Mission and Vision
Ernest C. Drury School for the Deaf is committed to providing our students educational and residential programs that are rich with opportunities to acquire and develop language, literacy, numeracy and inquiry skills in American Sign Language (ASL) and English in a diverse, multiculturally- enriched learning environment.
Through a bilingual-biliteracy-bicultural school and residence program, together with strong family and community partnerships, students gain an appreciation of various cultures including ASL culture and embrace equity and diversity as an integral part of their learning environment.
Principles
Our students will:
- develop biliteracy, numeracy and inquiry skills in ASL and English;
- develop an understanding of ASL and English culture within a diverse, multicultural society; and
- develop a cultural identity which supports well-being and active engagement within the ASL, English and global communities.
Biliteracy Skills
The goal of biliteracy skills for students is to develop a strong ability to use language to engage in higher-order thinking that involves the transformation of information and ideas in both languages (ASL and English). Biliteracy builds students’ capacity to: access, manage, create and evaluate ideas and information; think synthetically and analytically; communicate thoughts and ideas effectively; apply metacognitive knowledge skills; and develop a sense of self-efficacy and interest in life-long learning. Biliteracy skills provide students the ability to create cross-linguistic and cross-cultural connections between the two languages in a variety of contexts.
Having strong literacy skills in ASL and English provides students with a foundation for academic achievement as problem solvers with critical and creative thinking skills which leads to success as engaged citizens of the increasingly competitive global community.
Bilingual-Biliteracy Bicultural Education
The Ernest C. Drury Elementary School for the Deaf uses a bilingual-biliteracy-bicultural approach to educating our students. This approach promotes American Sign Language (ASL) as the first language and English as the second language.
The Parallel Model, which is a bilingual-biliteracy education model, is currently being used at Ernest C. Drury Elementary School. This model uses ASL as the language of dialogue, and uses both ASL and English as the language of instruction and of study. As a result, ASL proficiency creates teaching and learning experiences that increase the academic achievement of every student. This model not only has benefits for the student within the classroom, but also extends to their life outside of the school environment. The benefits of this model are evidenced not only in the classroom, but also extends to community connections by developing the students’ skills to become life-long learners.
Moreover, the Parallel Model utilizes ASL that our students are most masterful, and shows the students how the functions and contents of ASL transform into English equivalents (and vice versa). As a result, the students acquire ASL and English through bilingual-biliteracy connection(s). This approach also applies to students using two languages to develop reading skills in English. Having strong literacy skills in ASL and English provide students with a strong foundation for academic achievement and success as citizens of the global community.
The Bilingual-Biliteracy and Bicultural Education principles as supported by the Provincial Schools Branch are as follows:
- Development of students’ biliteracy, numeracy and inquiry skills in ASL and English;
- Development of an understanding of ASL and English culture within a diverse, multicultural society; and
- Development of a cultural identity which supports well-being and active engagement within the ASL, English and global communities.