Jean Massieu School of the Deaf

The Jean Massieu School of the Deaf (JMS) was founded in 1999 as a charter school by the local Deaf Community in the Salt Lake City area to support students to have a truly bilingual education: American Sign Language and English. Several years later, JMS merged with the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind to align both organizations missions to best support the needs of deaf/hard-of-hearing children throughout all of Utah. To this day, JMS is committed to promoting and fostering a fully accessible learning environment with the goal being proficient in both languages, American Sign Language (ASL) and English. JMS provides an in-depth education in written English for all students and spoken English for those students who are able to access and develop that skill. Deaf children are cultural beings; we support linguistic, cultural, and social components to help deaf and hard of hearing students become productive and well-educated members of a rich cultural minority as well as society at large.

JMS serves deaf/hard-of-hearing students preschool through post-high school as determined by an IEP/504 team. All grades follow the Utah Core Standards and teachers utilize best teaching practices, access to technology, and culturally supportive learning to ensure students receive the best education possible. JMS is a fully accessible

setting that strives to develop a sense of identity in which students feel they can be proud of who they are as Deaf/Hard-of-hearing individual.

Our main campus is located on 3300 South in Salt Lake City in the historic Libbie Edward school building. Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind has recently added the Openshaw Education Center located directly behind the JMS building.

The mascot for JMS is Jacky, the Yellowjacket. The letters in our mascot’s name stand for: Joyful attitude, Autonomy, Cooperation, Kindness, and Yellowjacket pride, the values the school encourages for its students. The logo represents the letters JMS: the “J” is the body of the yellowjacket, the “M” and “S” are signed on the hands.