Louis Braille School

On Tuesday, September 4, 2007, the Louis Braille School will welcome students for the 2007-2008 school year.

The school, approved by the Washington State Board of Education, provides a ten-month academic program. Instruction in skills of everyday living and orientation and mobility is integrated into activities throughout the day. The school features individualized educational programs and hands-on individual attention for each student.

Tuition is $1,500 per month. Financial assistance is available. No child is denied because of a family’s inability to pay.

To register your child or to make an appointment to visit the school, call 425-778-2384, or email Christina

Spring 2007

The Louis Braille School received a community grant totaling $2,500 from The Fred Meyer Foundation. The funds will support the activities, supplies and staff needed for the School’s two-week summer Braille Camp.

Braille Camp is a two-week summer day program for children who are blind or visually impaired in kindergarten through grade eight. The Camp runs from July 16th through July 27th, 10 am to 2 pm. Campers meet at the Louis Braille School, 10130 Edmonds Way in Edmonds, Washington. Tuition is $250 per child.

Activities planned for Braille Camp this year include a trip to the Edmonds Fire Station, Swedish folk songs and dances, red clay pottery with an Edmonds artist, hands-on country and blues music with Blues in the Schools, drumming with LaDrumma, the Woodland Park Zoo Education Outreach Wild Wise Program, and Guide Dogs for the Blind puppies-in-training and their trainers.

Glynda Brockoff, Philanthropy Coordinator for Fred Meyer and The Fred Meyer Foundation, said. We hope this community grant will help the School continue the important work it is doing to enhance the welfare of the community. We are proud to be part of the Edmonds community and are committed to helping where we can. These grants are the result of true community efforts involving both our associates through our annual Employee Giving Campaign and our customers through the contributions they make in our stores using the Make Change Count coin boxes and scan cards at the check stands

Fred Meyer is a division of the The Kroger Co., which is one of the nation’s largest food retailers. The Fred Meyer Foundation has awarded grants totaling over $7.2 million since it began awarding grants in December 1998. For more information call the Foundation at 1-800-858-9202, ext. 5605.

Our Family Grows

As we approach the final weeks of preparation for our first annual Louis Braille School Benefit Auction, we are warmed by the interest and generosity of our friends throughout the world. It is truly wonderful to receive calls and email messages from people who have heard about the auction asking if they may donate items, if they may be of help, and if may they come.

Items available for bid come from as far away as Poland and as nearby as our friends and neighbors in Edmonds. Some of the items have touching and personal ties to our school. There are many special donations, too many to mention here. Please browse the growing list of auction items in our online preview. The list changes as new items arrive, so check back often.

To teach our students the importance of fire awareness and safety, the Louis Braille School staff took the students to the Shoreline Fire Safety Center.The students had a wonderful time exploring a real (decommissioned) fire-station while they learned about fire safety.

Our students were able to wear real fire fighting gear, slide down a real fire pole, and explore a real ambulance and fire pump truck. They had a great and educational experience. As a result of visiting the facility, our staff now conducts a weekly fire drill using a smoke alarm donated to the school by the Shoreline Fire Department. It is our goal to teach our students how to respond to the sound of the smoke alarm correctly and safely.

Children with visual impairments must also be taught the importance of fire safety in their homes. There are a variety of adaptations we can create to assist children with visual impairments to survive a fire in their homes.

1. Create a tactile map of your home and designate an outdoor meeting place.
2. Familiarize the child to the sound and shape of the smoke alarm.
3. Conduct fire drills in your home to establish a safety routine.
4. Install door or window decals to inform first responders that there are special needs children on the premises.

Our host, Community Education and Information Specialist Melanie Granfors, taught our students some important fundamentals of home fire safety:

1. To recognize the sound of a smoke detector
2. To crawl low under smoke and get out immediately when a smoke alarm sounds
3. To feel the bedroom door before opening it and if it is hot, use a second way out.
4. Have a place outside where the whole family can meet.
5. Never re-enter a smoky or burning building.

Everyone here at the Louis Braille School would like to send our warmest thanks to Ms. Granfors and the Shoreline Fire Department.

Andre Middleton is a Louis Braille School teacher

On Thursday, January 22, Carolyn Meyer, director of the Louis Braille School, will present a program about blindness to members of the Edmonds Lions Club. Lions Club members, with eyes closed, will participate in a short lesson in reading braille with their fingers. They will learn about the tools and skills that help people who are blind live full and independent lives.

For more information, feel free to call or email.