Communications
Single Hero
For Members of the News Media, Our Philosophy
The Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind is a state agency. USDB provides programs across the entire state of Utah as well as three main campuses. These schools and programs share detailed information with the public. The administration values include transparency and frequent communication. Teachers and staff are encouraged to share their stories of success. About 98% of our students have signed photo/media release forms, so when members of the news media ask if they are allowed into our programs and classrooms, the answer is yes. We encourage and applaud interviews with our students, teachers, and staff.
Thank you to members of the media for the coverage USDB has received. Many of our students, teachers, and programs have been highlighted in news stories and we appreciate it!
Links
YouTube: Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind
X/Twitter: @UtSchoolsDB
Facebook: UtahSchoolsfortheDeafandtheBlind
Instagram: utahschoolsdeafblind
LinkedIn: Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind
Every week, USDB produces a newsletter. It provides a snapshot of the great work underway with our students, teachers and staff across the entire state. These newsletters are always available on this website. If you’d like to receive them in your email inbox each Friday afternoon, email susant@usdb.org and we’ll add you to the list.
Newsletters: The Friday Letter
The Communications Team
Susan Thomas, Public Information Officer
Division Director Communications and Development
Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind
Mobile/Text: 801-889-6964
Email: susant@usdb.org
Photo/Video Contact
Todd Keith
Media Production Specialist
Email: toddk@usdb.org
Communications Interns
Madison Andersen, Utah Tech University
Education Foundation
Amy Zaharis
Foundation Director
Email: amyz@usdb.org
Transparency
USDB works hard to be as transparent as possible. We produce many videos year round to educate the public about our schools, programs, teachers, staff, and students.
USDB also works with the news media frequently on news stories. We invite reporters to attend our events and watch our personalized education in action in our classrooms. Hundreds of news stories have reached millions of readers and viewers across the country, and sometimes around the world. We feel it is important to educate everyone about deaf education and blind education. This coverage is called "earned media" that means we have gained the publicity for free by working with the media. In our coverage reports linked below, we can see the estimated value of the publicity and the audience reach each story received.
Why communicate? It is all about serving students and families.
Who We Help
The Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind serve approximately 2,000 students across the entire State of Utah, with a total of 4,000 including students who receive support services.*
We have about 369* students on our campuses in Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Springville with classrooms in St. George.
About 1,700* of our students attend public schools throughout Utah, and we provide outreach teachers, aides, training and resources to them. Students who can phase out of our Deaf or Blind schools, can mainstream into public schools to be in their own communities if and when desired.
Our teachers will work with them on a regular basis to help ensure they are getting the technology, support, and resources they need to continue to be successful in their local schools. For students who are blind or visually impaired, that can mean access to large print, braille, screen readers, and other technology. For students who are deaf or hard of hearing, that can mean Listening and Spoken Language support, or American Sign Language training and/or interpretation. Even long distance interpreting is available thanks to technology.
*As you can imagine, these numbers fluctuate every school year, even mid-year. Contact us at anytime for the exact numbers for any of our programs.