The school was founded on the initiative of the parents of Jeanie Lippitt, who became deaf due to scarlet fever when she was four years old in 1856.

During these years, Jeanie visited the Rhode Island State house to convince members of the General Assembly to establish a school for deaf children.

Henry's political endorsements allowed Jeanie's wishes to come true in 1877 when the General Assembly passed a bill to found a deaf school.

The State Board of Education hired three outside consultants and they wrote a report criticizing the management of the school, asking for it to be restructured.

RISD started fielding a boys' soccer team during the late 1970s and competed in RIIL-sanctioned games as well as New England Schools for the Deaf (NESD) tournaments.

Now, RISD fields a coed varsity soccer team during the fall season that competes as an independent school in R.I. Interscholastic competitions and as a full member of Eastern Schools for the Deaf Athletic Association (ESDAA), competing in the annual end-of-season ESDAA Division II 8-man soccer tournaments.

To date, RISD has had 21 boy students who recorded over 1,000 points during their varsity basketball career, and three students who scored over 2,000 points RISD was one of the founding member of the Coastal Prep League, a private school boys' basketball athletic conference, and won the first three conference championships from 1992 to 1994.

RISD has also sent a number of students to the Deaflympics, the Olympic competition for athletes who are deaf and/or hard-of-hearing, in the sport of girls basketball and track and field.

Among the activities offered as part of the after-school program are: Academic Bowl, LEGO Robotics, Battle of the Books, intramural, Girl Scouts, the Rochester Institute of Technology Middle School Math Team Competition, yearbook committee, displaying artwork at local art shows, and joining Shakespeare in the City, and JR. NAD.