Washington State School for the Blind

Success Stories

 

 

WSSB has had a very rich history of providing quality services to blind and visually impaired children within the state of Washington.  Below is just a small sample of some of the successes that have occurred over the past 15 years:

 

·        Successful Graduates: Tracking of all graduates since 1998 show an 87.5% success rate compared to national figures of 70% unemployment in the blind community.

·        Parent and District Satisfaction:  Since 1993, WSSB has been collecting quality information on programs and the services that are provided.  WSSB consistently receives ratings of 4.5 or higher in almost all service areas, based on a 5.0 scale.

·        Implementation of a 24-hour IEP System:   This provided the staff/school the opportunity to focus on its strength in being able to provide intensive 24-hour services for children and accomplishing a tremendous amount in a relatively short period of time.

·        Self Medication Program:  If blind and visually impaired children are going to be independent, all aspects of independence needs to be addressed.  WSSB is one of the few schools in the country that has implemented such a program.

·        Outreach Expansion:  Providing services throughout the state and having the school be viewed as a Center of Best Practices has assisted local districts in meeting the needs of blind and visually impaired children.  WSSB currently contracts with approximately 1/5th of the school districts in the state for itinerant vision services.  This service continues to grow based upon the availability of highly qualified teachers of the blind and visually impaired.

·        Summer School Program:  WSSB provides summer school programs to children from throughout the state that are not in attendance during the school year.

·        Summer Sports Camp:  WSSB, in partnership with NWABA (Northwest Association of Blind Athletes), provides a sports camp for blind and visually impaired children.

·        Youth Employment Solutions I (YES I):  Summer school opportunities for students ages 14-16 in the area of career education and job skill development.  This program is in partnership with the Department of Services for the Blind and has led to YES II, which is a six week program run by DSB in the Seattle area during the summer with a focus on 16+ age students in on the job training.

·        Technology Statewide Center:  WSSB was successful in developing a statewide technology center for blind and visually impaired children that provides software, equipment, and training to students and educators.

·        Braille Access Center:  Washington was the first state to have Braille on demand for public documents (1993).  This partnership with the Office of the State Printer, Corrections, Department of Information Services, and Tacoma Community College has led to a tremendous service resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings to local districts and the state, while tremendously improving access.

·        Instructional Resource Center: Relocated on the WSSB campus, which has resulted in a blending of OSPI federal funding, WSSB, state, and private funding resulting in improved services for children.  (Recently located in a new state-of-the-art facility.)

·        High Tech Campus and Services:   Leadership has helped secure funding to keep WSSB on the cutting edge in this important area.  This not only addresses access and communication devices and training for kids and staff, but also for the operation of campus facility and the safety of children and staff.

·        Quality On Campus Education Programs Provided by Quality Staff:  Intensive services with a focus on short-term placement, which has resulted in tremendous gains for children.

o       Strong academic programs

o       Strong CORE Competency Programs for the blind and visually impaired

o       Strong technology access programs

o       Quality programs:

§         Great music program

§         Fitness for Life Programs (P.E./Recreation/leisure)

§         LIFTT (transition program)

§         Extra-curricular programs geared toward confidence and self-esteem building: 

·        Downhill Skiing

·        Power lifting

·        Goalball

·        Swimming

·        Etc.

o       Quality staff:  (below just a small example)

§         Disney Teacher Finalist of the year (one of 30 finalists) - Robb Peck

§         Technology – nationally recognized for access technology – Bruce McClanahan

§         Math – nationally recognized – JoAnn Gatley

§         Physical Education/fitness:  Jennifer Butcher – low incidence disability teacher of the year – 2003 and Para-Olympic bronze medal recipient

§         Above is just a small list of the type of staff that work at WSSB

·        Distance/Digital Learning Initiative:  Beginning the fall of 2003, WSSB entered the distance/ digital learning with a goal of being able to provide services to blind and visually children in a variety of classes where location would not be a factor.  WSSB also became part of the Digital Learning Commons Pilot Program for the state, along with 17 other schools. 

·        Capital Project Campaign:  WSSB has virtually rebuilt the entire campus since 1990 with the demolition of non-used facilities, the remodeling of current facilities, addition of new buildings, and development of new partners resulting in a more efficient use of the campus.  (Currently over 50,000 people use the campus each year.)

·        Partnerships:  Very little of what has been accomplished over the years would have been possible without strong partnerships on a local, state, regional and national basis.

o       Helen Keller said:  “Alone we can do so little, Together we can do so much!” 

·        Governor’s Quality Award:

o       Braille Access Center – 2002

o       Statewide Technology Center – 1999

o       Low Vision Stateside Task Force – 2001