Summit Speech School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Summit Speech School | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Information | |
| Established | 1967[3] |
| Principal | Howard Helfman[4] |
| Staff | 50[5] |
| Enrollment | 130;[6] 180;[5] 200;[3] (estimates vary) |
| Website | www |
The Summit Speech School is a year-round[5] educational institution based in New Providence, Union County, New Jersey, United States, which assists children in northern and central New Jersey who have difficulty hearing.[6][7] The school uses an approach which has been described variously as an oral-option[8] or auditory-oral[6] or auditory-aural[9] method, in the sense that the program helps children "to listen and talk without the use of sign language".[3] The school receives funding from various sources,[3][10][11][12] including the Junior League of Summit[13] and the State of New Jersey.[5] It hosts benefits to raise funds.[14][15] According to a report in 2010, fund-raising is on-going and ranges from $800,000 to $1 million a year.[5] It has been assisted in the past by volunteers.[16][17] An introduction to music had been provided by renowned educator Capitola Dickerson for thirty years.[18]
The Summit Speech School was formed in 1967 with assistance from the Junior League and with efforts by volunteers such as Diane Hunt Lawrence.[19] The first building was located near Overlook Hospital.[5] In the 1980s, pediatrician Arthur F. Ackerman was president.[20] The school moved to its present facility in New Providence in 1997 into a former warehouse.[21] Since 1997, according to one report, the building has been owned by the borough of New Providence.[5] In 2009, New Jersey passed Grace's Law,[22] which requires health insurers to pay up to $1,000 per ear for hearing aids for children younger than fifteen years old, and the law was named for a former deaf student of the Summit Speech School named Grace.[23] In 2009, volunteers including Betse Gump helped set up libraries for the children at the school.[24] In 2010, the school was visited by Mary Pat Christie, the First Lady of New Jersey and wife of Governor Chris Christie.[5]