New Mexico School for the Deaf: Outreach

Educational Support to Public Schools

Photo of a Teacher playing with a student. The New Mexico School for the Deaf works collaboratively with families and agencies to meet the unique learning, communication, and language needs of children and youth who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing and who are being educated in their local school districts and communities.

When developing an appropriate educational setting for a student who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing, it is required that his or her language and communication needs are carefully considered. For more information about communication considerations, click here.

To help local education agencies meet this requirement, the New Mexico School for the Deaf Outreach Programs provides a broad range of information to public schools, families, and students with a special focus on language, communication and literacy development.

Various educational opportunities are available in the form of:

Consultation to a student's teacher and members of his/her educational team
Workshops at the student's school
Information about workshops, conferences and classes
School or district level planning to identify and support specific professional developmental needs of a student's educational team

Eligibility

Children and youth who are Deaf and hard of hearing and who are enrolled in public school programs, their families and their educational teams, are eligible for outreach services.

The Outreach Team

Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing provide assistance to public schools. Comprehensive student evaluations are conducted by staff fluent in the student's mode of communication, certified in their areas of expertise and experienced in evaluating students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. The Outreach team and all the professional staff at the New Mexico School for the Deaf serve as the state resource on the education of students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

Students in classroom Special Program Features

Individualized assistance to students, including classroom observations and consultation for educational teams
Comprehensive student evaluations and career assessments
Support transitioning students between local schools or grade levels and to the New Mexico School for the Deaf programs
Formal consultation to Local Education Agencies in establishing priorities for improving their educational programs for students who are Deaf of Hard of Hearing
Community & School Awareness Conference (CASA) - a biennial three-day conference for parents, educators, support personnel and the community
ASL Immersion Week - a five-day immersion program in American Sign Language
Interpreter Week - an intense five-day workshop for interpreters
Community sign language classes
Partnerships with the Public Education Department and other community agencies in developing resources and guidance materials

To impede communication and language, even unwittingly, is to harm the human spirit; to foster communication and language is to reveal all the possibilities of life." - National Deaf Education Project, p.2 (2000 Gallaudet University).

Contact:

Cindy Huff
Director of Outreach

(505) 476-6400 (Voice)

(800) 841-6699 (v/tty)

cindy.huff@nmsd.k12.nm.us

Priscilla Gutierrez
Coordinator of Educational Outreach to Public Schools
(505) 476-6400 (Voice)
(800) 841-6699 (v/tty)
priscilla.gutierrez@nmsd.k12.nm.us

Outreach Specialists' Regions:

Northwest & Albuquerque, Belen, Los Lunas & Socorro
Jolee Joos
(505) 476-6400 (Voice)
(800) 841-6699 (v/tty)
jolee.joos@nmsd.k12.nm.us

West Central, Las Vegas, Espanola & Pojoaque

Priscilla Gutierrez

(505) 476-6400 (Voice)
(800) 841-6699 (v/tty)
priscilla.gutierrez@nmsd.k12.nm.us

South Central, East Central, Northeast & Santa Fe

Joanne DeBee

(505) 476-6400 (Voice)
(800) 841-6699 (v/tty)
joanne.debee@nmsd.k12.nm.us

Southwest, North Central
Leah Gregg
(505) 476-6400 (Voice)
(800) 841-6699 (v/tty)
leah.gregg@nmsd.k12.nm.us

Southeast, Bernalillo, Rio Rancho & Moriarty
Susan Jojola
(505) 476-6400 (Voice)
(800) 841-6699 (v/tty)
susan.jojola@nmsd.k12.nm.us

Las Cruces & Gadsden
Christine Kane
(505) 476-6400 (Voice)
(800) 841-6699 (v/tty)
christine.kane@nmsd.k12.nm.us

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