Middle & High Schools (Grades 6-12)
Middle & High Schools (Grades 6-12)
Building Independence. Preparing for What Comes Next.
The Middle and High School years are a time of tremendous growth as students discover their strengths, take greater responsibility for their learning, and begin making important choices about their futures.
At Rochester School for the Deaf, students in grades 6–12 learn in a bilingual ASL-English environment where they have direct access to instruction, discussion, relationships, and the life of the school community. Our program combines high academic expectations with individualized support, opportunities for leadership and exploration, and a strong sense of belonging.
As students progress from Middle School through graduation, we help them become increasingly independent learners, confident self-advocates, and young adults prepared to pursue college, career, and meaningful participation in their communities.
Welcome from the Principal
At RSD, we recognize that adolescence brings new challenges, new opportunities, and growing independence. Our Middle and High School students are encouraged to ask questions, take intellectual risks, develop their interests, and become active participants in their own education.
Our teachers and staff know their students well and work together to provide the academic, social-emotional, and transition supports each student needs. We maintain high expectations while recognizing that every student brings different strengths, goals, and learning needs.
Throughout these important years, our goal is not simply to prepare students for the next grade or for graduation. It is to help them develop the knowledge, confidence, independence, and self-awareness they will carry into adulthood.
Antony A.L. McLetchie
Superintendent/CEO and Acting Principal Grade 6-12
What Makes Our Middle and High Schools Unique
Direct Access to Learning and Community
Students learn, communicate, collaborate, and build relationships directly with staff and classmates throughout the school day. ASL and English are part of a language-rich environment where students can fully participate in classroom discussions, school activities, friendships, and the everyday conversations that are an essential part of learning and growing.
High Expectations, Individualized Support
RSD's academic program is aligned with New York State Learning Standards and graduation requirements. Small classes and a strong team of teachers, teaching assistants, specialists, counselors, and support staff allow us to know students as individuals, build on their strengths, and provide support as they work toward ambitious academic and personal goals.
Language, Identity, and Self-Advocacy
Language development continues throughout the secondary years. Students strengthen their ASL and English skills while developing the ability to communicate effectively in academic, social, and professional settings. Through interaction with peers and staff, students also deepen their understanding of Deaf culture and identity and learn to advocate for themselves with confidence.
Learning Beyond the Classroom
Some of the most meaningful learning happens through experience. Athletics, clubs, academic competitions, field trips, travel, community experiences, career exploration, and other extracurricular opportunities allow students to discover interests, practice teamwork, develop leadership skills, and build lasting friendships.
Community and Belonging
RSD offers students something difficult to replicate in a larger educational setting: a community in which they can participate fully. Students learn alongside peers with shared experiences while becoming part of a diverse school community that values individual identities, perspectives, and strengths. These relationships help students develop confidence, independence, and pride in who they are.
Whole-Student Support
Academic achievement is one part of preparing young people for adulthood. RSD supports students' social-emotional development, well-being, decision-making, and growing independence through strong relationships with trusted adults, counseling and student support services, and a schoolwide commitment to a safe and positive learning environment.
Middle School
Growing Into Independent Learners
Grades 6–8 are important transition years. Students are moving beyond the structure of elementary school while preparing for the increased expectations and independence of high school.
At RSD, Middle School gives students room to grow while providing the structure and support they still need. Students begin managing changing classes, assignments, schedules, and responsibilities with greater independence. Teachers help them develop the organization, time-management, study, and problem-solving skills that will become increasingly important in high school and beyond.
Building Academic Independence
Middle School students are expected to take a more active role in their learning. They learn to keep track of assignments, manage their time, seek help when they need it, and take greater responsibility for the quality of their work. Our daily schedule includes Advisement, providing dedicated time for students to meet with teachers, receive additional help or tutoring, work on assignments, and strengthen the habits that support academic success.
Exploring Interests
These years are also a time for discovery. Through academic courses, hands-on experiences, technology, the arts, athletics, extracurricular activities, and other opportunities, students can try new things and begin identifying their interests and strengths. Exploration during Middle School helps students begin connecting what they learn in school with the possibilities ahead of them.
Developing Confidence and Leadership
As students become more independent, they also have new opportunities to contribute to their school community. Participation in athletics, clubs, activities, and school events helps students develop teamwork, responsibility, sportsmanship, leadership, and confidence. Just as importantly, Middle School students continue developing their own identities and learning how to advocate for themselves—skills that prepare them for a successful transition to High School.
High School
Preparing for College, Career, and Life
High School is where students begin turning their interests, strengths, and ambitions into plans for life after RSD.
Students in grades 9–12 work toward New York State graduation requirements while developing the academic skills, work habits, independence, and self-advocacy they will need as adults. Individual goals vary, and RSD works with each student and family to build an educational and transition plan that reflects the student's abilities, interests, and aspirations.
Pathways to Graduation
RSD provides academic programming aligned with New York State standards and graduation requirements, including pathways leading to Regents and Advanced Regents diplomas, as appropriate to the individual student. Other students may work toward New York State commencement credentials that emphasize career development, occupational preparation, and skills for adult life. Whatever the pathway, the goal is the same: meaningful preparation for what comes next.
College and Career Planning
Transition planning is an integral part of the High School experience. Students work with their families, counselors, teachers, and other members of their educational team to explore postsecondary education, careers, employment, and independent living. As students move through High School, they are encouraged to understand their own strengths and needs, set goals, make informed choices, and take increasing ownership of their plans for the future.
Learning Through Real-World Experience
Career exploration becomes increasingly concrete during High School. Depending on their interests and educational plans, students may have opportunities to participate in career and technical education, work-based learning, community experiences, and other programs that connect classroom learning with the world of work. RSD's partnerships expand those opportunities beyond our campus. Students may pursue career and technical programs through BOCES, and qualified students may have opportunities to take college-level coursework through RIT/NTID.
Leadership, Self-Advocacy, and Independence
Preparing for adulthood means learning to navigate the world with confidence. Throughout High School, students are encouraged to make decisions, solve problems, communicate their needs, understand their rights and responsibilities, and advocate for themselves. Athletics, student organizations, academic competitions, travel, extracurricular activities, and leadership opportunities give students additional ways to stretch themselves, contribute to their community, and discover what they are capable of accomplishing.
Ready for What Comes Next
There is no single definition of success after graduation. RSD graduates pursue college and technical education, enter the workforce, participate in training programs, and follow many different paths. Our goal is for every student to leave RSD with more than a diploma or credential. We want graduates to know themselves, understand their options, communicate and advocate for their needs, and approach their next chapter with confidence.
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)
RSD uses Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) to foster a positive, respectful, and supportive school community. Middle and High School students follow our ROARZ expectations, which reinforce responsibility, positive relationships, good decision-making, and the behaviors that help students succeed in school and beyond.
As students mature, these expectations increasingly emphasize personal responsibility and the understanding that their choices affect both themselves and the larger community.
School-Home Partnership
Families remain essential partners throughout the secondary years—even as students become increasingly responsible for their own education.
Teachers, counselors, administrators, and support staff communicate with families about student progress, goals, challenges, and successes. Together, we help students develop the independence they need while ensuring they have a strong network of adults supporting them along the way.
