The Longmeadow Campus as part of the Dual-Campus Model of the school serves students who thrive with small instructional staff-to-student ratio and an array of services in addition to their academic program.  It serves as the first placement of our youngest students who begin with us at age three.  The campus environment fosters their communication, teaches them to maximize their use of residual hearing, and prepares them to become students.  The campus also offers programs from the elementary level to the high school level.  The Longmeadow Campus recognizes the benefits of a center-based program and is drawn from the founding parents’ vision as well as from the historical contributions made by schools for the deaf to advance education.  The campus recognizes that the presence of additional presenting challenges, which may be either primary or secondary to the hearing loss, must be addressed in an environment which can respond to all of the individual challenges presented by the students.

The Early Childhood-Primary Classes offer academic programs in an integrated  communication setting in which each student uses and responds to his or her individual
style.  These classes are designed to meet the needs of young deaf and hard-of-hearing children, ages three to eight.  The developmentally appropriate curriculum, drawn from the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks and adapted to the particular needs of our students, is integrated through all areas to provide for a student’s social, emotional, cognitive and physical growth.  The classrooms are specifically designed to offer teacher-facilitated learning activities and centers.  Parent and family services, including individual or small groups on campus or at children’s homes, foster close connections between school and home.

At the elementary, middle, and high school levels, the students are offered an array of opportunities based on the Curriculum Frameworks.  The academic and activity program serves deaf, hard-of-hearing, language-delayed, and multi-challenged students for whom hearing loss may be a secondary presenting problem to other issues.  The focus of the program is on developing students’ use of language skills, appropriate social behavior, independent work habits, activities of daily living, and academic potential.  The classroom environment addresses each student’s needs, while at the same time promotes individual functioning in an interactive mode.  Field trips, community visits, and structured opportunities for interaction outside the classroom are central features of this program.  The School to Work curriculum introduces students at the middle school level to the world of work both through classroom preparation and through campus-based work internships and community-based employment experiences. 

At the high school level, the variety of experiences available to the students increases as does the preparation for successful living after studies are completed.  The opportunity for a student’s movement between the Longmeadow Campus and the Partnership Campus through the team meeting process exists throughout a student’s career at the school.

 LONGMEADOW FACILITIES

The Founders Classroom Building, named in honor of the founding parents of the school, offers many opportunities for experiences and for growth.

The Edward B. Cooley Speech and Language Center provides space for individual and small group speech and language therapy for all of the students at this campus.  In the Mary E. Davis Library the children find a welcoming space for exploration of books and

for shared story times.  The James H. Ross, Jr. Early Childhood Classroom is specifically designed for the youngest of our children.  While each classroom is equipped with at least two student-use computers, the P. Richard Widener Computer Lab is designed for individual and group use and instruction.