Posted on October 25, 2009

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Grousbeck Family Foundation Awards $10 Million to Build Technology Hub for Visually Impaired Students

The Grousbeck Family Foundation in Stanford, California, has announced a $10 million gift to the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts, to build, staff, and equip the newly created Grousbeck Center for Students and Technology.

The gift is part of a $25 million initiative that will pay for the construction of the facility, which will house a 17,000-square-foot center complete with video and audio recording suites, teacher training space, an assistive technology workshop, flexible meeting and performance space, and a student cafe. The center will also broaden the school's ability to integrate technology into its current program, allow students to acquire social skills in a real-world high-tech environment, bridge gaps between students with visual impairments and their sighted peers, and create new opportunities for students and other education professionals training to work with students who are blind, deaf/blind, or visually impaired.

"Creating a student and technology center will enable Perkins to fully integrate technology into the culture of blind education — empowering our students to lead more productive and independent lives," said Perkins Trust board chair Corinne Grousbeck. "And because Perkins believes in sharing expertise and knowledge, what goes on within this building will transform the lives of children who are blind throughout the world."

“Student & Technology Center Launches New Era at Perkins.” Perkins School for the Blind Press Release 10/20/09.

Primary Subject: Education
Secondary Subject(s): Elementary and Secondary Education
Location(s): Massachusetts, Watertown

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