1893



Concerned that children with physical disabilities are not receiving an education in the public schools, Dr. Edward H. Bradford and Dr. Augustus Thorndike (above), both orthopedic surgeons at Boston's Children's Hospital, found the first private, free day school for children with physical disabilities in America. The School's name changes over the years to reflect evolving attitudes toward disabilities and shifts in the School's curriculum, especially its move from extensive vocational training to a more comprehensive program.


  1904

Under the leadership of Board President Francis Cotting, the School opens a new building at 241 St. Botolph Street. In a decade, the School has grown to eight teachers, with the capacity for 150 students, and an annual budget that is ten times the original amount. From its earliest years, the School day balanced academic lessons, industrial training, and enrichment activities. Medical care was provided by a visiting nurse.

  1923

The School completes a major addition to the new building that includes a new high school, expanded industrial training areas, a more modern kitchen, and a new assembly hall. There is also more room for the Medical Department (below), which by this point includes several doctors, nurses, and physiotherapists.

  1959

The School has grown to serve 120 students from 36 communities, including Reading, Braintree, and Wellesley (below).



1959 also marked a major shift for the School. In former years, the School cared primarily for children with polio or its effects. With the introduction of the Salk polio vaccine, the School began to experience an increase in children with other conditions—such as cerebral palsy and spina

1959 (contd.)

bifida—that necessitated a
larger and differently trained
medical staff. There were also
more students with congenital
diseases and head traumas who
would not have survived previously but who, due to new medical
methods, could now be helped and saved.

The School took steps to better
serve these students, including revising the curriculum, introducing new courses, purchasing modern equipment, hiring more staff, and expanding the School's athletic, enrichment, and recreational
offerings in an effort to better
educate the "whole child."

  1974

After two years of lobbying,
student Mary Fitzgerald persuades
the Board of Trustees—including Charles Cotting—to change the School's name from "Industrial
School for Crippled Children" to "Cotting School for Handicapped Children."


  1984-1988

By 1984 the St. Botolph St.
building is in need of repairs that
are prohibitively expensive. Eventually, the decision is made to relocate the School to Lexington on the site of the Krebs School (below), which merges into Cotting School
on July 1, 1986. The new School
opens on October 1, 1988.