Web Address:
http://www.depaulschool.org
Name & Address:
The de Paul School
1925 Duker Avenue
Louisville, KY 40205
Phone: (502) 459-6131
Fax: (502)459-0827
Head of School:
Anthony R. Kemper
Director of Admissions:
Peggy Woolley
(502) 459-6131, extension 232
Enrollment: 225
Special Characteristics and programs:
The de Paul School provides admissions testing which focuses on a child's eligibility to our school. The admissions battery assesses three main areas:
• Students must demonstrate average to above average intelligence.
• Students should exhibit academic difficulties or risk of future
difficulties. Such profiles often show great differences in skill levels in
various subject areas.
• Students' difficulties must be attributed to processing deficits.
Perceptual disabilities include difficulties in such areas as
visual-motor processing and phonemic awareness.
Based on the student's particular academic profile, specific learning differences are identified. Students who process information differently benefit from a program such as de Paul, which provides a structured environment, explicit and multisensory instruction, individualization, and opportunities for repetition and practice.
Mission Statement:
The de Paul School's mission is to teach students who learn differently
how to learn, how to become independent, and how to succeed.
General Information:
The de Paul School has a proud history of thirty years of service to children with learning differences. Our heritage began with the work of noted psychologist and researcher, Dr. Charles Shedd. Dr. Shedd was Director of the Reading Disabilities Clinic of the University of Alabama School of Medicine, and devoted many years of research into the identification and remediation of students with dyslexia. As a result of his research, he created a curriculum which used specific techniques for teaching reading and spelling to students with dyslexia. This curriculum was used and researched for several years through the Reading Disabilities Clinic in Birmingham, through several Birmingham public schools, and tutorial programs offered through Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. Dr. Shedd's work added to the growing body of evidence that children and adults with dyslexia could learn to read, when taught through a multisensory, structured linguistics approach.
Sister Anne Rita Mauck, an educator in Louisville, Kentucky, began working with Dr. Shedd in 1965. Building on Dr. Shedd's curriculum, Sister developed an instructional program tailored to meet the academic and organizational needs of children with dyslexia. She founded The de Paul School in 1970 and directed the program within St. Gabriel Elementary School in Louisville. The success of the program led to dramatic growth in the number of students seeking enrollment, from 36 students in 1970 to 90 students in 1973. Due to the demand for additional classroom space, The de Paul School relocated to the St. Bridget Church facility in 1974, and purchased the former Longfellow Elementary School building from Jefferson County Public Schools in 1977.
Throughout these early years of growth, the school broadened its expertise. In addition to developmental dyslexia, the school began to identify and remediate other learning differences, including deficits in reading comprehension, mathematics, and organization. The faculty and staff developed unique instructional materials for teaching mathematics, social values, social skills, and computer science. The de Paul School also guided educators in other states to create schools modeled after the Louisville example. Programs similar to The de Paul School have continued to thrive in Eastern Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, New Jersey, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania.
Recent years have featured dramatic examples of de Paul's continued commitment to providing the best educational program to its students. An adjacent classroom building has been added to the school campus, and a gymnasium and cafeteria are slated to be built during summer of 2000. In 1994, Anthony Kemper, former principal of the Bloomington (IN) de Paul School, assumed leadership as Head of School. Under his guidance, further development in instruction has ensured that our curriculum and techniques incorporate the latest information from research. The school now enrolls 250-275 students each year. Our reputation has convinced families to seek out our school from across the United States, as well as from India, Great Britain, Central America, Canada, and Japan.
Our vision for the future is bright. As we strengthen our affiliation with other professional associations, we are offered increased opportunities to share our expertise with other school systems and educational organizations. Current collaborative partners include local universities, public schools, the Archdiocese of Louisville, the Learning Disabilities Association, the Council for Exceptional Children, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and the Independent School Association of Central States. These partnerships will allow The de Paul School to extend its influence far beyond the boundary of its campus. The future holds no limits -- for our school and for our students.