Washington State School for the Blind

2214 E. 13th Street, Vancouver, WA 98661

(360) 696-6321, Fax (360) 737-2120

Email: admin@wssb.wa.gov    Web site: www.wssb.wa.gov

 

 

¨       Vision: Independence for blind and visually impaired children.

¨       Mission: The mission of the Washington State School for the Blind is to provide specialized quality educational services to visually impaired/blind youth ages birth-21 within the state of Washington.

¨       Purpose: To serve as a statewide demonstration and resource center and provide direct/indirect services to students both on campus and in the children’s local communities.

 

Statewide LEAs/ESDs:

¨       Approximately 1,511 qualified blind/visually impaired (BVI) students, birth to twenty-one (2009).

¨       Approximately 96 FTE trained teachers of the blind serving LEAs and ESDs (2009).

¨       Approximately 94 birth through 3 years old BVI children identified (2009).

¨       National incidence of visual impairment/blindness of .1%.

 

Washington State School for the Blind: (diversified statewide service delivery system)

¨       549 students served monthly during the 2008-2009 school year.

·   67 on campus residential students.

·   313 students served monthly through off-campus itinerant services and monthly materials (WSSB currently provides direct/consultant services to over 1/5 of all districts in the state). (2008-2009)

¨       4 students enrolled in the LIFTT (Learning Independence for Today and Tomorrow) program. (2008-2009)

¨       20 students attended a two week YES (Youth Employment Solutions) program. (June 2009)

¨       21 students attended a Summer School program. (June 2009)

¨       140 students from Washington, Oregon and Idaho attended a track meet at WSSB. (May 2009)

¨       42 students attended a two-day Career Fair. (May 2009)

¨       32 students attended the NW Environmental Science Camp. (April 2009)

¨       91 low vision evaluations provided each year. (2008-2009)

¨       Statewide Technology Center for the Blind (2008-2009):

·   207+ comprehensive technology evaluations provided per year.

·   91+ online technology services provided each month.

·   Average 6-8 training sessions each month for teachers in local public schools on specialized technology.

¨       Braille Access Center. Braille production of over 12 million pages of Braille since fall of 1993 (self-supporting fee for service program). (Partnerships with Dept. of Printing and Corrections)

¨       Statewide Instructional Resource Center. Provides large print, Braille, aids and appliances to approximately 1,400 blind, deaf/blind, and blind multi-disabled children each year.

¨       480+ vision-related services provided each month to the general public.

¨       50,000+ people used WSSB’s facilities during the 2008-2009 school year.

¨       Quarterly newsletter sent to approximately 2,000 individuals.

 

Overall on Campus Student Profile:

¨       27% multi-disabled (more than one disability); 4% health impaired; 3% are deaf/blind; 64% are BVI (2008-2009).

¨       Ethnic minority: 1% African/American, 1% Multiracial; 5% Hispanic, 4% Asian; 1% Pacific Islander; 88% Caucasian (2008-2009).

¨       22% yearly student turnover.  (Transition to adult services or back into local school programs.) (2008-2009)

¨       82% of students stay an average of 2.95 years or less at WSSB. (Range: 1 week to 9 years; data from 2008-2009)

¨       80% of graduates (7-year study) employed or in vocational/technical/academic college program.     

¨    87% employed, post secondary and/or homemakers. (2002-2008)

 

Statewide/Regional Staff Training:

¨       Partnerships for university level training established with states that have university level vision (no university level vision training programs exist in the state of Washington).

¨       50 participants attended WSSB’s Summer Institute--Statewide training workshops for regular classroom teachers and teacher aides (July 2009).