About Us

Our Approach

Our dual-campus model provides our students with a variety of academic experiences with their deaf peers at the Longmeadow Campus and deaf and hearing peers in the Partnership Campus within the East Longmeadow Public Schools.


Willie Ross School for the Deaf has always been committed to an integrated approach to instruction and developed the dual-campus system in response to studies that showed students with a hearing loss have diverse needs that may require equally diverse instructional settings. Some students learn best at our Longmeadow Campus where they are immersed in a specialized academic environment, while others learn best at the Partnership Campus where they are included in classes with their hearing peers.


WRSD employs the Most Enabling Environment for its students, where placement in an educational setting is based on an assessment of a student's individual strengths and challenges and the environment's capacity to facilitate accessible, quality learning experiences.

White Tigers

Who are we?


We are the White Tigers!  We chose the white tiger as our mascot because, while their population is small, they are still strong.  We apply this to our school—small, but strong!

Vision

We at Willie Ross School for the Deaf believe in a world in which all people who are deaf and hard of hearing have every opportunity to experience full and productive lives.


Mission

Our school provides deaf and hard of hearing students access to comprehensive, evidence-based education and support services in the classroom and in the greater community. We strive for excellence and innovation. We work to maximize each individual's intellectual, social, and emotional growth.

Communication Philosophy

 

WRSD acknowledges and embraces the right of its students and staff to have full and ongoing access to language and communication, both incidental and planned.  Optimal access to all communication, utilizing a Total Communication approach, is vital to our students’ academic and social development. 

 

Guiding Principles

 

  • WRSD is a diverse, multicultural, and inclusive school where students and staff are expected to contribute to a safe and supportive environment by keeping the school free from discrimination, harassment, and bullying. 
  • Students will apply their knowledge, experiences, and connections in order to succeed in life. 
  • Individual Education Plan requirements for language, communication, and speech will be met through each student’s primary mode of communication as determined by the team in conjunction with the family. 
  • Students are expected to become involved with the world through hands-on learning and interactions with the community.


History

In the mid-1960s, a group of parents was united by the needs of their children who had been deafened by the rubella epidemic that swept the eastern United States. The parent group, led by the late Gene and Barbara Ross, shared the goal of ensuring that the best possible educational programs and services were available to their children.


At the time, residential placement of all deaf children was the prevailing option for families, leading the founding parents to establish their own day school. Their mission was to establish a school designed to meet their children's needs, ensuring their potential to become contributing members of society. As a result of their efforts, Willie Ross School for the Deaf opened its doors in 1967.


To honor the work of the Ross family, the parent group named the school after the Ross' son, Willie Ross, who now resides in southern California. The legacy of their vision and dedication to improving the lives of deaf children through education serves as the school's beacon to this day. A tenet of the founders' legacy is the recognition that instructional models must evolve along with the needs of the students they serve.

FAQs

  • Common acronyms in use at WRSD.

    Alphabet Soup Cheat Sheet

    The education world is full of abbreviations which can feel overwhelming! 

    We hope this helps but please let us know if we have missed anything! 


    • AAC - Augmentative and Alternative Communication
    • ASL - American Sign Language
    • AT - Assistive Technology 
    • BGC - Bilingual Grammar Curriculum
    • CDI - Certified Deaf Interpreter
    • CEASD - Conference for Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf
    • COPSDC - Council of Private Schools for Deaf Children
    • CPI - Crisis Prevention Intervention
    • DESE - Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 
    • DDS - Department of Developmental Services 
    • EI - Early Intervention
    • EPP - Educational Proficiency Plan
    • ETL - Evaluation Team Leader
    • IEP - Individualized Education Program
    • IFSP - Individual Family Service Plan
    • IR - Incident Report 
    • MAAPS - Massachusetts Association of Approved Private Schools
    • MAP/NWEA - Measures of Academic Progress/Northwest Evaluation Association
    • MCDHH - Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing
    • MRC - Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission 
    • MTSS - Multi-tiered Systems of Supports
    • OT - Occupational Therapist
    • PBIS - Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
    • PLC - Professional Learning Community
    • PT - Physical Therapist
    • SEL - Social Emotional Learning
    • SLP - Speech and Language Pathologist
    • SLPI- Sign Language Proficiency Interview
    • TCI - Teacher’s Curriculum Institute (Our Social Studies Program)
    • TOD - Teacher of the Deaf
    • TVI - Teacher of the Visually Impaired
    • WIN - What I Need (class) 
    • WCS - Walden Community Services
    • WRSD - Willie Ross School for the Deaf

