NYSSD History
1800s
Summer 1874 - Mr. Alphonso
Johnson, a deaf graduate of the New York Institution for the Deaf and a teacher
there for some time, came to Rome to establish a school. Mr. Johnson was assisted by Dr.
Thomas Gallaudet, who later became a trustee of the school.
March 22, 1875 - The initial building, a rented
house at 107 North Madison Street (now 515 North Madison Street) was formally opened, with
an attendance of four pupils. Mr. Johnson was both principal and teacher.
September 1, 1875 - The first academic year of the
school, then called the Central New York Institution for Deaf-Mutes, begins with Mr.
Johnson as principal.
September 1, 1876 - Mr.
Edward Beverly Nelson, a graduate of Harvard and for several years a teacher at
the New York Institution, assumed the principalship.
1878 - Enrollment had reached nearly 100 pupils
necessitating the ground breaking for additional permanent buildings.
1879 - The boys’ building was completed.
1881 - The girls’ building was completed.
1887 - The Legislature of New York State
appropriated a $40,000 grant to the Institution for the construction of the main building
(later named Gallaudet Hall); a hospital; a boiler house; and a principal’s
residence.
January 7, 1890 - The main building was occupied for
the first time.
1900s
August 1, 1909 - Mr. Nelson retired as
principal and was succeeded by Mr. Elbert A. Gruver, a
graduate of Pennsylvania College.
August 1, 1919 - Mr. Gruver resigned as
principal of the Institution to accept the Superintendency at the Iowa School for the Deaf
and was succeeded by Mr. Otis Allen Betts, a teacher
for 13 years at the Institution.
1931 - The school name was changed to become the
Central New York School for the Deaf.
August 1, 1936 - Mr. Betts retired as principal of
the school and was succeeded by Mr. John Butler Hague,
who at the time was Chief of the Special School’s Bureau, State Education Department,
Albany, New York.
December 20, 1946 - Mr. Hague retires. Mr. Fred Sparks, Jr., was appointed acting principal.
January 20, 1947 - The position of principal was
changed to that of Superintendent, and Mr. Sparks was appointed to the position, which he
held until his resignation in 1961.
1961 - Mr. Charles G.
Rawlings, a former principal at the school, was named Superintendent.
July 1, 1963 - By act of State Legislature, the
school becomes a state facility with powers transferred from a corporation to the
jurisdiction of the State Education Department and the Board of Regents. The name of the
school was changed to the
New York State School for the Deaf.
May 1965 - Mr. Rawlings resigned as
Superintendent.
August 1965 - Mr. J. Jay
Farman, who had been serving as headmaster of the Austine School in Vermont,
was appointed Superintendent.
Fall 1965 - Plans began for the development of a new
school campus. With a multimillion-dollar appropriation from the State Legislature,
construction was begun on the preprimary building.
September 1967 - Preprimary building occupied.
October 1967 - The Superintendent’s residence
was completed.
1969 - The dormitory-infirmary complex was
completed.
September 1971 - The administration-education
complex completed.
1972 – 1975 - Landscaping of school
grounds and the development of outdoor recreation and athletic facilities.
1978 - Mr. Farnam retired as Superintendent and Dr. Andrew Rossetti serves as Acting Superintendent until
the appointment of Mr. Robert Seibold who served from
1978 to 1980.
1980 - Dr. Rossetti again served as Acting
Superintendent.
June 15, 1981 - Mr.
Philip E. Cronlund is appointed as Superintendent.
August 1999 - Mr. Cronlund retires and Mr. Dana Chapman,
Head of the Secondary Educational Department, serves
in the position of Acting Superintendent.
2000s
August 2000 - 2004 - Ms.
Nancy Clark was appointed to the position of Superintendent. Ms.
Clark made NYSSD history as being the first female Superintendent at NYSSD.
August 2004 - Mr. Greg Carey is
appointed as Interim Superintendent. Welcome aboard Mr. Carey!
December 2005 - Ms.
Carriann Ray was appointed to the position of
Superintendent.
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