In order to fully serve WSD students, a number of support services are available.
Adaptive Education Department (AED)
Students enrolled in AED classes have additional opportunities for small group, intensive instruction in the following areas: life skills, functional academics, independent living skills, and work/study skills.
Pupil Services Team (PST)
The Pupil Services Team at WSD consists of a school psychologist, behavior specialist, two social workers, a guidance counselor, two psychological services assistants, and an Individual Education Plan (IEP) coordinator. The PST provides support services and addresses emotional and social issues to help facilitate the student’s maximized learning potential. Counseling services are available to students on an as needed basis or as directed by the student’s IEP. Services are available both during the school day and in the residential hall in the evening. PST members are on-call throughout the night to assist students in crisis situations.
Literacy Specialist
Assists staff in adjusting their reading and/or writing curriculum to meet individual needs, provides resources for English language instruction and technology applications and helps to develop and maintain WSD’s balanced literacy and language frameworks.
Bilingual Specialist
Provides resources to staff for bilingual instruction, coordinates media activities, provides support for ASL and Deaf Studies curricula, and coordinates the American Sign Language Proficiency Interview assessment.
ASL Specialist
Provides ASL assessments and support services in a small group or one-on-one setting for students, signs stories in ASL to students in the classroom, and supports teachers with ASL assessment and IEP development. Also provides support and resources for ASL/Deaf Studies curricula, and provides ASL skills training for staff.
Audiological Services
Students have access to hearing testing, troubleshooting of hearing aids, ear molds, and battery replacement.
Speech and Language Services
Available to students whose IEPs require these services, and provided by speech and language pathologists who specialize in working with children who are deaf and hard of hearing. Therapists use activities to improve written and spoken English skills including auditory training, articulation, English vocabulary, spoken/written English grammar, speech reading, and phonics/ literacy development. Services are provided utilizing both ASL and spoken/written English.
Pupil Services Team
Provides support in addressing social and emotional issues during the school day and in the residential hall during evenings. Staff is also available on-call throughout the night to assist students in crisis. Both individual and group counseling is available. Group counseling includes conflict resolution, anger management, health in relationships, and new student assimilation.
Occupational Therapy
Provides a holistic approach to health and well being that helps children successfully move from early intervention into school services, and move from school to adult life. Staff works on sensory integration-processing issues using the Engine Program, the Smiles Horseback riding program and an Aquatics Program. Promotes students’ development and learning in an educational environment, including physical, visual, behavioral, psychosocial, and cognitive activities of daily living.
Physical Therapy
Staff works with students in a variety of settings. In the classroom, staff works on seated posture and special adaptations. In our therapy room, staff addresses balance, coordination, walking, wheelchair transfers, wheelchair propelling, and strength and endurance exercising.
Educational Technology
Teachers use technology for the planning and design of instruction, to support learning, and to provide equity among learners of different ability levels, communication styles, and 17 learning styles. Our staff uses Web 2.0 tools in order to encourage dialogue and collaboration among students on campus, and their peers (hearing and deaf) off campus. Students and teachers utilize 21st Century learning tools to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills to develop the knowledge necessary to be competitive when they leave school.
WSD is proud to offer a technology network that provides access anywhere on campus. All staff and students have network accounts as well as email accounts. Additionally, we use a school messaging system to contact parents in order to facilitate efficient communication between home and school and between parents and their children. Each classroom is equipped with laptops, desktops, projectors, document cameras and interactive white boards. In addition, two computer labs are on campus. All WSD students may borrow iPads from our library and/or our dorm and a variety of digital cameras are available for classroom use.
Interpreter Service
We provide communication services in all campus settings where needed. Interpreters are nationally certified and state licensed, and adhere to the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf Code of Professional Conduct. While staff interpreters do not work as educational interpreters in the classroom, they are available for other requests and can help in locating off-campus interpreting services.