Schools
Louis Braille School in Edmonds Closes Due to Lack of Funding
The school on Edmonds Way, which opened five years ago, served blind and partially blind students with a full curriculum.
The Louis Braille School has shut its doors after five years in Edmonds.
Founder Carolyn Meyer said she was forced to close the school due to a lack of funding. The school had been renting an office in a converted brick rambler at 10130 Edmonds Way, which is now for sale.
“We would love to reopen, but would require substantial long-term financial support and a suitable building,” said Meyer, who before opening the tax-exempt, nonprofit school had run the Louis Braille Center in downtown Edmonds since 1996.
Denise Colley, president of the Seattle-based Washington Council of the Blind, said the Louis Braille School was a private school and confirmed that it “primarily closed due to lack of sufficient funding.”
According to DJ Jakala, a spokeswoman for the Edmonds School District, the district has not contracted for services with the private school. “We have always been able to provide the services directly to our visually impaired and blind students' needs,” she said.
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In March, in an attempt to keep its operations going, the Louis Braille Schol held a fundraiser, themed , with proceeds going to the school’s general fund.
The Louis Braille School, named for the blind 19th-century French inventor who created the raised dot method of reading and writing known today as Braille, was a Washington State approved private day school for children who are blind or partially blind. The school offered students in kindergarten through grade 12 a 10-month academic program that integrated accessible curriculum and specialized training in skills of everyday living.
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“For five wonderful years, students attending our school received a comprehensive, holistic education,” said Meyer. “(It) included daily living skills and social skills as well as traditional academic courses, all taught in ways understandable and accessible to each child’s unique challenges.”
Meyer said she is now expanding her Braille transcribing services, building on twenty years of transcribing experience. “We thank the community for its interest and concern,” she said. “Frequent trips to Edmonds stores and points of interest were a unique part of our curriculum and eagerly anticipated by our students. Thank you for your kindness. It’s been an honor.”