Margaret Bancroft

Margaret Bancroft was a pioneer in special education. She was both an educational theorist and an instructor of practice. After finding educational services lacking for some students, at the age of 29, Bancroft opened the first private boarding school for students with special needs. Unusually in tune with the educational needs of students with mental and physical challenges, Bancroft advocated for their educational rights and developed specialized programs that could be adapted to each student’s needs. In a time when students with mental or physical disabilities were cast aside and/or hidden by their families, Bancroft provided a learning environment in which students were given proper nutrition, exercise, sensory and artistic development, and appropriate mental engagement. She trained her teachers to provide instruction tailored to individual students. In a field largely dominated by men at that time, Bancroft was one of a handful of remarkable women who laid the foundation for the field of special education as we know it today.