The Perkins School for the Blind, founded in 1829 by Dr. John Dix Fisher, is the first school for the blind in the U.S. Fisher was inspired by his trip to Paris visiting the National Institute for the Blind and hoped to establish an institution which improves the life of people with disabilities. There are about 200 students on campus, and the school dedicates to help young people with blindness and deafblindness by providing them with education and skills they need in daily life. It also holds community service program, courses, and training for students and professionals.
Founded in 1992 by Dr. Mary C. Nash, the Lyon K-8 School has been acknowledged as one of Boston Public Schools most inclusive elementary schools and expanded into the middle school grades in 1999. Their mission has been to integrate both special needs students and general education students in the same classroom with a high teacher/student ratio. This barrier free school includes severely emotionally disturbed students in regular education classrooms to ensure equal achievable academic success. At the present stage of their development, the Mary Lyon School now seeks to create new teaching strategies to enable all sorts of students, especially those with complicated styles of learning, to be proficient in their respective grade levels.
Under the direction of the Boston School Board, in 1869 the Horace Mann School was founded and is today the oldest free public day school specifically to improve the quality of education for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students. Today it serves as a school that assists Deaf and Hard of Hearing students between the ages of as young as 3 through 22 years old. The school witnessed its first ever student become accepted into the North Bennet Industrial School in 1880, which later encouraged the Industrial to accept more students from Horace Mann to continue to contribute to society through manual labor. An even greater accomplishment was when Horace Mann School was able to provide a complete high school education and diploma to its deaf students and graduated its first senior class in June of 1978.
This project came into existence in 1971 as a joint city-state project and was later named The Carter School. Facilities were provided by the Boston Retardation center, and the teachers were hired by the Boston Public School. The Carter school is in collaboration with different universities in Boston such as Boston University College of Electrical Engineering, Northeastern University Nursing Program and Boston College Nursing Program, etc. Each university sends different groups of students to observe and administer procedures under the supervision of the staff at the Carter School. The school's motive is to provide their students with all the provisions for studying and making them accessible to the academic ecosystem. The school helps its students to increase their ability to communicate and make themselves comfortable in their community.
In July 1972, Tom Culhane fulfilled his dream of establishing a school where troubled adolescents would be educated and supported while they set about the task of realizing their dreams. Tom was inspired and influenced by his teachers and the most influential person in his life was James F. Farr who Tom could look up to whenever to seek guidance. Tom named his school after James F. Farr as Farr Academy. Farr academy offers a serene environment where these students get the care they need as they pursue an education that will enable them to succeed in life.
This Tour is a Digital Story Map.
Get a QR Code for this tour
These Schools all have in common the idea of inclusivity and assisting those with disabilities whether its mentally, hearing deficiencies or blindness. Their rich history and sustainability through all these years attribute to their significance and success in providing a quality education to these students.
