NMSD Annual Report 2022-23

ANNUAL REPORT

2022 – 2023

Vision

Children and students in New Mexico who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing will become lifelong learners and contributing, well-rounded successful individuals in an increasingly global society.

Mission

The mission of the New Mexico School for the Deaf (NMSD), New Mexico’s first public school, is to provide for the unique needs of children and students who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing, their families and professional partners by providing a comprehensive array of school and statewide programs.

TABLE of CONTENTS

4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 22

Letters from Superintendent & Board of Regents President

NMSD Overview

Maps - Students Served

Statewide Early Intervention Outreach Early Childhood and Elementary

Middle School and High School

Whole Child Support Services Student Life Athletics & Student Organizations Financials Accountability

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LETTER FROM OUR

SUPERINTENDENT Dear NMSD Community and Friends, As I reflect upon the 2022-2023 year, a few highlights come to mind: • Fans at our homecoming football game madly cheering amidst a nail-biting end-of-game loss.

Players from Deming, Albuquerque, Hobbs, Rio Rancho, Artesia, Santa Fe, Clovis and Espanola played their hearts out with two things in common, they were Deaf/Hard of Hearing (D/HH) and proud New Mexicans.

• Through a partnership with TreeNM, our Staff and Students planted 108 trees on our beautiful campus in a single day. Everyone got their hands dirty, and we all learned about caring for trees.

• Well-attended family events hosted by various departments brought smiling babies, children, parents and staff to campus.

I have been asked why the state needs a School for the Deaf and whether this is outdated. For thousands of years, D/HH people have been isolated, denied education, and discouraged from interacting with each other. That is the outdated model.

With modern technology, more D/HH children use spoken language. NMSD students are no longer predominantly signing-only. However, increasing numbers of spoken language children want to attend NMSD. Their reasons vary: to learn a second language, to be around others like them, to develop language, academic and social-emotional skills, and/or to participate in accessible sports and extracurricular programs. NMSD provides support in a space where they feel they belong. Access becomes a non-issue, and they are no longer “deaf/hard of hearing” but are their own person.

NMSD will always be a program that supports all children regardless of how they access the world. It is my dream that all programs in New Mexico work together to support the whole child, regardless of the program the child attends. As a statewide agency, NMSD will always provide high quality support for D/HH children across the state.

Your continued support makes this dream a reality and homecoming wins/losses possible.

Thank you,

Dr. Jennifer Herbold, Superintendent

LETTER FROM OUR

BOARD OF REGENTS PRESIDENT Dear NMSD Community and Friends, This year’s letter gives me an opportunity to say, “We made it!” With the commitment and dedication of the entire NMSD community, we made it through one of the most unprecedented times in our history. The global pandemic caused significant disruption to our way of life in almost all areas, and schools were no exception. This year, as students and staff have returned to campus, there is a renewed sense of community and a recognition of the need to work together to ensure that all students and families receive the highest levels of service. The evidence suggests that we are, once again, a thriving community!

Working together includes the NMSD Board of Regents, a five-member, governor appointed group of individuals tasked with providing operational oversight to ensure that NMSD remains financially solvent and administratively aligned to appropriate performance goals and objectives. Each member brings a unique perspective to the role. We strive to provide Dr. Herbold with the best guidance and support possible so she can effectively lead the school forward. NMSD has a long and proud history in the state. As you read this year’s annual report, you will see that we have continued to build on that legacy. The continued support from the Governor, State Legislature and HED ensure that our foundation remains strong. We look forward to another great year for New Mexico’s Deaf community.

Best regards,

Board of Regents 2022-2023

Lynann Barbero, Board of Regents President 5

We serve...

FAMILIES

STUDENTS

EIDS (Early Intervention):

Instruction:

Statewide Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part C early intervention providing services that include but are not limited to evaluation, early language and cognitive development and Deaf Mentor services.

Preschool Locations: Albuquerque, Farmington, Las Cruces and Santa Fe K-12: Santa Fe

2022-2023

261 children Statewide Educational Outreach: Our team engages with families directly and in collaboration with their child’s school programs. Staff attend IEP meetings and provide learning and social events, as well as ASL services. Family to Family Weekend is a loved event!

2022-2023 - Programming and supports are available to all families of children who attend their local school district or charter school.

Accredited Academic Instruction is provided along with a wide range of Support Services.

Instruction follows standards, guidelines and requirements put forth by the New Mexico Public Education Department with the addition of classes specifically geared for Deaf/Hard of Hearing children.

