Our Approach

For nearly 40 years, The de Paul School has provided unsurpassed service to children with learning differences. Our heritage began with the work of noted psychologist and researcher, Dr. Charles Shedd. Dr. Shedd was Director of the Reading Disabilities Clinic of the University of Alabama School of Medicine. He devoted many years of research into the identification and remediation of students with dyslexia. As a result of his research, he created a curriculum which used specific techniques for teaching reading and spelling to students with dyslexia. This curriculum was used and researched for several years through the Reading Disabilities Clinic in Birmingham , through several Birmingham public schools, and tutorial programs offered at Berea (KY) College. Dr. Shedd's work added to the growing body of evidence that children and adults with dyslexia could learn to read, when taught through a multisensory, systematic, and structured linguistics approach.

Sister Anne Rita Mauck , an educator in Louisville , Kentucky , began working with Dr. Shedd in 1965. Strengthening Dr. Shedd's curriculum, Sister developed a broader instructional program tailored to meet the academic and organizational needs of children with dyslexia. She founded The de Paul School in 1970 and directed the program within St. Gabriel Elementary School in Louisville . The success of the program led to dramatic growth in the number of students seeking enrollment, from 36 students in 1970 to 90 students in 1973. Due to the demand for additional classroom space, The de Paul School relocated to the St. Bridget Church facility in 1974, and the Board later (1977) purchased the former Longfellow Elementary School building from Jefferson County Public Schools as our current site.

Throughout these early years of growth, the school broadened its expertise. In addition to developmental dyslexia, the school began to identify and remediate other learning differences, including deficits in reading comprehension, mathematics, attention, and organization. The faculty and staff developed unique instructional materials for teaching mathematics, social values, social skills, science, and computer science. The de Paul School also guided educators in other states to create schools modeled after the Louisville example. Programs similar to The de Paul School have continued to thrive in Eastern Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, New Jersey, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania.

Recent years have featured dramatic examples of de Paul's continued commitment to providing the best educational program to its students. An adjacent classroom building was constructed in 1988. Our campus footprint grew again in 2000 with the addition of a multipurpose building (gym, cafeteria, and convocation center). The school now enrolls 250-275 students each year. Families from across the United States , as well as from India , Great Britain , Central America , Canada , and Japan have turned to de Paul to help their children. Our summer school program continues to thrive. A vibrant athletics program, featuring The de Paul Huskies , helps us present a full-school feel for our students.

The de Paul has earned accreditations from the Independent Schools Association of the Central States , the National Association of Independent Schools, the KY Non-Public Schools Commission, the North Central Accreditation, and the Kentucky Association of Independent Schools. The most recent ISACS accreditation visit, conducted in 2006, garnered substantial acclamation for our school.