Deaf/Hard of Hearing Continuum of Services

Birth to Age 5

  • Early Access (Birth to Age 3)
    One certified teacher for the deaf and hard of hearing works with children birth to age 3. Early access services include home visits working with parents of infants and toddlers with hearing concerns. Home visits entail working with both the parents and their deaf or hard of hearing child. Play group is offered for children approaching age 3 to help them transition into a preschool program. Play group is located in the Capitol View Elementary School and provides a language rich environment

  • Preschool (Age 3 to Age 5)
    The preschool program is also located at Capitol View Elementary School. Early Childhood Special Education services for students who are deaf or hard of hearing is ½ day programming 5 days a week. This program provides individual and developmentally appropriate activities focused on language, literacy, and pre-academic skills based on each child’s individual needs and developed by the IEP team. The full continuum of supports from fully integrated to self-contained is available.

Site Based Programs (Kindergarten – 12th Grade)
The deaf and hard of hearing student attends classes instructed by a certified deaf educator who focuses on language and literacy development across all subjects. The instruction is presented both orally and in sign language and follows the communication and literacy guidelines established by the district. The level of service and placement in this program is determined by the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team with a focus on the student receiving services in the least restrictive environment.

The following buildings have deaf and hard of hearing classrooms.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Itinerant Services
Certified teachers for the deaf and hard of hearing provide support to general education teachers and students placed within their comprehensive neighborhood school in Des Moines. This support ranges from consultation with the general education teacher to one-on-one instruction with the student, and is determined by the IEP team.

Student and Family Support

  • Student Deaf Clubs
    There are two deaf and hard of hearing clubs available for elementary through high school students