Kendall Demonstration Elementary School
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Kendall Demonstration Elementary School (KDES) is a private day school serving
deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...
and
hard of hearing Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spok ...
students from birth through grade 8 on the campus of
Gallaudet University Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered university in Washington, D.C., for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first school ...
in the
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...
neighborhood of
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
Alongside
Model Secondary School for the Deaf The Model Secondary School (MSSD) is a residential four-year high school for deaf and hard-of-hearing students located on the Gallaudet University campus in Washington, D.C. History Prior to 1970, Kendall School for the Deaf served students fr ...
, it is a federally funded, tuition-free demonstration school administered by the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center at Gallaudet University.


History

KDES is named for philanthropist
Amos Kendall Amos Kendall (August 16, 1789 – November 12, 1869) was an American lawyer, journalist and politician. He rose to prominence as editor-in-chief of the ''Argus of Western America'', an influential newspaper in Frankfort, Kentucky, Frankfort, the ...
, who in 1856 donated land and hired
Edward Miner Gallaudet Edward Miner Gallaudet ( ; February 5, 1837 – September 26, 1917), was the first president of Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. (then known as the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and Blind from 1864 unti ...
away from
American School for the Deaf American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...
, which his father had founded, to lead a school for his
wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
, a group of indigent deaf and blind children. Congress chartered the school as the Columbia Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind in 1857, funding tuition costs for students from D.C. In 1860, Maryland began sending all its deaf students to the Columbia Institution. In the early years, the institution served students in elementary and secondary school, before beginning to offer college degrees in 1864. In 1885, the pre-college department was separated from the undergraduate college, becoming Kendall School for the Deaf and Gallaudet College. Female students were admitted beginning in 1887. In 1901, a law was passed requiring that all deaf, school-age residents of the District of Columbia be educated at Kendall School. Kendall was founded as a fully integrated school. At the time, that was common for schools for the deaf. However, in 1904, Kendall School's black students were moved to the Maryland School for the Colored Blind and Deaf in
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
at the urging of white parents and the recommendation of the National Association of the Deaf. D.C. students had to wait until they were old enough to board at school to begin their formal education. Preschool for three- and four-year-olds was added in 1946. After the 1952 ''Miller v. D.C. Board of Education'' ruling by the
United States District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a United States district court, federal district court in Washington, D.C. Along with the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii and ...
, Kendall began again educating black students. Initially, black students were educated apart from white students in the Division II building. Two years later, ''
Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the ...
'' desegregated schools and the divisions were combined. In 1968, Kendall became the first school to use
computer-assisted instruction Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning and teaching. When referred to with its abbreviation, "EdTech", ...
for deaf students. In 1970, Congress passed P.L. 89-694, which established KDES as a demonstration elementary school separate from the high school,
Model Secondary School for the Deaf The Model Secondary School (MSSD) is a residential four-year high school for deaf and hard-of-hearing students located on the Gallaudet University campus in Washington, D.C. History Prior to 1970, Kendall School for the Deaf served students fr ...
. In addition to serving their student bodies, the intention was to have the schools develop educational resources and strategies that would improve deaf education nationwide. This change was the result of a 1965 report to Congress about the poor state of deaf education in the United States. During the 1970s, as a part of that effort to improve outcomes for deaf students, KDES expanded its early education to begin serving children from the onset of deafness. That included support for parents of deaf infants and toddlers who were not yet of school age, as well as a
cued speech Cued speech is a visual system of communication used with and among deaf or hard-of-hearing people. It is a phonemic-based system which makes traditionally spoken languages accessible by using a small number of handshapes, known as cues (represe ...
inclusion program at the National Child Research Center, a mainstream preschool in northwest D.C., that was in operation from 1973 to 1982. In 1981, a review found that of the 13 children who spent at least two years in the NCRC-Kendall program, a majority were at or above grade level. During
Deaf President Now Deaf President Now (DPN) was a student protest in March 1988 at Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C. The protest began on March 6, 1988, when the Board of Trustees announced its decision to appoint a hearing candidate, Elisabeth Zinser, over the ...
in 1988, Gallaudet students shut down the campus. While the protestors were willing to allow KDES staff and students to enter, the administration decided to cancel classes. At a rally, KDES students expressed their support of a deaf president for Gallaudet. The
Unity for Gallaudet The Unity for Gallaudet Movement was a protest movement started by students, faculty, and alumni of Gallaudet University and other sympathizers who did not support the nomination of Dr. Jane Fernandes as president of the university. I. King Jorda ...
protests in 2006 also resulted in the temporary closure of the elementary school. In 2000, the Clerc Center created the Technology in Education Can Empower Deaf Students (TecEds) project to increase the usage of technology at its schools and therefore prepare students for technology in the workplace. As part of the project,
interactive whiteboards An interactive whiteboard (IWB), also known as interactive board, interactive display, interactive digital board or smart board, is a large interactive display board in the form factor of a whiteboard. It can either be a standalone touchsc ...
,
laptops A laptop computer or notebook computer, also known as a laptop or notebook, is a small, portable personal computer (PC). Laptops typically have a clamshell form factor with a flat-panel screen on the inside of the upper lid and an alpha ...
, and
projectors A projector or image projector is an optical device that projects an image (or moving images) onto a surface, commonly a projection screen. Most projectors create an image by shining a light through a small transparent lens, but some newer typ ...
were brought into every classroom. Surveys of schools for the deaf over the past few decades show that the Clerc Center schools, KDES and MSSD, have long had the highest percentage of deaf staff members—46% in 1997, 58% in 2007, and 78% in 2017.


