About Us

History

St. Joseph Institute is the continuation of a 168-year mission, which began in 1837 when two Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet traveled to St. Louis from Lyons, France, to teach deaf children at the request of Bishop Joseph Rosati, C.M. Together, they founded the first school for the deaf west of the Mississippi River in a small log cabin.

Additional Sisters came and devoted their lives to this work. For the next century, they modified existing teaching techniques and developed many of their own. They traveled to universities throughout the world, and returned to apply what they had learned. In 1934, they advanced a new teaching method - the oral approach - and became one of the first schools in the world to teach deaf children to talk.

St. Joseph Institute remains a pioneer in oral deaf education. The Institute was at the forefront of early intervention therapy when its Molloy Family Center started an auditory-oral program for infants in 1980. When the cochlear implant was approved later that decade, St. Joseph Institute became the first school to offer an educational program for these children.

St. Joseph Institute continues to advance oral education as a research partner with multiple universities in studies on deaf education. St. Joseph Institute is a teacher of teachers. St. Joseph Institute serves as the professional development site for undergraduate and graduate students in audiology, speech language pathology and early intervention in deaf education.

The compassion, charisma and legacy of love for children the Sisters brought to St. Joseph Institute is still present in the school and the people who teach and train here.