The Hadley School for the Blind is kicking off its 90th anniversary celebration in 2010 with something you might not expect -- by being featured on this year’s Winnetka commemorative vehicle sticker.

“We’re honored the Village of Winnetka is recognizing a landmark celebration of one of its hometown treasures,” said Charles Young, Hadley’s President. “Hadley has been a local institution since it opened an office in the Winnetka Community House in January 1920. We are so grateful for the help and support of the local community, which has enabled us to serve students around the world. “

Many Winnetka residents are surprised to learn Hadley serves more than 10,000 students over the age of 14 annually, employs 35 instructors and offers courses to sighted family members of a person with a visual impairment and professionals working in the blindness field. So why isn’t there a constant crowd surrounding Hadley’s building at 700 Elm Street?

The answer may surprise you: Hadley students are in their hometowns, working and learning remotely through distance education. Hadley perfected teaching at a distance long before telecommuting and online universities were an emerging trend. In fact, Hadley courses have always been taught at a distance. Winnetka resident William Hadley co-founded the school with his friend and neighbor, Dr. E.V.L. Brown. A former schoolteacher, Hadley began teaching correspondence courses after becoming blind at the age of 55, realizing that he could use his expertise to help others like him learn braille. He began mailing braille instruction courses to a blind housewife in Kansas and from that point on, the school’s number of courses, instructors and students quickly grew.

Today Hadley is the leading educator of braille and largest provider of distance education for blind and visually impaired students and their families. The school serves students in all 50 states and 100 countries, offering more than 100 different courses in topics ranging from braille to math to chess.

Hadley also has a satellite school in China for people with visual impairments to increase their employment prospects by learning English. “We have such a diversity of courses, we joke the one thing we don’t teach is Driver’s Ed.” says Hadley Senior Vice President Dawn Turco.

The Hadley School for the Blind’s mission is to promote independent living through lifelong, distance education programs for people who are blind or visually impaired, their families and blindness service providers. The school has been able to offer courses free of charge to visually impaired students throughout its 90-year history due the generous support of its Board of Trustees and with the help of the surrounding North Shore community.

For more information, visit www.hadley.edu or call 800-323-4238.