Kaden Gamble’s eyes light up when he talks about his school, Northwest School for Hearing-Impaired Children in Shoreline.
“I like going to school because it’s really fun,” he said. “I like my teacher and my friends.”
Gamble, 4, of Renton is learning to speak using a specialized hearing device as well as specific instruction from teachers at the school. Born deaf, Gamble’s parents contemplated where to send their son to school.
“As parents, we dreamt of our son going to the best school and getting a great education,” said Manika Tapscott, Gamble’s mother. “We were excited to hear about this school because it puts him with others that are going through the same things as him. Also, we were impressed with the curriculum.”
From its beginning in 1982, the school’s curriculum has been based on the textbook, “Teaching the Hearing-Impaired Through Total Communication,” authored by the school’s co-founders Karen Appelman and Judy Callahan, teachers of the deaf who met while working in the public school system.
The program focuses on spoken communication paired with simultaneous Signing Exact English (S.E.E.), in which the speaker signs every important part of each word (known as the morphemes), using grammatically correct English. To encourage students to speak in complete sentences, all communication from teachers to children at NWSFHIC is spoken and signed concurrently.
“We have high expectations for our kids because we know they are smart and capable and we want them to be successful,” said Barbara Luetke, the school’s outreach and literacy coordinator.
NWSFHIC is the only preschool through eighth grade school for deaf and hard-of-hearing children in Washington. The staff works with parents and school district teams to create Individualized Educational Programs (IEPs) and monitors each student to determine when they no longer require the school’s intensive specially designed instruction and are prepared to return to their home-school, general-education program.
“I think this school is great because it allows kids experiencing the same things to relate to each other,” said Luetke. “I am the mother of deaf children and they were the only ones of their kind in a public school and I think it would have made a huge positive difference if they’d gone to a place like this.”
The school contracts with 22 school districts throughout the Puget Sound – from Hood Canal to the Cascades; from Auburn/Kent Valley to Skagit Valley – to provide free education and transportation to qualifying students. Seven students attending are from Renton.
Gamble’s bus ride from his home in Renton to the school in Shoreline takes an hour and a half. Tapscott said it’s worth it.
“The changes I am seeing in him after only one year there are huge,” she said. “Not only can he understand what you say and is learning how to use his voice, he is handling his feelings and expressing himself well. He has friends and comes home every day excited to show me something he made or accomplished at school.”
Third-grader Chelsea Beck discovered a love for art at the school.
“My teacher showed me how to make stuff and it’s my favorite thing to do now,” she said, smiling. “Also my teacher gives me M&M’s sometimes, which is really nice.”
NWSFHIC hosts events, such as bowling and craft nights, in an attempt to get parents involved in their child’s education. They have parent clubs, which acknowledge the diverse student body.
Luetke says a tour of the school is the first step in determining if NWSFHIC is appropriate for a child. Call the school at 206-364-4605 to schedule a personal tour and receive an information packet available in English or Spanish.
