Fast Facts
- Lexington School for the Deaf was founded in 1864. By 1880 the founders secured funding to open a bricks-and-mortar school along Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. The current school opened in East Elmhurst, Queens, in 1968.
- Lexington School serves students from infancy to 21.
- Lexington also includes the Lexington Hearing and Speech Center, Lexington Vocational Services Center and the Lexington Center for Mental Health Services.
Learning and Teaching are Key at Lexington School for the Deaf
The mission of Lexington School for the Deaf is to empower deaf students to achieve their highest potential through an exemplary education to become productive citizens in a diverse and rapidly changing society. At Lexington, that mission translates into an academic program where both students and teachers are committed to meeting New York state’s learning standards.
In 2015, Lexington embarked on a three-year program to implement Thinking Maps. Thinking Maps are a visual system for teaching abstract cognitive processes. From preschoolers to high school seniors, Thinking Maps are used across the curriculum to help students learn to define in context, classify, sequence, see analogies and demonstrate cause and effect.
Differentiated instruction plays a key role in Lexington’s academic program. To that end, the school has implemented the Northwest Evaluation Association’s Measures of Academic Progress. MAP is a computer-based assessment tool that measures student growth in reading, language usage and mathematics. MAP provides teachers with real-time data on student learning to support and measure the results of differentiated instruction.
Lexington considers technology to be a vital component of learning. One example of the school’s commitment to integrating technology in the classroom is Schoology. This learning management software allows teachers to design lessons, post assignments and provide feedback to students on an on-line basis. Schoology offers real-time tracking of student mastery, engagement and performance and supports teacher and student collaboration across grades and subject matter.
Lexington’s Parent Staff Association (PSA) and newly created Family Liaison position support the home-school connection. Parents are encouraged to participate in educational workshops, back-to-school events, and other activities that strengthen the home-school connection.
Lexington’s graduating Class of 2016 embodied the schools motto, “Empower, Achieve, Lead.” Of the 29 graduates, 24 percent went on to college; 48 percent are in supported-employment; 20 percent are in day habilitation programs; four percent are enrolled in communication skills programs; and another four percent are pursuing culinary training.
More about Lexington
- Members of the general public can study American Sign Language at Lexington. Eight week sessions are offered three times a year. Learn more at lexnyc.org.
- You can follow Lexington on Facebook and Twitter.