On the Santa Fe campus, this also includes: • • • •

Residential Services Student Organizations After-school Activities Athletics 2022-2023

186 children

DISTRICTS

COMMUNITIES

Statewide Educational Outreach:

EIDS (Early Intervention):

Customized services for students attending public and charter schools provided. The services include but are not limited to the following:

• Provides follow-up support for Children’s Medical Services to ensure that timely services are delivered for the 22,000 newborns screened in New Mexico each year • Provides hearing screening trainings to ECECD FIT agencies enabling them to screen over 15,000 IDEA Part C children per year • Collaborates with higher education institutions on research and training • Provides short-term consultation to 177+ children/families per year transitioning into other community services • Provides representation on the Interagency Coordinating Council for children with special needs

• ASL Interpreter training/mentoring • Spoken language supports, training/ consultation for SLPs • IEP attendance and consultation on the addendum for D/HH children • Instructional guidance, student observations, ASL instruction and professional development for teachers • Student evaluations as appropriate 2022-2023

261 children

Statewide Educational Outreach: NMSD provides additional consultation and supports to nationwide and statewide agencies on topics relevant to Deaf/Hard of Hearing children and adults.

NMSD serves as the only comprehensive and directly accessible hub in the state for the New Mexico Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community to participate in or attend activities and events such as performing arts, athletic programs and academic competitions.

NMSD is also the largest employer of Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals including those with additional disabilities in the state.

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NMSD Children & Students Served Statewide in 31 Counties Instruction 2022 – 2023: 186

Early Intervention 2022 – 2023: 261

Santa Fe: Preschool to 12th Grade; Preschools: Albuquerque, Farmington & Las Cruces

Home visiting services for children ages birth - six

Outreach 2022 – 2023: 261

Total Served 2022 – 2023: 708*

Support to school districts and families

*729 services provided. 21 students served by both Early Intervention and our Preschools

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Statewide Early Intervention The first days, weeks and months are extremely critical to a baby’s development. NMSD understands the urgent nature of language access for our youngest children, providing services to families in every corner of the state for over 41 years. These services support a family’s ability to create positive listening and visual learning environments, introduce literacy to their baby, explore communication opportunities and, most importantly, communicate with their child.

Some of the many ways NMSD Early Intervention has served families in New Mexico during the 2022-2023 fiscal year included: • Direct services to 261 families through 4,018 home visits • Traveling over 237,000 miles to provide services • Consistent family-to-family events within regions • Ongoing developmental assessment • Short-term consultation to an additional 177 children and families

21% do not use English as their primary language

85% are at or below 138% of the federal poverty level

47% live in “highly rural” or “isolated” areas

22% of the families served are Native American

52% are Hispanic/Latino It is impressive that children with earlyidentified hearing loss who receive consistent early intervention services from NMSD maintain a typical developmental trajectory at or above their peers. This is regardless of their background or social economic status.

Crucial supports included: • Representation on the Assistant Cabinet Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Coalition • Assisting CMS with hearing follow-ups of the state’s 22,000 newborns • Training ECECD’s Part C providers to screen over 15,000 children • Conducting more than 2,000 hearing screenings throughout New Mexico • Collaborating with higher education institutions on research and training 11

Statewide Educational Outreach The Outreach team provided consultation with educational stakeholders and families in a wide variety of ways.

Educational Consultation: • 3,045 school staff contacts/consultations • 508 family contacts

ASL Services: • 225 tutor visits provided • 133 Immersion/237 class participants

Interpreting Consultant • 424 consult/mentoring hours • 79 admin supports • 11 workshops

SLP Consultant • 15 districts/38 students served • 28 meetings

Diagnostician Consultant • 28 meetings

The multidisciplinary Outreach team houses a highly experienced team! Consultants often travel in pairs, providing two sets of eyes and two sets of expertise.

The merging views offer district staff additional guidance as they strive to support the students they serve.

After four years, we welcomed back our Family to Family event in April! Events were held in Santa Fe, Farmington and Roswell. It was our first time offering consecutive events on the same day. The events included adult and children/youth programs.

The opening presentation “Supporting Language Development at Home” was provided by Dr. Kimberly Ofori-Sanzo, a speech language pathologist (SLP) and Founder of Language First. Kim connected virtually to answer parents’ questions and share available free resources on Language First’s website. The event included a “Table Talk” session that brought professionals, members of the Deaf Community and families together to share their questions, stories and perspectives. The meaningful conversation provided insights and laughter. Hands and Voices representatives shared information about their organization. Children and youth joined their families for an art activity to end the day. Welcome back Family to Family!

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Early Childhood and Elementary At NMSD, communication continues to be our focus. We strive to give students optimal access to language and learning, so our school programs use a Bilingual (ASL and English) and Bimodal (Signed and Spoken) approach.

Our staff includes a variety of specialists such as audiologists, speech language pathologists (SLPs), licensed and trained teachers of the Deaf, educational assistants, fluent users of ASL and Deaf professionals.

Early Childhood • Preschools continued to operate at our Albuquerque, Farmington, Las Cruces and Santa Fe locations.

