Growing PSD Launches Capital Campaign!
“GROWTH” and “EXPANSION” – two words not being used too often these days in schools for the deaf, yet these are exactly the right words to describe one of the most significant and exciting times in the 182-year history of The Pennsylvania School for the Deaf! PSD is currently “Building for a Bright Future,” the name recently given to a $4 million capital campaign to construct a new state-of-the-art Early Childhood Center building on PSD’s present campus in historic Germantown.
This ambitious project is the direct result of the Long Range Plan adopted by PSD’s Board of Trustees in February 2000. As part of this plan which culminated a two-year strategic planning process, PSD’s Board decided to re-establish the secondary or high school program at the school while at the same time embarking upon a fund raising campaign to raise monies to build a new building to house its ever-growing Early Intervention Program as well as preschool and primary classrooms for PSD students up to the age of 7 years old.
Slated to go public early in 2003, the Campaign for PSD has already raised nearly $2 million toward its $4 million goal. PSD’s own Board of Trustees have donated more than $325,000 toward the effort so far.
A major reason for the need for a new building is the re-establishment of the high school at PSD, a long-held dream of current PSD parents as well as Alumni. The school year of Fall 2001 opened with 11 ninth graders attending classes at PSD, and in Fall 2002, tenth grade was added, with a total of 25 high school aged students currently taking classes at PSD this year. During the next two years, both eleventh and twelfth grades will be added, with PSD’s first high school class in 20 years graduating in June 2005! PSD’s new secondary program offers an additional high school choice to parents in the Philadelphia area who prefer a non-residential center school alternative to Philadelphia’s mainstream Lincoln High School, or residential options at the Scranton State School or the Model Secondary School at Gallaudet University.
Moreover, the Early Intervention Program offered through the Center for Community and Professional Services at PSD has been growing and assisting close to 50 families of deaf or hard-of-hearing infants and toddlers per year. At the same time, CCPS’ two-year-old Job Center with a highly successful training and placement rate for the more than 100 deaf youth and adults who have already been its clients, has been burgeoning. The new building, which will house the Early Intervention Program, will also create the space needed for these two growing programs.
In April 2001 PSD’s Board of Trustees voted to purchase property adjacent to PSD’s athletic field on West Coulter Street. A new Early Childhood Center building is planned, which will truly be a state-of-the-art facility in terms of visual accessibility, acoustics, technology, and overall design for young deaf and hard-of-hearing learners. This new building will feature 14 classrooms, two of which will be used for an innovative, low-cost preschool program for neighborhood hearing children, who will interact with deaf students to provide a mutually beneficial cultural and communicative environment for both groups. The new building will also include a much-needed parent resource room; evaluation space for speech, physical and occupational therapists; a large multi-purpose room that will be used for play/movement therapy, as well as school-wide gatherings , performances and community events; and a beautiful new playground fully accessible for children who may have additional physical disabilities. With a bond issue approved and construction already begun, a September 2003 opening date for the new Early Childhood Center is envisioned.
As PSD works hard to raise another $2 million or the second half of the funds needed, many exciting projects are already planned. Engraved bricks or “pavers” will be available for sale to PSD Alumni as well as to parents, staff, and friends from the community. PSD’s older students will also have opportunities to view the building’s progress and learn firsthand from the contractors, builders and craftsmen involved in the project. Students participating in PSD afterschool programs have been creating and selling beautiful ceramic vases and ornaments whose proceeds will go toward the capital campaign.
“Building for a Bright Future” is only the second capital campaign in PSD’s long and illustrious history, but it is seen by all who are acquainted with the School as THE Campaign for the future of PSD. We extend our deep appreciation to all those who have already pledged or contributed, and look forward to a beautiful new building, exciting new and expanded programs, and wonderful new friends to share in our success in the coming year.
Proposed Early Childhood Center Building (from Coulter Street). Courtesy of Kelly-Maiello Architects
In a landmark decision, the Philadelphia Historical Commission voted to allow PSD to remove two existing buildings on the site.
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