DENOMINATIONAL AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS
DENOMINATIONAL SCHOOLS
In addition to the state institutions and the day schools, there have
been established in America certain schools for the deaf which are
strictly under private management, and, as a rule, not subject to the
immediate control and direction of the state. These are of two kinds: 1.
denominational schools, maintained by some religious body; and 2.
schools conducted as purely private and secular affairs. Such schools
now number twenty-one, ten denominational and eleven private, all in
1912-1913 having 638 pupils. Most are of comparatively recent date, the
first having been established in 1873, and nine since 1901.[305]
The denominational schools are found in California, Illinois, Louisiana,
Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, there
being two in Pennsylvania. They are for the most part boarding
institutions, in a few cases being departments of larger institutions.
Their controlling purpose is to surround their pupils with religious
influences, and to provide them with religious instruction. All but one
are under Roman Catholic auspices, as a usual thing in the hands of the
Sisters. The single Protestant school is in the care of the Lutheran
Church, and is controlled by the synod, with the direct management
vested in a board of trustees. These schools are supported by
denominational funds, by voluntary contributions, and in a small measure
by tuition fees. In some of the schools, as in Maryland and
Pennsylvania, there is state aid to a small extent. The fees paid by
pupils are never high, and not many in the schools pay the full amount,
though inability to pay is never allowed to keep any away who wish to
attend.[306]
PRIVATE SCHOOLS
The eleven non-denominational schools may be themselves divided into
two classes: those which are really homes for very young deaf children,
sometimes under the control of a society organized for the purpose; and
those which are purely private enterprises, owned and directed by one or
more individuals. Of the former there are four homes or
kindergartens--the Sarah Fuller Home of Boston, the McCowen Homes of
Chicago, the Home School near Baltimore, and the Home School of San
Francisco.[307] Their main object is to give their pupils an early start
in the use of speech as well as to provide a home, and children as young
as three, or even younger, may be admitted. The management of these
schools is usually in the hands of trustees. Support is derived largely
from the fees of pupils, though some schools are often the recipients of
private donations, especially when children are taken without charge;
and one or two have aid from public allowances.[308]
The private schools of the second class are almost entirely dependent on
tuition fees, though one or two likewise receive some state aid. With
two exceptions,[309] they are found in large cities, New York having
two, and Philadelphia, Baltimore and Cincinnati one each. These schools
are both boarding and day schools.
The method employed in the private schools is nearly always the oral,
and this is the method also of some of the denominational schools. In
some of the schools of both classes manual training and instruction in
trades are given to an extent.
FOOTNOTES:
[305] There have been a number of private schools at various times,
perhaps a score or more, which have been discontinued--besides those
which were the nuclei of the state institutions. There are, moreover,
several private schools for the hard of hearing, where instruction and
practice are offered in lip-reading, and attended for the most part by
adults.
[306] Thus in the Michigan Evangelical Lutheran Institute, where the
minimum fee is $10 a month, we are advised that only two or three pay
the full amount. In St. John's Institute of Wisconsin, where $12 a month
is asked, we are advised that the officials are "contented with whatever
part of this sum the parents or guardians can pay". Voluntary
contributions likewise do not always prove large. Of the Immaculate
Conception Institution of St. Louis, we are advised that private
contributions are "too meagre to support one child". The industry of the
Sisters often adds much for the maintenance of the Catholic schools.
[307] Another such home is in Philadelphia, but is now a state
institution.
[308] To the Sarah Fuller Home the state of Massachusetts allows $250
_per capita_ for some of the children.
[309] At Lead, South Dakota, and Macon, Georgia.