1. Perkins School for the Blind
Admissions and Evaluations Department
Chris

2. Admissions and Evaluations
Christopher Underwood, Director
Kate Dietz, Administrative Assistant
Justine C. Rines, Evaluations Coordinator
Martha Simon, Community Liaison

3. What does the Admissions and Evaluations department do?
Works with families, school districts and Perkins on-campus educational programs to coordinate the student admission process
Coordinates Perkins outside evaluation service
Promotes Perkins Educational Programs to the community at large
Responds to phone calls, s, and other inquiries about Perkins Educational Programs

4. What is the Admission and Evaluation Process?
An inquiry is received and an application packet is sent
Evaluation required paperwork includes:
IEP
Eye reports (ophthalmological, low vision, etc.)
Audiological report if student has a hearing impairment
TVI reports (LMA, FVA, annual reports, etc.)
Previous evaluation reports (psychological, Sp&L, OT, PT, O&M, etc.)
Behavioral reports
Progress reports
Completed Perkins Evaluation Information Form with specific evaluation questions and concerns
Admissions required paperwork includes all of the above plus:
Perkins Annual Health Update (pink form)
Perkins Student Health History (green form)
Other relevant medical reports such as neurology, orthopedic, swallow study, etc.

5. What is the Admission and Evaluation Process? (Continued)
The evaluations/admission office receives the student referral information and passes the file on to the evaluation/admission team in the appropriate educational program.
Each educational program has a team that includes:
education director
social worker
school psychologist
teacher
at least one representative from each related service area
Teams meet monthly to discuss student referrals and determine if potentially Perkins is an appropriate placement option or if we can conduct an appropriate evaluation
If moving forward, an on-campus visit is scheduled

6. What is the Admission and Evaluation Process? (Continued)
During an Admission Visit:
Student is accompanied by family and sometimes school district personnel to tour and learn about Perkins
Student meets with admission team members and participates in various school activities
Parents participate in interviews with social worker and program nurse
Student and other guests have lunch in a cottage and view the residential space, if relevant
Sometimes parents and school district personnel will come for a school tour before they begin the referral process to see if they are interested in applying for admission. These visits are also scheduled through the admission/evaluation office

7. What is the Admission and Evaluation Process? (Continued)
During an Evaluation:
Student works throughout one or two days in various evaluation and testing activities
Parents participate in at least one interview to gather more information for the evaluation
Evaluation areas can include: psychological, educational, speech and language, occupational therapy, physical therapy, orientation and mobility, and a few other areas
Student has lunch in a cottage with parents and often an SLP and/or an OT join them so they can gather more functional evaluation information

8. What is the Admission and Evaluation Process? (Continued)
Post-admission/evaluation meeting:
For admission referrals, team determines whether or not Perkins can accept the student
For evaluations, team exchanges information regarding evaluation results, impressions and recommendations
If student is accepted:
Parents and school district receive notification
Start date is established
Funding is secured
Parents complete registration packet
If student was evaluated:
Each evaluator writes a report and submits it to our office
Reports are mailed to parents and the school district (8 weeks)
Families and schools may contact us with follow-up questions

9. What are some interesting admission facts?
99.9% of students who come to school here are sponsored by their school district.
Perkins will consider a student for placement without a school referral (many private, special education schools will not).
There are several complicated reasons why Perkins may not be the first choice for school districts:
According to IDEA, it is preferred that students with disabilities go to school and have classes with other children who do not have disabilities (e.g., “Least Restrictive Environment”)
School districts want to educate all children in their district and take pride in successfully doing so
Perkins is expensive
Transportation is expensive

10. What are some reasons Perkins wouldn’t accept a student?
Student doesn’t have a visual impairment or deafblindness or deafness with additional disabilities
Student needs services, programming and/or professional expertise that is not available at Perkins
Severe health complications
Severe behavioral complications
Lack of peer group for student
Family and/or school district wants an educational approach that doesn’t match with Perkins (i.e., facilitated communication, discrete ABA trials, etc.)

11. What are some interesting evaluation facts?
Perkins provides evaluations to students from all over the country
This service does not include a Learning Media Assessment
Evaluations are paid for by parents privately, by the student’s local school district, or sometimes by other agencies such as BESB in Connecticut
This service falls under the “Independent Educational Evaluation” regulations as allowed in IDEA and also under Massachusetts state regulations

12. What are some interesting evaluation facts? (continued)
The cost of a Perkins evaluation is set/regulated by the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy (i.e., yes, we accept state rates)
Examples of cost:
Psychological - $899.28
Educational - $262.91
Orientation and Mobility - $188.10
Speech and Language - $208.64
OT and PT - $ each
Each educational program can do about one outside evaluation a month
There is sometimes a long wait for an evaluation

13. What are some reasons Perkins wouldn’t conduct an evaluation for a student?
Student doesn’t have a visual impairment or deafblindness or deafness with additional disabilities
Unable to answer the submitted evaluation questions and concerns
Severe behavior concerns and team doesn’t think the student would be successful and/or cooperative in an unfamiliar setting with unfamiliar staff
A large amount of recent testing was already completed and the evaluation team can not find additional appropriate evaluation methods to use and it is not appropriate to repeat the same testing so soon.

14. Questions?