  • Does Willie Ross School use only sign language?

    No. Willie Ross employs a total communication approach which utilizes sign language, spoken English and other augmentative methods to meet the individual communication needs of each student. 

  • Does signing interfere with the development of language?

    No. This is a common misconception. Research suggests that the sooner a child with a hearing loss uses sign language, the quicker they will develop communication skills. Hearing babies are learning sign language in early ed centers to help them develop language.

  • Do students at Willie Ross receive speech services?

    Yes. Our Speech and Listening Therapy Department provides individualized and group therapy to students when needed. WRSD provides a range of services including a strong auditory/oral program at all sites.

  • Do you have students with cochlear implants at Willie Ross?

    Yes. We have a number of students with implants enrolled at Willie Ross. We offer specialized speech and listening services to our students with implants.

  • Why does Willie Ross School have a Longmeadow Campus and a Partnership Campus in East Longmeadow?

    Willie Ross recognizes that deaf and hard of hearing students are individuals who require a variety of instructional methods to meet their needs. The programs offered on both campuses provide students with a combination of instruction, support services and peer interaction designed to meet their individual needs.

  • How does the Longmeadow Campus differ from the East Longmeadow Partnership Campus?

    The Longmeadow Campus is the home of Willie Ross School for the Deaf and is for students who will benefit from learning in an environment with other deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The Partnership Campus is located in the East Longmeadow Public Schools at the elementary, middle, and high school levels and allows deaf students to learn in an environment with hearing students. The Partnership Campus is also staffed by Willie Ross School personnel.

  • Are Willie Ross students at the Partnership Campus isolated? Do they receive the same services as the students who attend the Longmeadow Campus?

    The Partnership Campus students are not isolated at all. They interact with both Willie Ross and East Longmeadow Public School students. Each of the levels is fully staffed by Willie Ross personnel and administered by the Director of Educational Services. All of the support services that are available to students at the Longmeadow Campus are also available at the Partnership Campus.

  • Why does Willie Ross School offer mainstreaming services?

    Willie Ross School offers mainstreaming services because it provides an opportunity for students to be educated with hearing peers at their grade level in a regular school setting. Willie Ross conducts mainstreaming on a case-by-case basis. Students may be accompanied by sign language interpreters, oral interpreters or, in instances where the IEP calls for an aural/oral setting, with no interpreter at all.

  • Does Willie Ross School provide vocational and work-study opportunities?

    Yes. We offer a transitional program to prepare all of our students for life after WRSD. A Work-Study Coordinator and other staff members work with the students and supervise their community-based internships.

  • Why does Willie Ross offer a variety of approaches?

    Students with a hearing loss are not all alike and cannot be adequately served by a single teaching approach or method. Willie Ross provides a variety of instructional and communicational opportunities for students and their ever-changing needs, one child at a time.

  • How do Willie Ross School's mainstreaming services differ from services that public schools could provide on their own?

    Willie Ross' use of mainstreaming is not based on the premise that all students with a hearing loss should be in the regular classroom for the entire school day. Rather, WRSD views mainstreaming from a student perspective and offers mainstreaming on an incremental basis. Individualized academic opportunities and comprehensive audiological support services are also in place to enhance mainstreaming services. The students who are enrolled at Willie Ross receive all of the benefits of being in a Special Education Chapter 766 approved school for students with a hearing loss and are taught by teachers of the deaf using the Willie Ross curriculum.

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