• Inspired by Reggio Emilia principles for authentic handson learning, created an environment for language rich communication opportunities.

• Spoken language and listening were supported by a variety of models responsive to each child such as Spoken Language classes and groups, individual speech language therapy, aural habilitation, along with reading and writing.

• Students were introduced to letter writing using Handwriting without Tears, typing and letter recognition practice.

• Early Sprouts curriculum was reintroduced across all preschool programs, enriching young students’ healthy eating habits, nutrition education and increasing preferences for wholesome foods.

Elementary • Curricular programming adhered to New Mexico State Standards.

• Visualizing and Verbalizing program strategies were provided by trained teachers and support staff.

• Teachers continued to participate in training sessions for Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) as full implementation occurred.

• Students in alternative curriculum classes continued to participate in NM’s Center for Therapeutic Riding program which supported their cognitive, physical, emotional and social development.

54 students enrolled in 4 ECE Programs across 9 districts

92% of ECE students used hearing devices

75% of Elementary students were

day students while 25% were residents

38 students were enrolled in our

Elementary department across districts 15

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Middle School & High School Academic Intervention Program (AIP) and Tutoring

The AIP program was put on hold during the pandemic.

This year, we finally implemented the program full-time.

We provided tutoring to a total of 18 students who were at risk of failing their classes. We also offered tutoring to an additional 10 students whose families requested tutoring.

Greenhouse Our second dome will become a fully functional greenhouse.

Students who were in the Masonry class helped design the blueprint and started building garden beds. This is a work in progress.

We offered seven new courses in High School • Emergency Medical Technology • Horticulture • Aquaponics • Senior Seminar • Culinary Arts • Masonry • Visual Idea Development (RIT Dual course)

International Studies

Our students took a full semester of International Studies focusing on learning all about Greece! Eight of our High School students traveled to Greece for a total of 17 Days.

Social Emotional Learning

Both departments provided Social Emotional Learning (SEL) lessons during homeroom. The Middle School department used the SPARK curriculum and the Everfi program (focusing on bullying and cyberbullying). The High School department used Facing History and Ourselves curriculum during the fall semester and then switched over to the Every Monday Matters curriculum during the spring semester.

NMSD winners in the national writing and ASL competitions hosted by Gallaudet University: • Written Poetry Middle School: Tamryn Smith, Honorable Mention • Creative Writing High School: Jocelyn Melendez, Second Place • Essay High School: Kieran Vollmar, Second Place • Written Poetry High School: Jocelyn Melendez, Honorable Mention • ASL Handshapes High School: Joe MirandaSarabia, Honorable Mention • ASL Storytelling High School: Kieran Ercolino, First Place & Jesse Dimas, Honorable Mention 17

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Whole Child Support Team NMSD’s Whole Child Support Team (WCST) aided students in participating fully in their educational environment by addressing academic, social and personal growth. WCST included speech-language pathologists, audiologists, occupational therapists, a physical therapist, a school psychologist and a behavior specialist, as well as the Student Support Team (SST) counselors, art therapist and social worker. The Health Center was staffed by a pediatric nurse practitioner and registered nurses.

Therapy and Evaluation Services WCST provided therapy services in-person and virtually.

Students were evaluated in all academic areas. Staff trained to improve support for spoken language acquisition, language deprivation and feeding. SST provided team building, suicide prevention, support for marginalized students, as well as yoga and mindfulness training.

85% of NMSD students received at least one related service

73% of students across all campuses used hearing devices

180+ student evaluations completed 727 students visited the Health Center

5000+ hours of related services 24 staff members obtained CPR

certification taught by Health Center RNs

Audiology Services Audiologists provided comprehensive hearing evaluations and services for students, such as device checks, new earmolds and consultation. Audiologists represented NMSD in outreach initiatives.

Health Center Health Center staff provided medication administration, treatments, sports physicals and screenings. Staff visited classrooms to present on hygiene and dental health. The Health Center transitioned to a new electronic health record program.

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Student Life Student Life provided students with a wide range of after-school activities including athletics, curriculum nights and life skills learning experiences.

Transportation Our services increased with 14 daily routes (including Albuquerque metro, Santa Fe, Espanola, Pojoaque and Las Vegas) and 7 weekly routes returning residential students home for the weekend (Gallup, Albuquerque, Socorro, Deming, Las Cruces/Anthony, Roswell and Shiprock.)

Nutrition Services After a year of using catering services during renovations, our dining hall reopened at the end of the school year. The reopening was accompanied by an improved meal cycle with more appealing meals. One of the exciting changes to the re-designed dining hall was a new space designed specifically for a Culinary Arts class.