Academics

KDES is accredited by the
Middle States Association The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, also referred to as the Middle States Association or MSA, is an accreditor in the United States. Historically, it has accredited schools in the Mid-Atlantic states region of the northeast ...
and the
Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...
, and is a member school of the
American Society for Deaf Children Rachel Coleman is an American producer, singer, songwriter, and actress. With her sister Emilie de Azevedo Brown, she created the'' Signing Time!'' video series to teach children basic American Sign Language (ASL), which was broadcast on public t ...
. It follows the
bilingual–bicultural education Bilingual–Bicultural or Bi-Bi deaf education programs use sign language as the native, or first language, to teach Deaf children. In the United States, for example, Bi-Bi proponents state that American Sign Language (ASL) should be the natural f ...
philosophy, meaning
American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that i ...
and
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
are both used in instruction. It is also uses the bimodal approach—rather than English being only present in its written form, students have opportunities to hear and practice oral English. The program is designed to benefit all deaf and hard-of-hearing students, including those who use amplification devices and those who do not. The early intervention program includes classes for parents, a playgroup for caregivers with their deaf babies and toddlers, half- and full-day preschool, and pre-kindergarten. For grades K-8, the school uses Maryland
Common Core The Common Core State Standards Initiative, also known as simply Common Core, was an American, multi-state educational initiative begun in 2010 with the goal of increasing consistency across state standards, or what K–12 students throughout th ...
standards for English and math, Clerc Center standards for ASL, and
Next Generation Science Standards The Next Generation Science Standards is a multi-state effort in the United States to create new education standards that are "rich in content and practice, arranged in a coherent manner across disciplines and grades to provide all students an int ...
for science. Graduates are automatically eligible to continue their education at Model Secondary School for the Deaf.


Extracurriculars

KDES participates in several academic competitions for deaf students. In 2014, 2018, and 2019, KDES won its division in Gallaudet's Battle of the Books for elementary and middle schoolers. In 2018 and 2019, KDES was the top scoring team at the
National Technical Institute for the Deaf The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) is the first and largest technological college in the world for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. As one of nine colleges within the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Roches ...
's math competition for middle schoolers. The school holds an annual ASL spelling bee to determine who will represent the school at an ASL spelling bee against students from other schools for the deaf across the country, including
Maryland School for the Deaf The Maryland School for the Deaf (MSD) offers public education at no cost to deaf and hard-of-hearing Maryland residents between the ages of zero and 21. It has two campuses located in Frederick and Columbia, Maryland. History Prior to the op ...
and
California School for the Deaf, Fremont History The first California School for the Deaf was established in 1860 and is part of the California Department of Education's State Special Schools. Originally located in Berkeley, the school served to educate the Deaf community. The Berkele ...
.


Athletics

In 1927, Kendall played in the first basketball tournament organized by what would become the
Eastern Schools for the Deaf Athletic Association The Eastern Schools for the Deaf Athletic Association (ESDAA) is an organization that oversees and regulates deaf interscholastic athletics in the US States of Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvani ...
. The school continued to participate in the league through the 1960s. Kendall was a founding member of the Mason-Dixon Schools for the Deaf Athletic Association, playing in the league's first basketball tournament in 1953. However, the Kendall team did not advance past the first round, losing 57-52 to
Kentucky School for the Deaf The Kentucky School for the Deaf (KSD), located in Danville, Kentucky, United States, is a school that provides education to deaf and hard-of-hearing children from elementary through high school levels. Founded in 1823, it was the first school ...
and then 36-35 to the
Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind The Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB) is the world’s most comprehensive education, rehabilitation and service program serving individuals of all ages who are deaf, blind, deafblind and multidisabled. It is operated by the U.S. state ...
in the losers' bracket, and did not participate in any later tournaments. One Kendall student, John Miller, made the 1953 All-Tournament team, as well as the all-city team that year. Today, the KDES Wildcats compete in the
Potomac Valley Athletic Conference Formed in 1979, the Potomac Valley Athletic Conference is a group of independent schools in the Washington metropolitan area who compete against each other in interscholastic athletics. The conference comprises small independent schools from Mary ...
against mainstream private schools. The school fields cross-country, volleyball, basketball, and track and field teams. They also play games and tournaments against other schools for the deaf.


Student body

KDES students live with parents or guardians in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Because all services are free, students are parentally placed rather than being placed in the school by their school district. The racial makeup of the K-8 student body during the 2015–16 school year was 45.5%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 23.4%
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
, 18.2%
Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Common meanings *Anything from the Caucasus region or related to it ** Ethnic groups in the Caucasus ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus re ...
, 7.8% Asian, and 5.2%
multiracial The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races (human categorization), races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicity, ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used ...
. Each student has an
IFSP IFSP (, ), or radial parallel interface, was a parallel interface similar to the Centronics connector (IEEE 1284) but incompatible, as it had different signal polarities and handshake protocol. It was used in printers and computers manufactured in ...
or IEP. KDES only accepts students whose primary disability is deafness, though deafblind students are accepted. A minority have
cochlear implant A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted Neuroprosthetics, neuroprosthesis that provides a person who has moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss with sound perception. With the help of therapy, cochlear implants may allow for imp ...
s. As of 2016, 51% have profound hearing loss and 23% have severe hearing loss.


Notable alumni

*
Gertrude Scott Galloway Gertrude Scott Galloway (November 12, 1930 – July 17, 2014) was an American educator and administrator working with deaf children. She was the first female president of the National Association of the Deaf. She is among the first deaf women to ...
, educator


References


External links


Official website
{{Schools for the deaf in the United States Private K–8 schools in the United States Private middle schools in Washington, D.C. Private elementary schools in Washington, D.C. Laboratory schools in the United States University-affiliated schools in the United States Schools for the deaf in the United States Gallaudet University Trinidad (Washington, D.C.)