Opened in 2003 with just 8 students, Blossom’s student population has grown to nearly 40 students beginning the 2012-13 school year.   Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf is one of only two Montessori schools for deaf children in the United Statesand the only one in Florida.  The school is for students ages 2 1/2 through 15 who are Deaf or hard of hearing, and children who have a parent or sibling who is deaf.   When the school opened, the concept of a Montessori School that tailored its curriculum to the unique educational needs of  Deaf students and their family members had never been tried.  According to Rutenberg, “Our parents just trusted us and we delivered.”

 Prior to Blossom’s creation, the only choices for parents with Deaf or hard-of-hearing children were to keep them in the local public schools or move to St. Augustine so they could attend the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind.   Rutenberg had the idea for Blossom after she worked with deaf children as an intern in a traditional school.  “There were first-graders who couldn’t tell you their alphabet and fifth- graders who couldn’t tell you the days of the week,” she said.

 “I had gone to a Montessori school growing up and really benefited from it,” she said. “I thought it would be great to offer the same educational program for deaf children.  Deaf students need a very focused educational experience to really succeed and sometimes it’s hard to do that in a traditional school.  That’s why we created Blossom and our children thrive in this environment.”  Montessori stresses hands-on learning through all of a child’s senses and allows children to learn at their own pace by choosing materials and activities in which they want to participate. When you visit a Montessori classroom, more often than not you’ll find the students sitting and learning on the floor.

 The first Deaf President of Gallaudet University has become a good friend and frequent visitor to Blossom.  One of the world’s foremost advocates for Deaf education, Dr. I. King Jordan says, “A Deaf person can do anything except hear.”  At Blossom the goal is to prove him right every day.

 Blossom’s curriculum is tailored to each child, and their communications philosophy is designed to meet the needs of every student with American Sign Language (ASL) being used throughout the school. Instead of grade levels, children are grouped by age: 3- to 6-year-olds; 6- to 9-year-olds; 9- to 12-year-olds; and 12- to 15-year-olds.

 “In the real world roughly 80% of Deaf and hard-of-hearing children won’t learn to read beyond the 3^rd or 4^th grade level,” says Rutenberg.  “To me, that’s just not acceptable and we can do something about it, but it takes work.”  Just recently, one of Blossom’s middle school students, Lauren Santiago, was one of two Florida winners in  the CVS All Kids Can Create Competition sponsored by VSA of Florida and the Kennedy Center for the Arts.  This is the second year in the last three that a Blossom student has won among more than 3,000 entries.  “Our kids learn, and thrive, and succeed and that’s what makes Blossom special,” says Rutenberg.

 “It’s hard to imagine now that a couple of our first students are already in college,” Rutenberg reflected.  “ In fact, they both received scholarships and one of them is at Gallaudet University in Washington, DC.”   Two of Blossom’s more recent grads have received Florida Pre-Paid College Scholarships from the Chair Scholars Foundation in Tampa and several others are on the honor roll in their high school programs.  “One of our grads is on her high school basketball team and is a class officer.”

 For more information about Blossom or to learn how you can sponsor a Blossom student’s education, visit www.blossomschool.org or call 727-539-7879.

Congratulations to our All Kids Can Create winners from Florida, Lauren Santiago from Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf in Pinellas County for her piece, Hearing Aid Help Me and Noel Whitlock from Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy in Brevard County for her piece, Winkle.  This year’s call for art theme, “What Inspires Me”, was launched on the birthday of the inspiring civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and invited students to reflect on what inspires them and share those inspirations through art.  Congratulations also to Elaine Hampton and Gina Hulse, Florida teachers who made the effort to submit these wonderful students for the award. 

The student artwork will be featured in an online gallery and displayed in the national exhibition August 1-26, 2012 at the Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial Library in downtown, Washington, DC. 

All Kids Can Create is a program of Very Special Arts of Florida and is sponsored byCVSCaremark.

Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf in Clearwater provides quality Montessori education to children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, their siblings, and children with deaf parents.

Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf receives generous support from individuals, corporations and foundations throughout Florida including the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay.

Lauren Santiago with her winning piece

It’s one of many questions that make kids think at the MFA as they explore art through the “Strokes of Genius” program. The program, which also teamed up with the Dali Museum this year, lets students from the Blossom Montessori School explore, then recreate, art.

“The students are connected through language, they’re connected through just the visual arts,” says Carol Downing with Blossom Montessori. “It’s an amazing program.”

Kids are encouraged to take it all in through the senses. But it’s a different experience when most of the students are deaf or hard of hearing.

“I think it is fascinating to look around and understand more about the art,” signs 12-year-old Lauren Santiago. “It really makes me want to express myself deeply. It goes right to my heart.”

Santiago actually just won a statewide art award for one of the pieces she created with Strokes of Genius. Through the program, students get to savor the artwork, focusing on what it looks like and how it makes them feel.

“I like looking at the pictures. The things are so beautifully made,” signs student Nathan Negron. “And now I am using it to make my own comic book.”

After they look at the art, they create art, shaping their ideas with clay, and showcasing dreams through mosaics or even peek boxes.

“Essentially they were able to create a scenario from a dream so it was really intimate, a space where you kind of have to peek into,” says Peter Tush, curator of Education at the Dali Museum.

And for the students, that’s the most fun part – understanding the art as a way to better understand themselves.

“It’s so much fun because when the kids recreate it, you just say, ‘Oh my gosh, the process they went through to understand it,’ says Downing.

Everything about Strokes of Genius, from transportation to museum admission, is donated by foundations including Publix Super Market Charities, the Harper Family Foundation and the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay.