For old-timers, the name of ACE is not a hardware store at CSDR. Instead, it is the name of an academic department dedicated to deaf students with mental disabilities who can't be placed in the regular deaf education classes. The ACE stands for Alternative Curriculum Education with a focus on deaf students who perform no higher than third-grade literacy skills. CSDR always have had such students in its school population from 1953 onward. Dr Brill was ahead of his time to welcome them for basic literacy skills and independent living skills necessary for life once they leave school. The department saw several name changes over time: Pilot Project, Deaf Multi-Handicapped Unit and Special Needs. It is now the ACE.
The ACE saw many internal and external changes in its comprehensive program for better outcomes. In the past, the ACE students used to go to school and live separated from other deaf students on campus. I remember my student days in the 1970s that I seldom saw the ACE students on campus. I saw segregation in practice on campus. The perspective for the practice was to ensure extra supervision for their safety with all the resources and staff competency in one specific place with two separate units based on age ranges on campus. Unit 1 was for the younger students, while Unit 2 was for the older students.
One example of campus segregation in the bygone days was the annual graduation for the ACE students approaching the age limits (almost 22) for enrollment at CSDR.
The Unit 2 staff coordinated the graduation program in the heart of the Unit 2 complex on the grass quad. Families and friends were invited to witness their child obtaining a certificate of completion.
In the above color picture, Dr Bob Lennan stands as the school superintendent conveying words of congratulations for their success in the program and best wishes for life outside the school. The outgoing seniors are in the sitting row on the left.
The best part of the graduation program is the diploma and the cake!
The lady standing next to Dr Lennan is Principal Mary Ann Salem. On the right are Dr Larry Newman, Harold Kund, Dr Richard Goeman and an unidentified lady.
Around 1988, the state CDE officials made a campus tour for evaluationand made a series of recommendations for reform on campus. One bold recommendation was to end the 20-year segregation of the ACE students for more integration with the regular deaf students on campus. Two selected changes were for the ACE students to eat in the same room in the cafeteria where regular students eat, not in the back room where cafeteria workers eat and to combine the ACE and regular seniors in the same graduation program.
Since 1988, CSDR invites outgoing seniors from both the ACE and HS Departments to celebrate together every year. This is a positive step in integration that benefits both sides of student subpopulations.
On a separate but important note, I learned from Richard Ramborger, ‘64, that Dr Brill had two separate graduation ceremonies from the 1950s to 1963 with one for Certificates of Completion in the afternoon and one for regular high school diplomas at night. Starting in 1964, all seniors participated in the ceremony together.
Since 1953, CSDR has never been a static educational institution where no changes are made. In fact, we at CSDR strive for the best possible improvements in Deaf Education to stay on the edge of educational excellence started by Dr Brill seven decades ago.
Kevin Struxness, ‘76, MA
Editor, CSDR Old Times
27 November 2024
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