Academics

Clean modern facilities, the latest classroom technologies, and a strong curriculum focus create an environment for learning at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind. We offer a curriculum leading to a Standard Diploma or a Special Diploma. We also offer special classes to enable independence in students with disabilities.

FSDB is fully accredited, holding this status from three organizations:

  • Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)
  • Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf (CEASD)
  • National Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually Impaired (NAC)

A Qualified Staff

FSDB’s greatest asset is the number of highly-educated, dedicated, and trained staff. Required to have dual certification, our teaching staff has Deaf/Hard of Hearing or Visually Impaired certification, as well as content-area certification. Eighty percent of our staff has ESOL endorsement. In addition, 16 of our teachers hold National Board certification.

To maintain a standard curriculum, the instructional staff has access to cutting-edge technologies and quality instructional materials. Our staff development activities enhance best practices and strategies to reflect the latest research-based methods for improving teaching and learning.

Meeting Students’ Needs

Specialty staff serve our unique populations:

  • Four reading specialists provide training and mentor classroom teachers.
  • Three Braille specialists provide literary and Nemeth Code Braille training to students.
  • Two math specialists offers training and support to classroom math teachers.
  • Five orientation and mobility instructors develop skills at all levels.
  • Three audiologists provide audiological services including support for cochlear implants and personal hearing aids.
  • Nine speech therapists assist in the development of speech and language.
  • Individual assistive technology includes Braille-and-Speak equipment, and other technologies to provide access to instructional programs.

Career Development

The Career Development Program gives students real work experiences with the help of business partners. Job coaches help the students’ transition to the work environment.

Curriculum

Curriculum instruction is based on the Florida Department of Education Course Descriptions, Next Generation of Sunshine State Standards or the Next Generation Sunshine State Access Points (as appropriate). Starting in the fall of 2011, instruction in kindergarten will be based on the National Common Core Standards as approved by the Florida State Legislature.

The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind purchases materials for K-12 curriculum instruction from the approved Florida Instructional Materials adopted list. We follow the same adoption schedule as all other Florida school districts. (Links for reading and math instructional material guides for grades K-12 can be found under the reading and math sections of this website.)

What sets us apart is that all of our teachers and support staff have received extensive professional development in order to adapt and modify instructional materials to meet the needs of every deaf/hard of hearing and blind/visually impaired student. We strive to provide accessible formats for all of our students (Braille, large print, digital media, ASL translation, etc.). Moreover, classroom teachers are deemed highly qualified and are certified in both the content area they teach as well as being certified in Deaf/Hard of Hearing or Blind/Visually Impaired (as appropriate).

Here at FSDB, we have the benefit of teaching students in a small class environment. We are able to differentiate our instruction in order to meet our students where they are in their learning process. We take into account their language development, depth of knowledge, learning challenges, interests, and preferred mode of communication. In alignment with the practices of noted authority on Differentiated Instruction, Carol Ann Tomlinson, FSDB focuses on, “ensuring that what a student learns, how he/she learns it, and how the student demonstrates what he/she has learned is a match for that student’s readiness level, interests, and preferred mode of learning” (as cited by Ellis, Gable, Greg, and Rock, 2008, p.32). We afford students access to the curriculum (NGSSS and Access Points) by embedding differentiated instructional practices on a daily basis.