Summer Programs NMSD held two summer camps; one for students who were 18 months - 2nd grade and another for students 3rd – 8th grade. The younger group experienced a wide array of outdoor activities, developing friendships and facing new challenges. The older group attended a camp in Aspen, CO where they enjoyed many outdoor activities including mountain biking, swimming, hiking, campfire stories, leadership development, team building and outdoor living.

Over the summer, high school students explored career options and developed work ethics and experience in programs offered by Assistance Dogs of the West and Rocky Mountain Youth Corps.

741,759 total miles driven 68% of students received transportation services

18 bus and suburban routes 55 residential students 26 day students served 13,301 breakfasts served 14,827 lunches served 3 major community events: Mini

Zozobra, Mexican Independence Day & Roadrunner Celebration Day 21

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Athletics & Student Organizations During the 2022-2023 academic year, NMSD engaged in eight different sports, fielding a total of 14 teams for grades 6-12. Community involvement in athletics is highly valuable. Our achievements would not be possible without the dedication of our staff, including teachers, interpreters, Student Life Educators and others.

Participating in sports teaches our students important life lessons such as teamwork, discipline and sportsmanship.

Those values are essential for their continued growth and development.

Highlights of the Sports Year: Volleyball: Great Plains Schools for the Deaf Conference Champions Boys Basketball: Great Plains Schools for the Deaf Conference Champions Cheerleading: Brought home the National Deaf Cheerleading Competition trophy Middle School Math Competition: Our team participated in the Rochester Institute of Technology finals at Rochester, NY

Student Organizations: • Student Body Government/Jr. NAD hosted a Leadership Retreat providing workshops to participating students on being better and stronger leaders.

• Jr. NAD gathered canned and dry goods and donated them to the Food Depot and St. Elizabeth's Shelter.

• Student Body Government/Jr. NAD introduced a Pride Day to wear rainbow colors to support LGBTQIA+ community.

• Middle School Student Council hosted a funfilled Middle School Dance.

Academic Bowl: Great Plains Schools for the Deaf Champions. Placed second at the West Class Events: Regionals. Finished in the top 8 at the Nationals The Class of 2023 held an annual Haunted in Washington D.C. House in Ponderosa Cottage. With their Track and Field: Two athletes placed 1st in their events at the Berg-Seeger Classic. NMSD also had 10 athletes qualify for the State Championships. Two medaled in their events.

creativity and decorations, many of the participants were spooked.

The Class of 2024 hosted Prom in May at Top Golf followed by a post-party at our Roadrunner Activity Center.

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Financials

2022-2023 Expenditures

2022-2023 Income Sources

$15,558,885 Land Grant Permanent Fund & Land Maintenance Fund

$4,825,900 State Appropriations

$1,897,534

$ 947,666

Capital Outlay Funds

Restricted Funds / Other Revenues (Medicaid/Navajo Nation/IDEA B/DOH/JPAs)

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“The EIDS and ECE programs at NMSD paved the way for us to be comfortable and confident with our son Oliver’s hearing loss and the need for hearing aids and the knowledge of ASL. We have the tools for all situations. We love NMSD!” ~ Jerome & Beth Gutierrez

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Accountability Accreditation NMSD holds Certificates of Accreditation from: • Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf (CEASD) • Cognia, North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI)

State Performance Measures Target

Result

Rate of transition to postsecondary education, vocational-technical training school, junior colleges, work training or employment for graduates based on a three-year rolling average

100%

80%

Percent of LEA (Local Education Agency) staff satisfied with educational services from the Center for Educational Consultation and Training (Statewide Outreach)

90%

94%

Percent of Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings that address special factors of language and communication

95%

100%

Percent of students from grades K-12 with IEP goals in reading and/or math demonstrating progress as documented by quarterly IEP progress reports

90%

Reading 87% Math 93%

Percent of first year signers who demonstrate improvement in American Sign Language based on Fall/Spring assessments

100%

100%

Percent of parents indicating that programs from the Center for Educational Consultation and Training (Statewide Outreach) have increased their ability to understand their child’s language and communication access needs

90%

93%

For NMSD’s Early Intervention Program, percentage of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part C Early Intervention Performance Indicators that are met.

(Performance indicators are outlined by the Office of Special Education Programs and adopted by the New Mexico Department of Health.)

95%

100%

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“I am currently a Freshman at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. My major is Illustration and I’m taking Principles of Design and Color, Raster and Vector Graphics, Drawing 1 and English. I am enjoying my classes and learning a lot. Thank you NMSD for preparing me for college. I look forward to a successful future!” ~ Bria Vigil, NMSD Class of 2023

New Mexico School for the Deaf Dream! Explore! Achieve!

Santa Fe l Albuquerque l Farmington l Las Cruces l Statewide 1060 Cerrillos Road • Santa Fe, NM 87505 505-476-6300 • 800-841-6699 • 505-216-2001 (VP) www.nmsd.k12.nm.us