|
History
Founded in 1908 by the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh and the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, DePaul School for Hearing and Speech has been providing quality auditory/oral education for hearing and speech impaired children for nearly 100 years. The goal then, as it is now, was to prepare each student for a full, enriched life of service as contributing member of society.
The school was originally known as the Pittsburgh School for the Deaf (and then as DePaul Institute) and was located in the Lappe Mansion on the North Side of Pittsburgh. Because of the school's growing population, the Pittsburgh Diocese purchased property in Mt. Lebanon and built a new facility for educational and residential programs in 1911. The DePaul School for Hearing and Speech programs grew and prospered on that site until the summer of 2002, when DePaul moved to its new location in the Shadyside area of Pittsburgh.
Children are taught to understand spoken language and to speak clearly and with confidence while being provided a rich academic curriculum. In fact, DePaul is the only school in Western Pennsylvania where the integration of listening, speech, speech-reading and language development are taught in every classroom, every day. The school curriculum is closely aligned with state and national standards in all academic areas and the maximum student to teacher ratio is 4:1.
Using techniques, many of which were pioneered by DePaul, our dedicated staff uses the auditory/oral method. Our goal is to prepare students for success in our hearing and speaking world. Our students mainstream into regular educational settings when they have developed the skills to insure their success with the ultimate goal that our students are able to reach their academic, social and career potential based on their abilities without being limited by their disability.
