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http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/k12/article/0,2673,MCA_22898_4464844,00.html
After 20 years on Jefferson Avenue, the Memphis Oral School for the Deaf is moving to Germantown.
The program, with its 25 day school students between birth and 6 years old, will share space with Kingsway Christian Church on the south side of Poplar near Brierbrook. Plans call for a third building that will double as the school and a church community facility.
The Oral School, founded in 1959, uses educators, speech therapists and audiologists to work with hearing-impaired students before they are mainstreamed into schools. The school's satellite location in DeSoto County will remain there.
School officials will announce the move today at the Germantown site. The school moved in 1986 to 711 Jefferson, in the Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities.
The project still must clear Germantown's review process, but most believe the partnership that will lead to the third building should not face resistance.
"I don't really see any problem," said Jerry Cook, Germantown's director of community development. "The building they want on the site was part of the original master plan for the church."
Construction should start in late spring, and the school hopes to move into the new space over the Christmas holidays.
Today's announcement ends a four-year search for a new location. David Pickler, vice chairman of the school's board and part of the search team, said they had "looked at every piece of vacant land and every abandoned church," hoping to find a new location.
Pickler said the neighborhood around the Jefferson location posed problems for teachers, staff and parents. He said at times, homeless people moved onto the playground, and the situation may have hindered more students from using the school. He said the new 8,500-square-foot building also will give them room to grow.
"This will help serve as a safe learning environment where teachers feel more comfortable, and there is an opportunity to network and share facilities with Kingsway," Pickler said.
The idea has already received overwhelming support from the Kingsway membership. Bob Rose, a member of the building committee, said members unanimously voted to proceed with the partnership. "We don't hardly agree on anything," Rose said with a laugh. "It was a magical moment."
The third building, in the church's original plans, was cut when the project ran short of funds. The opportunity to work with the Oral School opened the door to complete the Kingsway campus.
The coexistence with the church's day school will provide Oral School students an interaction with "other children so they have an age-appropriate language model," Teresa Schwartz, the school's principal, said.
"It's good for their social development and their language development. When they leave, they are going to be mainstreamed. To get those social skills in place and good manners will be valuable to get them in the mainstream."
After 20 years on Jefferson Avenue, the Memphis Oral School for the Deaf is moving to Germantown.
The program, with its 25 day school students between birth and 6 years old, will share space with Kingsway Christian Church on the south side of Poplar near Brierbrook. Plans call for a third building that will double as the school and a church community facility.
The Oral School, founded in 1959, uses educators, speech therapists and audiologists to work with hearing-impaired students before they are mainstreamed into schools. The school's satellite location in DeSoto County will remain there.
School officials will announce the move today at the Germantown site. The school moved in 1986 to 711 Jefferson, in the Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities.
The project still must clear Germantown's review process, but most believe the partnership that will lead to the third building should not face resistance.
"I don't really see any problem," said Jerry Cook, Germantown's director of community development. "The building they want on the site was part of the original master plan for the church."
Construction should start in late spring, and the school hopes to move into the new space over the Christmas holidays.
Today's announcement ends a four-year search for a new location. David Pickler, vice chairman of the school's board and part of the search team, said they had "looked at every piece of vacant land and every abandoned church," hoping to find a new location.
Pickler said the neighborhood around the Jefferson location posed problems for teachers, staff and parents. He said at times, homeless people moved onto the playground, and the situation may have hindered more students from using the school. He said the new 8,500-square-foot building also will give them room to grow.
"This will help serve as a safe learning environment where teachers feel more comfortable, and there is an opportunity to network and share facilities with Kingsway," Pickler said.
The idea has already received overwhelming support from the Kingsway membership. Bob Rose, a member of the building committee, said members unanimously voted to proceed with the partnership. "We don't hardly agree on anything," Rose said with a laugh. "It was a magical moment."
The third building, in the church's original plans, was cut when the project ran short of funds. The opportunity to work with the Oral School opened the door to complete the Kingsway campus.
The coexistence with the church's day school will provide Oral School students an interaction with "other children so they have an age-appropriate language model," Teresa Schwartz, the school's principal, said.
"It's good for their social development and their language development. When they leave, they are going to be mainstreamed. To get those social skills in place and good manners will be valuable to get them in the mainstream."