The school accepts children aged between 2 and 22 and provides residential accommodation for those students aged 5 and over who live outside a 35-mile (56 km) radius of the school [4] The Virginia Institution for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind, as it was originally named, was first opened in Staunton by the State of Virginia in 1839.

[1] During the American Civil War, the school's Main Hall was used as a hospital by Confederate troops, and several staff members served as doctors or nurses.

[13] In 2009, the General Assembly declared the school independent of the Virginia Department of Education with its own board of visitors.

It teaches the reading and writing of Braille, as well as life and social skills, self-advocacy and mobility skills, alongside traditional academic subjects [14] All staff in the department are specifically trained and licensed by the Virginia Department of Education or other licensing boards tailored to the specific demands of the students.

[15] The Deaf Department offers a range of vocational and academic subjects to its pupils in order to prepare them for life after the school.

[16] A free program is offered by the school to families raising children who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, low-vision or deaf-blind.

This includes American Sign Language classes, socialising and networking opportunities and home-based services designed to support and educate families while allowing them some independence.

Its first member was T. Carlton Lewellyn, the first Physical Education director at the school [20] The Cardinals were Mason-Dixon Basketball Tournament Champions in the 1959, 1964 and 1970 seasons.

The Virginia Department of the Visually Handicapped rented portions of an unused dormitory building, Watts Hall.