This page was designed to be a resource for former, current and prospective students and their families who want to learn more about the history of Cotting School, and for scholars and friends of the school who want to research the history of special education in America.
In 1893, two pioneering orthopedic surgeons from Children’s Hospital in Boston, Dr. Augustus Thorndike and Dr. Edward Bradford, saw the need to educate children whose physical challenges prevented them from attending school. As an experiment, they founded The Industrial School for Crippled and Deformed Children in Boston. Modeled after 19th-century European institutions, the school was America’s first for children with physical disabilities. The School, originally built in Boston, featured an outdoor classroom. Later renamed Cotting School, it’s currently located in Lexington, Massachusetts.
Today Cotting School serves children with a broad spectrum of learning and communication disabilities, physical challenges, and complex medical conditions.
In 1893, two pioneering orthopedic surgeons, Dr. Augustus Thorndike and Dr. Edward Bradford, saw the need to educate children whose physical challenges prevented them from attending school. As an experiment, they founded The Industrial School for Crippled and Deformed Children in Boston. Modeled after 19th-century European institutions, the school was America’s first for children with physical disabilities.
President David Manzo and Director of Advancement Elizabeth Campbell Peters trace Cotting’s rich history using photographs from the school’s archives.