Dallas ISD’s Regional Day School Program for the Deaf is turning 50 years old.
Some of these students in this program are served at Mockingbird Elementary School in our neighborhood.
“The Dallas Regional Day School for the Deaf is an integral part of our Mockingbird community,” according to Mockingbird Elementary’s website. “Deaf children in kindergarten through fifth grade come from all areas of Dallas and surrounding communities to Mockingbird. We offer a variety of instructional arrangements, from full inclusion to self-contained, in order to meet the needs of each child and provide them with a comprehensive educational program. Sign language interpreters are utilized in all inclusive settings, including extra-curricular activities. Self-contained class sizes range from four to 10 students with one teacher, allowing for individualized instruction.”
The program’s team members (teachers, care professionals, sign language interpreters, communication facilitators and licensed professional counselors) also visit families’ homes to aid them in navigating diagnoses and early childhood care, according to a previous Dallas ISD News Hub article. Services are available for students from birth to age 22.
“When we hire, we look for role models for our students,” RDSPD Manager Tina Vaguine said in the previous News Hub article. “We have several teachers who are deaf and hard of hearing themselves, and they are showing our students that they can go to college and get a career, while communicating with them and understanding their motives.”
Some students require special instruction full time, but the goal is to place students in the “least restrictive environment possible.” Those in itinerant programs attend classes at their home campuses and receive support as needed, according to News Hub. Some of these students play sports within the general population at their school, as documented in this 2015 Lakewood/East Dallas Advocate article.
“We want our students to know they can become anything they want to be,” Vaguine told News Hub. “We want them to believe in themselves, and we want them and their families to know that they can do anything.”
An anniversary celebration will be held from 1-3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15 at Mockingbird Elementary School.
