Delaware School for the Deaf

Delaware School for the Deaf

Location
630 E. Chestnut Hill Rd, Newark, Delaware, USA
Coordinates	39°40′29″N 75°42′23″W / 39.67465°N 75.706523°W / 39.67465; -75.706523Coordinates: 39°40′29″N 75°42′23″W / 39.67465°N 75.706523°W / 39.67465; -75.706523
Information
Type	Public school
Established	1929 - 1969 - 2011
School district	Christina School District
Dean	Ms. Eva Hartmann
Director	Ms. Laurie Kettle-Rivera
Staff	90+
Grades	K-12
Number of students	130+
Campus size	Small
Campus type	Suburban
Color(s)	Royal Blue and White
Athletics	Boys' and Girls' Basketball, Boys' Soccer, and Girls' Volleyball
Athletics conference	Eastern Schools for the Deaf Athletic Association Division I & Mid-Atlantic Independent League
Mascot	Blue Hawks
Languages	American Sign Language and English
Website	http://www.dsdeaf.org/

Delaware School for the Deaf is a public K-12 school located on East Chestnut Hill Road in Newark, Delaware, United States. It is part of the Christina School District and also part of Delaware Statewide Programs for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deaf-Blind (DSPDHHDB).

Delaware School for the Deaf's colors are royal blue and white. The school's mascot is the Blue Hawks.

Mission

The mission of the Delaware School for the Deaf, a program serving deaf and hard of hearing students from birth through eighteen years of age, is to educate them with rigorous achievement standards, to develop linguistic competence in both American Sign Language (ASL) and English, and to prepare them to become contributing citizens, by providing them access to language and information in a safe and supportive learning environment.^[1]

History

Margaret S. Sterck began her career in education of the deaf at the age of 17 in 1909 by training with Mary Garrett, a nationally known teacher and pioneer of the oral method of communication. While teaching at Miss Garrett’s school in Philadelphia, Sterck became concerned that Delaware’s children had to be educated out of state as there was no school for the deaf in Delaware.

Through the efforts of Sterck and others, in 1929 she opened a one-room school for seven students in Grace Church in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1930, Sterck purchased a house at 1414 Van Buren Street in Wilmington where she established a school on the first floor and private residence on the second. The school was incorporated in 1933 to become the Delaware School for Deaf Children, Inc. Sterck was one of the three founding incorporators and served as treasurer. In 1933, she purchased a house in Lewes, Delaware, to be used as a summer camp. Sterck worked tirelessly to secure private and state funds so that all children with varying hearing levels could attend her school. She believed deaf children had a right to communication and education equal to that of their hearing peers. Like many of her contemporaries, she used an oral approach to education, emphasizing speech-reading and the use of auditory skills.

Sterck taught until 1945, when state regulations forced all deaf children to be taught in schools. Some were transferred to specialized deaf programs in schools across Delaware while others went to Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (PSD) in Philadelphia. In 1960, space restrictions made PSD bar additional deaf children from Delaware from enrolling. Parents of deaf children expressing concern led the Delaware State Board of Education to initiate plans for building a school for the deaf in the state. Funding and planning took place from 1960 to 1968. Construction was completed in 1968 and the school was opened in 1969. The building was named in honor of Margaret S. Sterck.

The old Sterck School building was in use from 1968 to 2010, before moving to a new location in 2011 after the completion of the new building. In the 1990s, the name of the school was changed to Delaware School for the Deaf; then it changed its name again, to Delaware Statewide Programs for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deaf-Blind. (DSPDHHDB) ^[2] The school is situated near the city of Newark, in the northern part of the state where the majority of deaf children are located.

Athletics

Delaware School for the Deaf has a total of four sports teams: girls' volleyball, boys' soccer, and girls' and boys' basketball. The DSD mascot is the Blue Hawks and the school's colors are royal blue and white. Delaware School for the Deaf is one of members of the Eastern Schools for the Deaf Athletic Association (ESDAA) and Mid-Atlantic Independent League (MIL).^[3]

Since 1996, at least one of the school's volleyball or basketball teams has entered ESDAA championship games every year, until 2007. The three teams won a total of ten championships out of 18 appearances in ESDAA finals during this 11-year span.

The Delaware boys' basketball team won Division III twice in 1996 and 1998, finished second in 1997, and placed second for Division II in 1999. The boys' basketball team finally reappeared in ESDAA Division II finals three times in row, in 2010, 2011 and 2012, finished second place each time.

