Cotting School History

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

When Cultural and architectural barriers limiting access for students with disabilities, Cotting School was called on to meet the educational and therapeutic needs of children in metropolitan Boston. In the early years, the school served students with polio or Potts Disease or young children injured in factories prior to child labor laws.

In 1900, a committee of the Board was instructed to negotiate the purchase of a lot of land on St. Botolph Street in Boston at a price not to exceed $2.50 per square foot. From 1892 to 1913, Children’s Hospital was located on Huntington Avenue, a short walk from the school.

Under the leadership of Board President Francis Cotting, the School opened a new building at 241 St. Botolph Street in Boston.  In a decade, the School had grown to eight teachers, with the capacity for 150 students, and an annual budget that was 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.

“The 10th anniversary will occur in October 1904. What a splendid contribution to the celebration of that event would be the gathering in a newly completed school building.”

In 1912, Cotting School built an outdoor classroom. It was believed that fresh air daily provided a “tonic effect”.

“It should be open from rof to ground… You do not want any corner for any stale air to get in and rest.” – Dr. Bradford

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

By this time, the School had grown to serve 120 students from 36 communities, including Reading, Braintree and Wellesley. 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 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.”

While training in Boston, Muhammad Ali visited the Cotting School.

After two years of lobbying, student Mary Fitzgerald persuaded 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.”

By 1984 the St. Botolph Street building was in need of repairs that were prohibitively expensive. Eventually, the decision was made to relocate the School to Lexington on the site of the Krebs School, which merged into Cotting School on July 1, 1986.  The new School opened on October 1, 1988.