The New York's 4201 Schools Association, a group that advocates for 11 schools dedicated to meeting the needs of 1,500 deaf, blind and severely physically challenged children, has elected Timothy M. Kelly, superintendent of St. Mary's School for the Deaf in Buffalo, to serve as its chairman.
During the 2011-12 school year, children appointed to Saint Mary's School for the Deaf are from families living throughout Chautauqua County, including Jamestown, Dunkirk, Fredonia and Brocton.
"Each day, I walk through the doors of St. Mary's School for the Deaf saying, What can we do to help these children and their families today," Kelly said. "As chairman of the Association it is my goal to continue building upon the tremendous effort and leadership of Harold Mowl, Jr., and with the help of my colleagues and their teams in New York City; Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties ensure that the educational rights and needs of disabled children are met."
Kelly succeeds Dr. Harold Mowl Jr., superintendent of the Rochester School for the Deaf. Mowl led the association for more than 10 years.
Kelly is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University, and has earned master's degrees from Canisius College and Salem, Mass., State College. He has been engaged in the field of special and deaf education for 30 years starting as a residential counselor at St. Mary's in 1982. He held posts as a class room teacher at the New York School for the Deaf in White Plains and with the Methuen Public Schools in northeastern Massachusetts.
Both the chair and vice chair serve two-year terms.