The laughter and the little voices could be heard in the hall as parents and teachers tried to keep the graduates in a line.
In spite of the emotions typical at a graduation ceremony, this 2006 class of the Lighthouse International is like no other; of the 40 students who graduated yesterday, 22 are blind and 18 have visual impairment.
Heaven, a five-year-old Puerto Rican girl, never stopped talking to her classmates and her pre-kindergarten teacher, hugging them and throwing them kisses.
"We are very happy. What my daughter learned here has made her more independent and more self-confident," said Jessica Mojica-Denson, Heaven's mother.
This little girl is one of 15 visually impaired Hispanic children who learned basic skills such as reading the Braille, which will allow them to enter a regular school in the city's education system.
These students, between three and five years old, also benefited from small classes of less than 12 students, getting individual attention to address their particular visual requirements.
But it was the free instruction that attracted the parents of a Mexican girl, Cecilia Morales, since they do not have the means to afford the special education that their daughter needs.
"My husband is the only one who has a job, and if it hadn't been for this school, I don't know what we would have done," said Irene Salinas, accompanied by her other daughter Andrea, who also suffers from visual impairment and who graduated from Lighthouse International last year.
According to the school's director, the children have only to present the statement of an eye doctor in order to receive free instruction.
"Acceptance (into the school) is on a case by case basis because, for each child, an individualized education plan is established," explained Noreen Brennan, director of Lighthouse International.
For now, the Mojica-Denson family is thinking of nothing but the marvelous future that awaits their daughter Heaven, who has already been accepted by a school in the Bronx where she can go from kindergarten through high school, and which will prepare her to attend college.
"I am so happy. I couldn't ask any more than that Heaven is there (in school) and becomes a successful adult," said Ms. Mojica-Denson with great feeling as she kissed her daughter tenderly.
