It was predictably quixotic of Dr. Charles “Chad” Drake when, in 1970, he proposed to the board of directors of his small diagnostic program that together they found a school. The board responded with a challenge to Chad to “find the money and a site.” Scarcely a year later, Landmark School opened it doors to some 40 students at well-mortgaged property in Prides Crossing, MA. Through this bold act, Chad Drake was committing the rest of his life to that special group of children whose reading, writing, spelling, and mathematical skills had not caught up with their thinking and problem-solving capacities.

Most call these children dyslexic or learning disabled. Chad saw their promise, and called them bright and capable. He offered them a place at which they could acquire the academic skills and self-confidence to move on to and succeed in college and in life. Landmark over the next 34 years was to grow in enrollment from 40 to 440, and its budget from $279,000 to $19,000,000.

The ‘70’s were years of extraordinary sacrifice by a young, committed, and well-trained staff, but a strong foundation was being built. As Landmark grew through the 80’s and 90’s, so did its programs. In 1977, it helped found a school in Nova Scotia, and in 1983 opened a school in California and a college in Putney, VT. At home, it expanded its two North Shore campuses by acquiring contiguous properties, often at considerable expense, but always strengthening the permanence of its mission.

Because the school has always had a sizeable residential population, its faculty works round the clock, nurturing and reinforcing tutorial and classroom lessons. Throughout the years, Landmark has maintained a student-teacher ratio of 3-1, and individualization of instruction and daily professional continuity of teacher-child interaction have become Landmark cornerstones.

In 1990, Robert Broudo was named Landmark’s Headmaster and reasserted the principles that had sustained the school for 20 years. A charter teacher, Bob had ascended through every educational and administrative tier at Landmark. He quickly set about developing with the board a comprehensive strategic plan to upgrade a number of personnel, facilities, and program areas, and culminating in an ambitious capital campaign. The first phase of that campaign, raising $10,000,000 for a teacher salary endowment fund, has been successfully completed, and Landmark is now moving into the campaign’s facilities phase.

Today Landmark oversees elementary, middle school, high school, college preparatory, outreach and diagnostic programs. Its steadfast mission – enabling and empowering people with language-based learning disabilities to attain their educational and social potential – continues to guide the school each and every day.