Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech

Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech
A Sound Future
Location
Northampton, Massachusetts
Information
Type	School for the Deaf
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 the oral method through the assistance of hearing aids and cochlear implants. In the meantime, the school respects the decisions of the student to use sign language outside of campus or once they graduate or leave the school. While there are only 60 full-time students who attend Clarke's Northampton campus, over 3,500 people were 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.

Introduction

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 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 auditor and oral education and in 1962 enhanced the Teacher Education Program by partnering with Smith College, where graduates could earn a Masters of Education of the Deaf. As in 2008, over 1,400 teachers of the deaf have been trained through the Smith College/Clarke Graduate Teacher Education program. The school has been fortunate in employing notable leadership to determine its programs and policies. Alexander Graham Bell, President Calvin Coolidge, and First Lady Grace Coolidge served on Clarke’s Board of Trustees, with Bell and Grace Coolidge at different points serving as Chair of the Board.^[1] 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.

In the present day, the Clarke School has campuses not only in Northampton, but at:

• Clarke's Boston campus (or Clarke East)^[2] in Canton, Massachusetts
• Clarke's Pennsylvania campus (Clarke Pennsylvania) ^[3] in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, about 10 miles west of Philadelphia.
• Clarke's New York campus (Clarke New York) in New York City, New York^[4]
• Clarke's Jacksonville campus (Clarke Jacksonville) in Jacksonville, Florida^[5]

All of the satellite schools are early intervention schools where young children from birth to five years old attend before starting in a mainstream school.

Summer Adventure

Clarke hosts a two-week long summer program (formally called "Clarke's Summer Adventure") for deaf children from ages 9 to 14 each summer. The program consists of a residential program and a school program which revolves around a central theme. For example, the most recent summer program focused on "Going Green" and the practices of preserving the environment. The classes are not academic and the campers enjoy swimming at Clarke's indoor swimming pool, gym and many other fun activities that occur in the dormitory and at school. Each camper is carefully placed into small groups of five or six other campers of similar age or placement. The "academic" portion of the program occurs during the weekdays and during the lone weekend, the residential program plans and executes activities that explore the world outside of campus such as taking a field trip to a Whale Watch or attending events around New England.

President Coolidge

Goodhue, Clarence W. Barron and future President Calvin Coolidge

According to historians at the school, Calvin Coolidge (standing far right in the photo with Clarence W. Barron in the center) lived on campus where he met his future wife in Grace Anna Goodhue (standing far left of picture below). In 1902, Mr. Coolidge lived in Adams House (formerly known as Weir House), a faculty house behind to the school's main dormitory. Grace Goodhue was a teacher at the school at the time when one morning, while working in the garden between Adams House and dormitory, she saw Mr. Coolidge (a lawyer working for a local practice) shaving in his second floor bathroom with a hat and an union suit on. Grace Goodhue thought it was a funny sight, and laughed out loud.

That apparently got the attention of Coolidge and later that year, he and Grace Goodhue went out on a few dates. In 1905 Grace Goodhue left the school after only three years of service to marry Calvin and join him in his political career. After finishing his work as a local lawyer in Western Massachusetts, Calvin would go on to be the Mayor of Northampton, Governor of Massachusetts, Vice President and President of the United States of America.

Clarke School in the Media

In 2007, Clarke School was featured in the PBS documentary, "Through Deaf Eyes" produced by Larry Hott. The documentary depicted deafness and Deaf culture in the United States and the choices parents face between sign language and spoken language.

Clarke in Pictures

From Left to Right: Dormitory, Gym & Pool (background), Round Hill Road, Rogers Hall and Hubbard Hall

• 

  Rogers Hall - Addition to Hubbard Hall

• 

  Hubbard Hall (main schoolbuilding)

• 
• 

  Gawith Hall - Main Dormitory

References

1. ^ "History - CLARKE: About Clarke". Archived from the original on 2007-12-08. http://web.archive.org/web/20071208020919/http://www.clarkeschool.org/content/about/history.php. Retrieved 2008-03-01. 
2. ^ "Clarke School East - CLARKE: Clarke School East". Archived from the original on 2008-01-22. http://web.archive.org/web/20080122040123/http://www.clarkeschool.org/content/Clarke_East/index.php. Retrieved 2008-03-01. 
3. ^ "Clarke Pennsylvania - CLARKE: Clarke Pennsylvania". Archived from the original on 2008-01-22. http://web.archive.org/web/20080122040159/http://www.clarkeschool.org/content/Clarke_Pennsylvania/index.php. Retrieved 2008-03-01. 
4. ^ "Clarke School - New York - CLARKE: Clarke School - New York". http://www.clarkeschool.org/content/Clarke_NYC/index.php. Retrieved 2008-03-01. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ "Clarke Jacksonville - CLARKE: Clarke Jacksonville". Archived from the original on 2008-01-22. http://web.archive.org/web/20080122040128/http://www.clarkeschool.org/content/Clarke_Jacksonville/index.php. Retrieved 2008-03-01. 

External links

• School website
• "A Sound Future" Promotion

Coordinates: 42°20′18″N 72°37′50″W / 42.3382°N 72.6306°W / 42.3382; -72.6306