Hope is On the Horizon for Hearing School

After 20 long months, 600 letters, and meetings with over 50 legislators, the parents of Clarke School students are hopeful that their requests to get Clarke “Approved Private School” status will soon be granted.

 in Bryn Mawr provides listening and spoken language services to children with moderate to severe hearing loss from birth through preschool.

However, children over the age of 3 who need financial assistance from the state to attend Clarke School cannot receive it because the school is not on the state’s list of about 40 Approved Private Schools (APS).

The parents at the school launched a grassroots campaign to get Clarke APS designation.

“The primary purpose for pursuing APS status is to provide the opportunity to learn to listen and talk to all deaf children who desire and would benefit from Clarke’s program,” stated Jason Friedland, whose son, Julien, recently graduated from Clarke School and is now attending preschool at Chestnut Hill Academy.

There are several APS-designated schools in Pennsylvania which teach hard of hearing and deaf children, but the only one that specializes in oral deaf education is in Western Pennsylvania. According to a statement, the parents of Clarke students want Clarke designated as an APS so that families in the Delaware Valley can choose between sign language education, which is taught at Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, or spoken language, which is taught at Clarke School.

“All of our staff has skill sets and Master’s Degrees that come from a listening and spoken language background,” said Judy Sexton, Director of Clarke School in Bryn Mawr. “92 percent of colleges and universities teach only sign language skills. The other 8 percent teach listening and spoken language skills, and that is where our staff comes from.”

According to Friedland, working families and socio-economically disadvantaged children need equal opportunity and should not be forced into a sign language environment because the state provides them with unequal funding.

Friedland, along with the rest of the parents, are hopeful after a few positive conversations with the new state Secretary of Education, Ron Tomalis, including an hour-long meeting with him in Harrisburg.

“The parents are thankful that Secretary Tomalis is on top of the situation and are hopeful that his leadership will resolve the issue,” said Friedman. “The Governor has stated he wants to put education back in the hands of the parents.”

According to a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), Clarke School was not guaranteed APS status. They went on to state that PDE will have ongoing discussions with the leaders of Clarke and that the school’s application is still under review.

“Before we started this process, people were aware of spoken language education,” said Sexton. “But now they know what the Clarke School is and what kinds of opportunities it can provide their children with.”