West Virginia Secondary School for the Deaf

My son has been going to WVSDB since 1st grade. I was very pleased with his improvements the first couple years but after that he has hit a wall. The standards of this school are aweful. I have tried and tried to pull him from the school to get him into another deaf school but without moving its impossible. Parents if you have a deaf child I would not recommend this school anymore. My son is now almost 17 and cannot do 1st grade math. His reading is probably on a 3rd grade level. The staff are very nice and seem like they wanna do whats best but what is happening with all the "free time" my son says he gets in different classes when they should be trying to prepare him for the real world instead of collecting a taxpayers check. Seems like if a child graduates here and becomes a janitor the school thinks they have done a superior job in educating them..SAD SAD SAD
2 7 years ago (29-01-2018)

The staff are wonderful and they have taught my deaf son a lot since he has been there. he has only been there for a year and this will be his second year there. they now come home every weekend which is a wonderful thing. the dorm parents are great with the children and the teachers there has the knowledge on how to teach the children, unlike public school which doesn't even try to learn how to fully communicate with a child that doesn't speak. my child loves it at Romney and I'm glad I made the decision to leave him there and I know he will get the proper education he needs to be able to go out and be a productive citizen. Thank you WV School for the Deaf and Blind, without you all we would have been lost!
5 9 years ago (22-09-2015)

I am legally blind and I went to this school for one year. My parents pulled me out, thankfully, to put me back into public school. I sent my 2 daughters up there hoping there had been improvements. I wanted my girls to avoid the teasing and the untrained teachers in public school. Now I am considering to also rescue my children. Why? Their educational standards or expectations of students are just a bit short of a third world country. In public school I was writing 10 page papers on the causes of the Civil war. In Romney I was in 10th grade writing a paragraph as an essay about how I felt about autumn leaf colors. The rest of the class is made to go at the same speed as the child having the most difficulties. Only one out of 5 children can read or do basic math. My girls are far behind. They color and play musical instruments in first grade instead of skills to prepare for second grade and grades thereafter. Although, somehow it is supposed to be science or math. They are teaching my girls Braille although they can read print. It is easier on the teachers and running the classroom if everyone reads Braille. Print is preferred if they have the capabilities. Let's be honest it is a print world. The schedule they have the children on for home comings interferes with their education. They come home on Thursdays and return Tuesday every 2 weeks. Their holiday time lasts 2 weeks for EVERY holiday; Memorial, St. Patrick's Day, etc. Any excuse for the staff not to work. You do the math. They are not in the required number of days to get a solid education. Transportation is rude and unprofessional. It is common for the bus to be an hour up to 8 hours late. Their stops are out in the sticks so there is no place to escape the cold and rain while waiting. However, if you are one minute late they threaten to call the police if you got stuck in traffic, getting off late from work, a late cab, etc. This school has no training for the real world. On our career day a janitor and vending machine guy came. I understand, some blind children have blindism. This is a behavior that can be unlearned and is beneficial to unlearn for the purpose of socializing and gaining employment in the real world. They do not encourage children to redirect their behavior to something more appropriate. In public school rocking back and forth, banging your head, tapping, waving, or making noise has a 0 tolerance. These are various examples of blindisms. Children are not supervised and if a situation occurs nothing is done to correct it. Have you read the news about this school. They allow pedophiles to work at the school. I knew the staff member when I was up there. He just now got in trouble for it? The board of education needs to keep tabs and review this school. The school receives $500, 000 per child. Children at this school are just another dollar to them. There is no quality in their education and the staff is suffering from burn out to care. Public schools have many options to work with the disabled. They are encouraged to work to their individual full potential to produce an outstanding adult citizen.
2 12 years ago (09-02-2013)