1910-1955
In the early 1950’s Frances Hicks started a nursery school in Brattleboro, Vermont. Her preschool program was one of the first to include handicapped children, especially those with developmental delays. Upon her death in 1955, an organization was formed to further these efforts. In 1956 this corporation founded a school and named it the Frances Hicks Memorial School in honor of the pioneering efforts of Frances Hicks. The school moved from its Chase Street location to a new building on Memorial Court, opposite Living Memorial Park in 1959. The enrollment that year was 45 children in 3 classes.
With the enactment of the Federal Education of the Handicapped Act in 1975, many children with disabilities were mainstreamed into the public schools. By the early 1980s all of the children of the Frances Hicks school were attending local public schools.
The Frances Hicks Memorial Fund, Inc was established using the proceeds from the sale of the school.