South Dakota School for the Deaf

South Dakota School for the Deaf. . The Reverend Thomas Berry, an Episcopal clergyman, took the first steps toward the establishment of a formal program for the education of deaf children in Dakota Territory. Berry taught at schools for the deaf in Maryland and New York before moving to Sioux Falls in the spring of 1880 where he became rector of Calvary Church. Because his wife was deaf, he had a deep concern for deaf people. He began a school in his home on November 9, 1880, with one pupil. After sending out an advertising circular, seven more children enrolled, and the school outgrew the Berry home., By year's end Berry moved the school into a private dwelling. Known as Thomas Lodging House, it was located on the east side of Main Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets. A local committee solicited funds, and raised $200 to pay the rent. Jennie Wright, from the Nebraska School for the Deaf, became the first teacher. Although neither Reverend Berry nor Jennie Wright ever received a salary, both were highly dedicated, and both envisioned the same mission for the school: to provide all deaf children with a quality education and an opportunity to actively participate in society as independent, freethinking citizens., In the January 1881 legislative session at Yankton, the capital of Dakota Territory, a resolution was adopted recognizing Berry's school and naming it the "Territorial School for Deaf Mutes." Funds were appropriated for operating expenses, but none for teacher or staff salaries. However, $2000 was earmarked for a new school building to be built just east of Sioux Falls. This appropriation was payable only if local citizens would contribute another $1000 for the project. The challenge was met, 10 acres of land were donated, and a two-story frame school building was built. It contained 14 rooms for 25 students., In the 1880s a school farm was established that grew to 115 acres. It provided vocational and educational benefits for students while furnishing food products for the school kitchen including milk, eggs, meat, chickens, vegetables, and fruits from a seven-acre orchard. The farm was operated with student helpers until its sale in 1949., From the beginning the curriculum has always closely followed that of the public schools. Speech, lipreading, and writing, as well as sign language that was first introduced from Europe in 1817, have been the methods of instruction and communication within the school. Striving to meet the school's mission - to provide a quality education and an opportunity to actively participate in society - continues to be the goal of the teachers and staff on the 120th anniversary of its founding.