson said. "I think that she can get a good education there, and it is more challenging."
Socializing with peers, though, is important, and that works best at MSAD, she said.
Mitchell said the option for students to attend both schools works well.
"I say it's a good marriage because for those kids going [to Faribault public schools] it gives them selections of new class options that may not be available here," she said. "Being a smaller school, you can't have as many electives or options for electives for the students to take that you would have at a school such as Faribault High School."