The Delaware girls' basketball team finished second in 2001, and won three straight Division II titles in 2003, 2004, and 2005. The girls' basketball finally reappeared in the ESDAA Division II title game in 2015, finished second behind Rochester. They were then invited to participatethe in ESDAA Division I tournament for the first time, and finished second place again to Rochester.

The Delaware girls' volleyball team won five Division II titles in 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2005. The girls' volleyball team appeared in every ESDAA Div. II championship game from 1999 until 2007. They reappeared in the ESDAA Division II championship games, but finished 2nd place in 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2014. Delaware Lady Hawks competed in ESDAA Division I for the first time in school history, finishing second place in the tournament in 2015. Lady Hawks finished second place again in 2016. Delaware School for the Deaf's girls' volleyball team has appeared in ESDAA championship game fifteen times out of the last eighteen tournaments, and has won five volleyball titles.

The current overall total is 10 championships and twenty-nine appearances in ESDAA finals.

Delaware School for the Deaf's boys' soccer team started their first season during the 2014-15 school year.

Eastern Schools for the Deaf Athletics Association

1996 – Boys' Basketball – ESDAA Division III Champ
1997 – Boys' Basketball – ESDAA Division III 2nd Place
1998 – Boys' Basketball – ESDAA Division III Champ
1999 – Boys' Basketball – ESDAA Division II 2nd Place
1999 – Girls’ Volleyball – ESDAA Division II Champ
2000 – Girls’ Volleyball – ESDAA Division II 2nd Place
2001 – Girls’ Basketball – ESDAA Division II 2nd Place
2001 – Girls’ Volleyball – ESDAA Division II Champ
2002 – Girls’ Volleyball – ESDAA Division II Champ
2003 – Girls’ Basketball – ESDAA Division II Champ
2003 – Girls’ Volleyball – ESDAA Division II 2nd Place
2004 – Girls’ Basketball – ESDAA Division II Champ
2004 – Girls’ Volleyball – ESDAA Division II Champ
2005 – Girls’ Basketball – ESDAA Division II Champ
2005 – Girls’ Volleyball – ESDAA Division II Champ
2006 – Girls’ Volleyball – ESDAA Division II 2nd Place
2007 – Girls’ Volleyball – ESDAA Division II 2nd Place
2010 – Boys’ Basketball – ESDAA Division II 2nd Place
2010 – Girls’ Volleyball – ESDAA Division II 2nd Place
2011 – Boys’ Basketball – ESDAA Division II 2nd Place
2012 – Boys’ Basketball – ESDAA Division II 2nd Place
2012 – Girls’ Volleyball – ESDAA Division II 2nd Place
2013 - Girls’ Volleyball - ESDAA Division II 2nd Place
2014 - Girls' Volleyball - ESDAA Division II 2nd Place
2015 - Girls Basketball - ESDAA Division II 2nd Place
2015 - Girls' Basketball - ESDAA Division I 2nd Place
2015 - Girls' Volleyball - ESDAA Division I 2nd Place
2016 - Girls' Basketball - ESDAA Division I 2nd Place
2016 - Girl's Volleyball - ESDAA Division I 2nd Place

Trivia

Delaware School for the Deaf changed its name four times in its long history. First, it was Delaware School for Deaf Children, Inc., then Margaret S. Sterck School for Hearing Impaired, then Delaware School for the Deaf, and now it is Delaware Statewide Programs for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deaf-Blind.
Delaware School for the Deaf was established in 1929, making it the forty-fifth oldest deaf residential school in the country and fifty-seventh oldest deaf school in the US.
Delaware School for the Deaf was one of the first schools in Delaware to have computers in each classroom and to be on a network.
Delaware School for the Deaf was the first school to host the inaugural annual Mid-Atlantic Regional Academic Bowl tournament in 1998. It hosted the Southeast Regional Academic Bowl in 2015.
Delaware School for the Deaf's girls' volleyball team was the first volleyball team to win the inaugural ESDAA Division II tournament champion in 1999.
Delaware School for the Deaf's girls' volleyball team appeared in every ESDAA Div. II championship game from 1999 to 2007.
In the last eighteen years, Delaware School for the Deaf's girls' volleyball team appeared in ESDAA championship games fifteen times and won five volleyball titles.

References

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