[7] The mission of the Delaware School for the Deaf, a program serving deaf and hard of hearing students from birth through twenty-one years of age, is to educate them with rigorous achievement standards, to develop linguistic competence in both American Sign Language (ASL) and English, and to prepare them to become contributing citizens, by providing them access to language and information in a safe and supportive learning environment.

[9] Families of deaf children, particularly those barred from attending PSD, lobbied the Delaware State Board of Education to find a solution.

[13] The state began gathering funding and planning out what would later be called the Margaret S. Sterck School for the Hearing Impaired, which opened in 1969.

[22] Prior to 1970s, the primary teaching method was oral instruction; it wasn't until Dr. Roy Holcomb introduced the "total communication" philosophy in 1973, which made American Sign Language (ASL) a major component of the school.

[10][23] In 1993, the "bilingual, bicultural" philosophy was adopted and students were taught to hone skills in both ASL and English.