History
Tucker Maxon history
The history of Tucker Maxon School begins in 1947. Paul Boley, a Harvard-educated attorney, dreamed of a school for his daughter who became deaf at the age of 18 months due to meningitis. Initially, Boley enrolled his daughter in the preschool program at Portland’s Hosford Public School for Deaf Children. Subsequently, this is where he met instructor Alice Maxon, one of the school’s two namesakes.
Max Tucker and Alice Maxon
A teacher at Hosford, Alice Maxon believed “deaf children can talk,” and that Boley’s daughter Barbara Ann and other deaf children could learn to speak. At the request of Boley, Max D. Tucker (1891-1950),then president of Cascades Plywood Corporation, sponsored the school during its earliest years.
1947 to present
Today Tucker Maxon ranks among the top schools in the country for its innovative inclusive classrooms dedicated to teaching children with hearing loss together with typical hearing children. Some of the school’s milestones of the past eight decades are included below.
Historical Facts
Forties
1947
Boley, Monnes, and Tucker families establish the Tucker Maxon School with Alice Maxon as the first instructor.
1948
The school begins in the Boley home.
Fifties
1952
Renowned architect Pietro Belluschi designed the school’s first building.
1953
First classroom building, Tucker Hall, opens to 18 students.
Sixties
1960
First graduating class.
1963
Second classroom building, Smith-Bauder Hall, opens.
1963
Tom McCall, a Tucker Maxon board member, elected governor of Oregon.
Seventies
1975
Tucker Maxon is one of the first private schools approved and registered by the Oregon Department of Education.
1976
Founder Rose E. Tucker passes away. She served on the Board of Directors from the school’s founding until her death.
1976
Early intervention services offered to TMS families through the David DeWeese Hearing Center at Providence Hospital.
1978
The DeWeese Center moves to the Tucker Maxon campus.
Eighties
1984
Peter Folkestad, a Tucker Maxon student, becomes the 96th person to undergo cochlear implant surgery. This prompts the school to become actively engaged in this new technology.
1985
First school-based children’s cochlear implant center is established at Tucker Maxon working with the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles.
Nineties
1990
The International Organization for Education of the Hearing-Impaired names Tucker Maxon Program of the Year.
1990
Five school staff members publish Listening to Learn: A Handbook for Parents.
1991
Families and the community come together to rebuild after fire damages the main building.
1992
FDA approves cochlear implants, enabling more children to receive them. Tucker Maxon Board member Dr. Alexander Schleuning begins performing cochlear implant surgery.
1995
Heather Whitestone, the first deaf Miss America, visits the school.
Aughts
2000
Tucker Maxon is among the first schools in the country coenrolling deaf, hard of hearing, and typical hearing students.
2006
Early Intervention returns to the Tucker Maxon campus from the Hearing and Speech Institute.
Tens to Twenties
2012
Tucker Maxon celebrates its 65th anniversary.
2013
OPTION Schools Inc. evaluates Tucker Maxon and finds the school exceeds the organization’s standards for Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) schools.
2014
Tucker Maxon hires Executive Director Glen Gilbert and Principal Linda Goodwin to lead the school.
2022-23
The 75th Diamond Jubilee anniversary of Tucker Maxon!