Kansas State School for the Blind (KSSB) is a fully accredited public high school located in

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, serving students in grades Pre-K through 12. The school was established in 1867. It is located on located in downtown

. It opened its doors in May, 1868 and admitted the first five students.

History

The land the KSSB sits on was donated to the city of Wyandotte upon the death of a Native American man, William Johnson. When the town was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bear ...

ted in 1856, the of land was designated for a park. In 1863, the city leased the land to the state of Kansas provided it would be used as a "blind asylum". In 1867, the legislature set aside $10,000 for the construction of the first building which was completed in October of that year. In March 1868, another $10,500 was set aside until a total of 10 children (aged 10–21) were enrolled. Local newspapers advertised the school under the name "Asylum for the Blind" and 11 students had applied by April 23, 1868. The exact date of the school's opening date is unknown, but it most likely opened in May 1868. Other historical accounts cite the school opening in October 1867 (when the first building was completed) or September 1868. Governor

Samuel J. Crawford Samuel Johnson Crawford (April 10, 1835 – October 21, 1913) was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War, and the third Governor of Kansas (1865–1868). He also served as one of the first members of the Kansas Legislature. Ea ...

appointed a

Board of Trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

for the asylum and hired W. H. Sawyer as the

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

. The Board of Trustees controlled the school until 1876 when the Board of Trustees of State Charitable Institutions took over. In 1877, the name of the school was changed to the "Kansas Institution for the Education of the Blind". Despite this name, the school was not recognized as a true educational institution, rather it was operated as a charitable organization. Between 1905 and 1913, the school was run by the Board of Trustees of State Charities and Corrections. In 1913, the school was renamed the Kansas School for the Blind and was recognized as an educational institution. It was moved to the control of the Board of Administration alongside state colleges. In 1939, the School for the Blind and the School for the Deaf were placed under the Board of Regents. In 1969, the school's name was changed to the "Kansas State School for the Visually Handicapped" to be more inclusive as many of the students were not fully blind. In the 1971–72 school year, the school was placed under the Kansas State Board of Education, which currently administers the school. In the 1991–92 school year, the school's name changed to its current title, Kansas State School for the Blind.

Campus

Its dormitory is the Edlund Residence Hall.

References

External links

Kansas School for the BlindKansas Instructional Resource CenterKansas School for the DeafAmerican Foundation for the BlindAmerican Printing House for the BlindNational Federation of the BlindAudio ReaderKansas Services for the Blind and Visually ImpairedAnnual Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the Kansas State School for the Blind, 1913-1921
KGI Online Library
Kansas State School for the Blind Biennial Reports, 1876-1958 (Incomplete)
KGI Online Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Kansas State School For The Blind (Kssb) Educational institutions established in 1867 Public K-12 schools in the United States Public high schools in Kansas Public middle schools in Kansas Public elementary schools in Kansas Schools for the blind in the United States Buildings and structures in Kansas City, Kansas Schools in Wyandotte County, Kansas 1867 establishments in Kansas Public boarding schools in the United States Boarding schools in Kansas