STUDENT LIFE FOR STUDENTS AGES 2

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STUDENT LIFE FOR STUDENTS AGES 2 1/2 to 21
Residential Life
Residential students live in clean and attractive residential halls during the week and travel home on the weekends. The Residential Life staff makes every effort to provide a safe, nurturing and educational environment to help each child reach their highest potential. The dedicated residential advisors also strive to provide the comforts and expectations of home. For the younger students, there are bedtime stories and snacks and assistance with nighttime routines. The advisors check on the sleeping students throughout the night and assist them in getting ready for school each morning.

After-School Program
At the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind (SCSDB), learning goes beyond the classroom. The after-school program is an important part of SCSDB’s comprehensive program and is open to both residential and non-residential students. The Residential Life educational program offers academic support and workshops for the students where they learn about life experiences such as money management and daily living skills. They have time to relax with friends and may choose to participate in supervised activities such as sports or other recreational programs that may include drama, technology exploration, swimming and character education, just to name a few.

Transitional Living Program
The Residential Life program offers high school students a transitional living program where they live in a residential hall designed much like a home environment. With guidance from teachers, the students learn skills to prepare them for community living – from managing a household to meal planning and preparation. These experiences strengthen family relationships, prepare students for work, instill confidence and strengthen self-awareness.

Hall Dorm Students

Students participating in Break-a-thon

Tenth-Month-of-School
This program offers SCSDB students the opportunity to enroll in an additional month of school during June. Students engage in a wide variety of enjoyable activities, including enrichment and remediation, to supplement student learning during the summer months.

Families
Families play an important role in each student’s development, and we encourage family involvement. Families are welcome to call or visit the campus any time, and on-campus lodging is available at no charge on a reservation basis. Of course, for security reasons, parents are asked to check in with their child’s principal’s office or residential hall when visiting the school.

Families are encouraged to attend meetings, special programs, athletic events and other activities in which their child is involved. Parents are welcome to have meals in the dining rooms at a minimal cost. (Parents who wish to eat in the dining rooms should contact their school’s principal.)

SCSDB’s 180-day schedule is very similar to the local public school system, allowing plenty of time for holidays, summers and weekends at home. Students who live in close proximity to the campus are bused home every day, while others who live at greater distances go home on weekends.

Friends
Students are encouraged to develop friendships with peers who may be disabled or non-disabled. In addition to several on-campus programs, students participate in a wide variety of activities sponsored by local schools, community clubs and other organizations.

Role Models
Students at SCSDB have the opportunity to interact on a regular basis with successful adults who are deaf or blind. Students have contact with these adults as SCSDB teachers, technicians and counselors. They also get to know them as members of the school’s Board of Commissioners, and as professionals and leaders in the community. Through school-sponsored mentoring programs, students meet adults — many of them who are deaf or blind — in the community. Mentoring programs are designed to give students role models and to develop their socialization skills.

Athletics
The athletics program gives students who are blind, deaf or sensory multidisabled the opportunity to experience the sense of pride and accomplishment athletic competitions offer. SCSDB teams compete against public schools and special schools in sports such as basketball, football, volleyball, soccer, track and blind sports such as goalball and beeper ball. SCSDB supports a comprehensive Special Olympics program and sports programs for wheelchair athletes.

Meals
Nutritious meals are served three times a day in the school’s dining rooms. Special mealtime features include salad bars, ice cream sundae bars and more! Mealtime is often used for special announcements and recognition. Healthy snacks are provided between meals.

Health Center
Registered nurses are on duty 24 hours a day in the Health Center and in the School for the Multihandicapped when students are on campus. A physician is always on call. Parents are routinely notified of childhood illnesses according to parental instructions.

Students visiting with local Firemen

Girls Dance Recital

School Nurse working with Student

Transportation
SCSDB offers extensive statewide and local transportation to all its students. Many students travel home each day by bus. Students living too far away for a daily commute go home on weekends. Weekend buses leave campus in the early afternoons on Fridays and return on Sunday evenings. Special holiday transportation schedules are announced well in advance.

To make bus trips as comfortable as possible, all buses are air-conditioned and have interior insulation for noise control. Buses are equipped with wheelchair lifts and a variety of assistive devices designed to suit individual needs. Car seats or seat harnesses are provided to younger students or students whose physical limitations require assistance to be able to sit comfortably in the buses.

Each bus has a driver and a bus attendant who are trained in communication and other skills needed to work with special needs children. Snacks and water are available on the weekend buses, and rest room stops are
provided.

Students being loaded on buses

For admissions information, contact:

Joan Dudgeon, Admissions Coordinator
South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind
355 Cedar Springs Road
Spartanburg, South Carolina 29302-4699
Phone: 1-888-447-2732 Voice/TTY
864-577-7579 Voice/TTY
Fax: 864-577-7552
E-mail: jdudgeon@scsdb.org
Web site: www.scsdb.org