The Preparatory School

The Preparatory School at the  NDA Behavioral Health is a not-for-profit, non-public school located on the campus of the National Deaf Academy. The Preparatory School offers highly specialized educational programs for grades 1-12, focusing on Deaf education and special needs programming to serve children, adolescents and young adults with psychiatric needs. Click here to read the Preparatory School mission and values.

Assessments and Psychological Services

Trained clinical and educational teams meet on a regular basis to ensure that the highest level of behavioral programming and related services are implemented to meet the needs of each student and their Individualized Educational Plan (IEP). In addition, we work closely with local education agencies to tailor an educational program that meets the needs of the child as well as their state requirements, including state assessments, alternative assessments and psychological services. Related services available include audiological and psychological services, speech/language therapy, physical and/or occupational therapy.

Autism and Varying Exceptionalities

At the Preparatory School, we serve students that have significant hearing impairments with accompanying disorders, including psychiatric, behavioral, cognitive and/or physical disorders that impede their ability to function in daily living. Our population also includes hearing students diagnosed within the Autism spectrum or another existing primary disability that impairs language and communication. This special population benefits from our main communication method at the National Deaf Academy – American Sign Language.

Teachers

Students are provided with differentiated instruction reinforced with positive discipline by Florida-Certified teachers. The classrooms are staffed with a 1:3 staff to student ratio. Specialized programming includes standard and remedial education, infusing literacy into all.