Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech

Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech
Location
Northampton, Massachusetts
Information
Type	School for the Deaf
Motto	A Sound Future
Established	1867
School district	Northampton, Massachusetts
President	Mr. William Corwin
Principal	O.J. Logue
Staff	Over 100 staff members
Faculty	Over 30 faculty members
Grades	K-8
Enrollment	Approx. 60 students
Athletics	Basketball
Mascot	Cougars
Languages	English
Website	[1]

Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech, formerly Clarke School for the Deaf, is a private school located in Northampton, Massachusetts that specializes in educating deaf children using listening and spoken language (oralism) through the assistance of hearing aids and cochlear implants. While there are only 60 full-time students who attend Clarke's Northampton campus, over 3,500 people directly benefited from Clarke's services, programs and research in 2009 and 500 students were directly enrolled at Clarke's five campuses in Northampton, Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Jacksonville.

Clarke School for the Deaf was founded in 1867 in Northampton, Massachusetts, as the first permanent oral school for the deaf in the United States, and it has gained an international reputation as a pioneer and a leader in the field of auditory/oral education. A local benefactor, John Clarke, offered a $50,000 grant to anyone who would start a school for the deaf in Northampton. Gardiner Greene Hubbard, with the state government and numerous individuals, played a role in the founding of the Clarke School. The Clarke School was not only the first school to teach children with hearing loss to speak in the United States, but also the first to initiate education in the early years and the first to recognize the importance of students entering mainstream classrooms. Clarke School also was the first to train teachers in auditory/oral education and in 1962 enhanced its teacher education program by partnering with Smith College, where graduates can earn a Masters of Education of the Deaf. As of 2008, over 1,400 teachers of the deaf had been trained through the Smith College/Clarke Graduate Teacher Education program. Alexander Graham Bell, President Calvin Coolidge, and First Lady Grace Coolidge served on Clarke’s Board of Trustees, with Bell and Grace Coolidge serving as chair of the board at different times. In the first quarter of 2010, Clarke announced the new name better reflecting their mission from Clarke School for the Deaf to Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech. Subsequently, a new logo and website was created to complete the rebranding.

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