Miss-Delectable
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MassLive.com
Recently I was treated to a tour of the Willie Ross School for the Deaf in Longmeadow, where my husband briefly attended preschool.
I met with the executive director, Dr. Louis Abbate, who has been working at the school for 29 years. Abbate had e-mailed me after reading my column and invited me to visit the school.
Willie Ross School was founded in 1967 by a group of parents dedicated to helping their children who had lost their hearing due to the rubella epidemic that swept through the East Coast in the mid-1960s. At that time the only option for deaf children was residential programs that clashed with the parents' idea of day programs that can be attended from home.
Their goal was for their children to become active members in their community. More importantly, they wanted to give children with hearing impairments the best education and same opportunities as everyone else.
Today Willie Ross School has two campuses, one in Longmeadow and the other in East Longmeadow with around 68 kids attending from the ages of 3 to 22. There are currently about 50 staff members, with two being Willie Ross School graduates. Many students go on to college, vocational workshops or to jobs in their community.
Today society has become very diverse with many different cultures, languages and ways to communicate. Willie Ross School believes in looking at each child's needs to develop the best education plan for them using the Individualized Education Program (IEP) model.
Some children wear hearing aids or cochlear implants and use FM systems. Total communication, oral communication and sign language models are all used in the school.
Willie Ross School provides audiology services, speech therapy and counseling services to its students. At the East Longmeadow campus students are mainstreamed into the regular education classroom with the accommodations that are needed.
After-school activities for both campuses - ranging from sports, newspaper staff and yearbook meetings - are held at the main Longmeadow campus. The school educates students with a variety of skill levels.
A few of the students come from different language backgrounds such as Spanish, and so a translator is brought in to fill in the communication gap. Also, several students have physical disabilities, and accommodations are made for them as well.
Parents are encouraged to participate from taking sign language classes, volunteering and being part of the Parent Advisory Committee.
Students are referred to the school from their communities from Springfield to Sturbridge.
Willie Ross School is dedicated to providing the best possible education to each student so they can succeed in their community that is an equal right of everyone.
For more information visit the school's Web site at Willie Ross School for the Deaf in Longmeadow, MA
Recently I was treated to a tour of the Willie Ross School for the Deaf in Longmeadow, where my husband briefly attended preschool.
I met with the executive director, Dr. Louis Abbate, who has been working at the school for 29 years. Abbate had e-mailed me after reading my column and invited me to visit the school.
Willie Ross School was founded in 1967 by a group of parents dedicated to helping their children who had lost their hearing due to the rubella epidemic that swept through the East Coast in the mid-1960s. At that time the only option for deaf children was residential programs that clashed with the parents' idea of day programs that can be attended from home.
Their goal was for their children to become active members in their community. More importantly, they wanted to give children with hearing impairments the best education and same opportunities as everyone else.
Today Willie Ross School has two campuses, one in Longmeadow and the other in East Longmeadow with around 68 kids attending from the ages of 3 to 22. There are currently about 50 staff members, with two being Willie Ross School graduates. Many students go on to college, vocational workshops or to jobs in their community.
Today society has become very diverse with many different cultures, languages and ways to communicate. Willie Ross School believes in looking at each child's needs to develop the best education plan for them using the Individualized Education Program (IEP) model.
Some children wear hearing aids or cochlear implants and use FM systems. Total communication, oral communication and sign language models are all used in the school.
Willie Ross School provides audiology services, speech therapy and counseling services to its students. At the East Longmeadow campus students are mainstreamed into the regular education classroom with the accommodations that are needed.
After-school activities for both campuses - ranging from sports, newspaper staff and yearbook meetings - are held at the main Longmeadow campus. The school educates students with a variety of skill levels.
A few of the students come from different language backgrounds such as Spanish, and so a translator is brought in to fill in the communication gap. Also, several students have physical disabilities, and accommodations are made for them as well.
Parents are encouraged to participate from taking sign language classes, volunteering and being part of the Parent Advisory Committee.
Students are referred to the school from their communities from Springfield to Sturbridge.
Willie Ross School is dedicated to providing the best possible education to each student so they can succeed in their community that is an equal right of everyone.
For more information visit the school's Web site at Willie Ross School for the Deaf in Longmeadow, MA