Central North Carolina School for the Deaf was a PreK-8 school for deaf children operated by the State of North Carolina, located in

Greensboro Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...

. It served nineteen counties in the state, with the area including

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

and

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

. It was operated by the

North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS or DHHS) is a large state government agency in the U.S. state of North Carolina, somewhat analogous to the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The NCDHHS has mo ...

History

It was established in 1975. The number of deaf children had exploded in the state due to an epidemic of

rubella Rubella, also known as German measles or three-day measles, is an infection caused by the rubella virus. This disease is often mild, with half of people not realizing that they are infected. A rash may start around two weeks after exposure and ...

in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
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. It opened in the summer in temporary facilities in

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

with 175 students up to grade 6. It was to move to Greensboro in the fall.
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. By 1995 the school was already using

American sign language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual lang ...

as its predominant language of communication while the

North Carolina School for the Deaf The North Carolina School for the Deaf (NCSD) is a state-supported residential school for deaf children established in 1894, in Morganton, North Carolina, US. History In 1845, W.D. Cooke was hired by the state and a school was opened in ...

and the

Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf (ENCSD) is a public school for the deaf in Wilson, North Carolina. Its service area is defined by the state as the 54 counties to the east. There were parents in the east of the state wishing for their ...

had not fully transitioned into using ASL. In 1995 North Carolina officials were considering closing the school due to its small size, something opposed by members of the community. The student population decreased as public schools operated by school districts began accommodating deaf children in mainstreaming programs, and the 1950s/1960s rubella wave children were now adults. Susan Sein was acting director until 2000, when she moved to a job at the

Texas School for the Deaf Texas School for the Deaf (TSD) is a state-operated primary and secondary school for deaf children in Austin, Texas. Opened in 1857 "in an old frame house, three log cabins, and a smokehouse", it is the oldest continually-operated public school in ...

. Dr. Henry Widmer replaced her.
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. In 2000 auditors for the state recommended it close one of the three schools for the deaf as the population declined further.
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. The state chose Central NC to close, effective spring 2001.

Student body

In 1995 there were 92 students, with 78 in grades K-8 and 14 in preschool. 56 were boarding students. 80% of them had families or fewer from the school. In 2000 it had 78 students. In 2001 it was down to 29 students with 11 boarders. In 2000 there were over 50 employees.

Campus

The dormitories had a capacity of about 180.

References

{{coord missing, North Carolina Schools for the deaf in the United States Public K–8 schools in the United States Public elementary schools in North Carolina Public middle schools in North Carolina Greensboro, North Carolina Public boarding schools in the United States Boarding schools in North Carolina