California School for the Blind
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The California School for the Blind is a public educational institution for blind children, K-12, located in Fremont, California. Its campus is located next to the California School for the Deaf.


History

The
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
area's education of blind children began in 1860 with the organization of the privately supported Society for the Instruction and Maintenance of the Indigent Deaf and Dumb, and the Blind in California by Mrs. Frances Clark. She served as the first principal of the school until 1865, when Dr. Warring Wilkinson was brought to the school. Dr. Wilkinson is credited with beginning the efforts to make the school wholly state-supported and seeing the school, then known as the California State Asylum for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind through its move to what would later become Berkeley in 1867. A 1906 amendment to the Political Code changed the school's name to the California Institution for the Deaf and Blind and established the school's place as a part of the California State school system. Dr. Wilkinson retired in 1910. The Legislature voted in 1914 to substitute the term "School" for "Institution," again changing the school's name, this time to the California School for the Deaf and Blind. The school was separated by a legislative act in 1922 into separate programs, the California School for the Blind (CSB) and the California School for the Deaf, although formal separation with the completion of a new classroom building did not occur until July 1929. California School for the Blind was given authorization by the state legislature in 1943 to admit the
deaf-blind Deafblindness is the condition of little or no useful hearing and little or no useful sight. Different degrees of vision loss and auditory loss occur within each individual. Because of this inherent diversity, each deafblind individual's needs re ...
, becoming the third school in the country to establish a deaf-blind program. The first deaf-blind student to graduate from CSB was graduated in 1949. The school's enrollment peaked in 1965 at 167 students. By 1973, the California Department of Education determined that the school needed to be relocated to a site more amenable to meeting accessibility for students with limited mobility and updating facilities to meet current earthquake and fire code standards. A new campus was constructed in Fremont, California and the school moved to its current home there in 1980. The school is a member of Council of Schools for the Blind (COSB).


Campus

The Fremont campus has dormitory facilities.


Berkeley (1867-1980)

The first building on the Berkeley campus was a stone
Victorian Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
building which was constructed starting in 1867. This construction was interrupted when major damage was caused as a result of the
1868 Hayward earthquake The 1868 Hayward earthquake occurred in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States on October 21. With an estimated moment magnitude of 6.3–6.7 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''), it was the most recent large ...
. Construction was subsequently completed and the site opened for classes. Another disaster struck in January 1875 when a fire destroyed the same building. Classes continued in temporary buildings for a few years while new buildings were constructed, including an educational building, four dormitories, various support facilities and a private residence for the principal. In 1890, the
Spanish Colonial Revival The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In the ...
education building was completed, featuring an assembly hall and a tower with a Seth Thomas clock. The education building survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake with damage to some chimneys and the slate roof as well as interior cracks, but there was no fire and the main walls held firm. Additional buildings were erected over the years: a gymnasium in 1915, a girls' dormitory in 1925, a boys' dormitory and another classroom building in 1929, a wing added to the new classroom building in 1931, the Helen Keller Building for classes for the deaf-blind in 1949, and a new dining facility in 1957. Ms. Keller was present at the dedication of the building named in her honor. During the 1970s, a new site was constructed in Fremont and the school's move there was completed in 1980. In 1981 the Berkeley campus was designated a Berkeley Landmark. In 1982, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The school's former site was divided between the University of California and the city of Berkeley. Both parties opened their portions of the site in 1986, the university as the Clark Kerr Campus residential complex and the city as Redwood Gardens, a home for financially needy elderly people.


Curriculum

The school follows a nationally accepted expanded core curriculum for students who are blind or visually impaired. It includes skills training in
braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are blind, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille disp ...
reading and writing, orientation and mobility, assistive technology, career education, adapted physical education, music, art, recreation and leisure, independent living, and functional academics.


Extracurricular activities

Popular activities among California School for the Blind students include swimming, karate,
goalball Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. Participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a ball that has bells embedded inside of it into the opponents' goal. The ball is thrown by hand a ...
, tandem bicycling, music groups, dance groups, international pen pals on tape, art, cooking and roller skating. Many of the school's athletes are also members of the Alameda County
Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in ...
team and the
United States Association of Blind Athletes The United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) is an organization founded in 1976 to increase the number and quality of world-class athletic opportunities for Americans who are blind or visually impaired. USABA has reached over 100,000 b ...
.


Notable alumni

*Dr. Newel Perry, founder of the California Council of the Blind, one of the original seven state organizations at the creation of the
National Federation of the Blind The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is an organization of blind people in the United States. It is the oldest and largest organization led by blind people in the United States. Its national headquarters are in Baltimore, Maryland. Overvie ...
* Matilda Allison (1888–1973), blind educator, stenographer * Christine la Barraque (–1961), singer, first blind woman admitted to the bar in California * Kate M. Foley (1873–1940), librarian, worked on blind literacy in California


References


External links


California School for the Blind

Photograph c.1890 by Edward Muybridge, NY Public LibraryGuide to the Warring Wilkinson Papers, (ca. 1875-1911)
at
The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:California School For The Blind Public boarding schools in the United States Boarding schools in California Schools for the blind in the United States Schools in Fremont, California High schools in Alameda County, California National Register of Historic Places in Berkeley, California School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in California Public K-12 schools in California Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in California 1860 establishments in California