Penrickton Center for Blind Children

Penrickton Center for Blind Children is a private, non-profit day care and five-day residential agency serving children who are visually impaired with multiple disabilities, ages 1-12. All financial support is raised from the community; no fees are ever charged to families.

Penrickton Center’s core program – serving children and families – is to provide an enriching environment to encourage independence in all areas of development and learn about the world around them. Penrickton Center embraces the educational theory of “Active Learning” by providing an interesting and developmentally rich environment for each individual child to thrive and grow. As we enter our 72nd year, the program's vision continues to offer unparalleled care for children with complex learning needs.

Goal One: Active Learning outreach to children with complex learning needs. Active Learning resources for parents, caregivers, teachers and therapists.

Goal Two: Infrastructure development to improve and maintain the physical structure, technology and safety.

Goal Three: Expand social media presence and online educational modules to partner with parents and caregivers.

Penrickton Center has transitioned to a new Executive Director who has been evolving over 36 years through multiple roles within the program. The journey of leadership development has been created through mentoring, increased responsibility, and practical experience. Penrickton Center has also invested in an onsite leadership position to supervise and enhance the Active Learning model. The Active Learning specialist will engage children, staff and families in understanding and incorporating Active Learning into all phases of development. This leadership position will also provide a basis to build our consultative off-site program and conference involvement.

Adapting to internal and external changes in COVID protocols continues to be a challenge when working with children who are in the high risk category. Balancing safety and providing an engaging learning environments is managed by our team of nurses and developmental programing staff. Children and staff continue to work successfully in “play zones” to find creative learning opportunities.