The History of The Willie Ross School for the Deaf

The Willie Ross School for the Deaf is a small school with an ambitious mission and a rich history.  The focus of the school, since its founding by parents in 1967, has been on providing quality programs and services to the deaf and hard-of-hearing students that it serves. Willie Ross has always invested in student programs before facilities and has long acknowledged that its human resources are the most precious resource that it possesses.

In the mid-1960’s, a group of parents was united by the needs of their children who had been deafened by the rubella epidemic that swept the eastern seaboard. The parent group shared the goal of ensuring that the best possible educational programs and services were available to their children. They also shared the desire to have their children live at home and realized that inclusion had to begin with the family before it could occur at school.

At the time, residential placement of all deaf children was the prevailing option for families.  When the existing programs did not welcome the parent group’s vision of a day placement program, they established their own day school. The parents recognized that it is the responsibility of the family, before that of the school, to leave no child behind. They were united in their goals that, first, their children would be contributing members of their families and that, second, an education designed to meet their children’s needs would ensure their children’s potential to become contributing members of society. As a result of the efforts of the parent group, the Willie Ross School for the Deaf first opened its doors in 1967.  

Led by the late Gene and Barbara Ross, the parent group sought to establish a program that would recognize their children’s abilities. To honor the efforts of the Ross family, the parent group named the school after the Ross’s son, Willie. Willie Ross, now in his forties, resides in southern California.

The legacy of their vision and their dedication to improving the lives of their children through education serves as the school’s beacon to this day. A tenet of the founders’ legacy is the recognition that instructional models must evolve along with the needs of the students that they serve. They realized that a school’s history can help guide the development of new models, but a simple preservation of historical approaches does not promote educational success.

From the residential schools’ resistance to the establishment of a day program, the parent group learned that to ensure their children receive an education that is best-suited to their needs, parents must be their children’s advocates.

The commitment to recognizing the value of different approaches is demonstrated by the ongoing development of the Willie Ross model. The Willie Ross School began as an oral-only school, but over time the limitations of this approach became clear. Rather than abandon the approach completely, sign language was integrated into the methodology, and the Willie Ross School adopted a simultaneous communication approach. Over time, the school has integrated other communication approaches to enhance students’ access to the instructional model.

The advancements in the use of residual hearing through digital hearing aids, FMS and cochlear implants have been recognized and maximized in a fashion that cannot occur when only a single method is available.

Studies soon showed the value of integrating deaf students with hearing students and the model was adopted at the Willie Ross School. This foundation led to the school’s development of the dual-campus model, which offers a center-based educational environment at its Longmeadow Campus and mainstreaming opportunities at its Partnership Campus within in the East Longmeadow Public Schools.

The Willie Ross School recognizes that not all children with a hearing loss should be placed in a school for the deaf. Drawing on this belief, the school established its Outreach Division, which provides services from infancy through age twenty-two. Whether it is a toddler, identified through universal newborn screening and being served at home, or high school students, receiving tutoring at their home schools, our services are there assisting them with their studies. The school recognizes that certain students with a hearing loss can be placed in their local school.  The Outreach Division provides the support and specialization that is needed to ensure that the academic environment is responsive to the students’ needs.

The Outreach Division sponsors the Laurin Audiological Center, located in Pittsfield, made possible by the generosity of one of our Trustees. The cities of Springfield and Pittsfield receive extensive audiological support for their students with a hearing loss who attend their local public schools. The Curtis L. Blake Center for Audiological Services at the Longmeadow Campus services the students in the western part of the state and the Laurin Center services the students in Berkshire County.

Willie Ross has grown, Willie Ross has changed, and Willie Ross will continue to search for and introduce improved instructional methods. The school welcomes all of its students by responding to their needs. The Willie Ross community celebrates the diversity of our students and recognizes that no single approach or method is appropriate for all students. We will embrace the differences by offering programs which are student driven and not insulated from change because of history. The mission of the Willie Ross School for the Deaf has always been and always will be to provide the best possible program to its students.