About MSB
Missouri School for the Blind offers educational and outreach services for legally blind Missouri children from birth through age 21 and their families. MSB is operated by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education of the State of Missouri and its services are free of charge.
MSB’s services are concentrated in two areas – its centerbase kindergarten-grade 12 school in St. Louis, Missouri, and its Outreach services offered throughout the state. MSB’s centerbase school is free of charge and open to all legally blind Missouri children ages five through 21; referral to MSB is a decision made jointly by the student’s parents and the local education agency. For more information on MSB’s centerbase programs and the admissions process, click on Centerbase or contact Joy Waddell, Assistant Superintendent, 314-633-3948 or Joyce.Waddell@msb.dese.mo.gov.
Through its membership in the North Central Association of Schools for the Blind (NCASB), which includes 17 other schools for the blind, MSB offers a varsity sports program in wrestling, track and field, swimming, goalball, cheerleading, and forensics. A host of clubs round out the extracurricular activities available. MSB is fully accredited by the North Central Association.
MSB’s Outreach program serves as a statewide resource for families and educators on blindness and/or deafblindness. consults with local districts on student programming, implementation of evidence-based practices and transition planning;
- coordinates statewide registration of students who are legally blind and the deafblind census;
- supports families of children with visual impairments, including those with multiple disabilities and/or deafblindness to gain access to resources, information and connection with other families
- provides MoSPIN -in-home training to parents of children, ages birth through five, by trained parent advisors
- provides statewide staff development and other training opportunities;
- manages a statewide system of ordering and distributing specialized materials from the American Printing House for the Blind obtained with federal quota funds;
- produces a variety of materials, including newsletters for families and service providers;
- operates the Library Media Center at Missouri School for the Blind which lends professional materials to local and state education agencies and offers a variety of library programs to students enrolled at MSB
To find out more about Outreach services click on Outreach, Resources for Families or Resources for Educators or call Jane C. Herder, Director Outreach/Deafblind Project Director, 314-633-1582, or email Jane.Herder@msb.dese.mo.gov