Everybody is getting ready for the new academic year at Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (HMS). Teachers are stocking the classroom with supplies. Specialists are getting to know the new students. Administrators are working on strategy. And the entire staff gathers for leadership training.
The efforts are led by Head of School Dr. Michelle Eisan-Smith, ’01, G-’05, & PhD ’07. Horace Mann School was the first public day school for the deaf in the United States when it was founded in 1869. In 2021, Eisan-Smith made history as the first deaf Head of School at HMS.
Eisan-Smith’s bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees in Psychology from Gallaudet make her uniquely qualified to support young deaf and hard of hearing children. As she enters her fifth year as Head of School, she feels more confident and empowered than ever.
Starting early
Eisan-Smith grew up just 20 miles from Horace Mann School and five miles from The Learning Center for the Deaf, where she attended school as a child. As she learned American Sign Language (ASL), her parents and older brother learned along with her. ASL became the language she used at school and at home.
“It was a village around us at The Learning Center,” Eisan-Smith says. “My parents had the opportunity to learn ASL alongside other parents and peers.”
She was hungry to understand the world from the start. Eisan-Smith enjoyed school and her leadership traits began to develop at an early age. She refused to accept good enough and bristled at unfair situations. Befitting somebody who would earn three psychology degrees, Eisan-Smith loved learning about the lives and experiences of people around her.
“After I graduated from Gallaudet, I came back and saw some of my old teachers,” Eisan-Smith remembers. “They told me that I wanted to be a psychologist as a kid. I had totally forgotten about that!”
It was a hearing psychologist who told her about Gallaudet and encouraged her to explore her deaf identity. She arrived in Washington, D.C. as a proud deaf person, but Gallaudet gave her another level of confidence.
“Those four years were like growing roots,” Eisan-Smith remembers. “There was just something about it. Having teachers who signed and deep conversations with my peers. There were so many deaf college-level role models interacting together.”
Right: Eisan-Smith in 2007 with a fellow graduate, after graduating with her PhD in Clinical Psychology.
Embracing community at Gallaudet
When it was time to choose a major at Gallaudet, Eisan-Smith sat down with an advisor and considered her options. She chose psychology because of her lifelong curiosity about other people. She stayed in the field because of the support from her professors and peers in the Honors Program.
“People believed in me. I had so many mentors. They fostered my leadership skills. If I didn’t have that mentorship, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
Dr. Robert “Skip” Williams, remembers Eisan-Smith standing out among his students. “She was smart, diligent, and attentive. But what impressed me the most was that she was a natural leader. She has unbounded enthusiasm that is contagious to all around her. I never had any doubt that she would be a big success!”
After graduating with her bachelor’s degree, Eisan-Smith was accepted to the PhD in Clinical Psychology program, where she would earn both a master’s and doctorate. Including Eisan-Smith, only two out of the seven students in the program were deaf or hard of hearing. Still, the overall diversity of her classmates made for a rich experience.
“I cherish my time with my peers,” Eisan-Smith says. “We were really close and shared opportunities with each other. To this day, we still check in.”
Her work in the PhD program also taught her the importance of engaging with the communities one serves, and involving those communities in any decisions that impact their lives.
“Antiracism and antiaudism were still new concepts in the program at that time,” Eisan-Smith remembers. “My peers and I unpacked that together. We learned to see people as assets. Individuals aren’t something to fix; they’re a human to uplift.”
Eisan-Smith’s time at Gallaudet solidified her goals to become a practicing psychologist and uplift deaf and hard of hearing children. When she graduated with her PhD, she was ready to bring her education and mindset to the workplace.
Building community at HMS
After a post-doctorate fellowship in Florida, Eisan-Smith returned home to Framingham and The Learning Center. She worked as a psychologist for the Center’s Walden School, supporting young deaf children with complex needs. The experience gave Eisan-Smith a foundation in clinical work with students that would inform her future leadership roles.
After six years at The Learning Center, Eisan-Smith became Social Worker Coordinator and member of the Evaluation Unit for Horace Mann School. She brought the lessons she had learned from Gallaudet and The Learning Center to her new role. As a clinician, she engaged with families of all kinds to create a bridge between home and school. She was the only deaf clinician on the Evaluation Unit, and challenged her colleagues to reframe their assumptions about what was best for deaf children.
“I thought I would be a Social Worker and SST coordinator forever,” says Eisan-Smith “I knew all the staff at HMS, and every student and their family. It’s a special community.”
Three years later, she had the opportunity to become Program Director for the secondary program at HMS, following in the footsteps of another deaf staff member. When the role evolved into an administrative position, Eisan-Smith became the first deaf administrator in the school’s history.
During Eisan-Smith’s time as Program Director, HMS transformed into a dual language ASL/English institution. She helped lead difficult conversations about incorporating antiracism and antiaudism into the school’s operations. Together, the HMS faculty and staff worked to bring more deaf history and critical thinking into the curriculum for students.
Head of School
When the Head of School position at HMS opened a few years later, Eisan-Smith applied after repeated encouragement by her coworkers. She wasn’t sure the community was ready for a Deaf leader, but feedback from community members during the search process made it clear that it was time.
“My goal was never to become Head of School,” says Eisan-Smith. “My heart was in the clinical practice of psychology. I just wanted to give more deaf youth access to education. Eventually, I realized how important deaf role models had been to my own success.”
As Head of School, Eisan-Smith works with the teachers and staff to implement all aspects of HMS. She grounds herself in the people around her.
“I’m humbled to serve the needs of the community. I want to make sure HMS is a safe, healthy place to grow.” Although she’s heading into her fifth year, arriving to this point wasn’t easy. “When I got the job, I had never been a school leader before. There was a lot of learning and growth.”
Eisan-Smith wants Horace Mann School to represent excellence in deaf education. Over the years, Eisan-Smith and the leadership team worked with the HMS faculty and staff to overhaul the school’s data systems to better measure the skills of their students.
Along with HMS leadership, she has also made a concerted effort to have the diversity of HMS staff match the diversity of its students. She worked with Boston Public Schools and local institutions to create more opportunities for paraeducators and teachers seeking their licensure. New teachers who are hired at HMS receive the mentorship and coaching they need to thrive. The faculty hosts regular professional learning communities where teachers get feedback from their peers.
“I want our kids to get the best, innovative education,” Eisan-Smith says. “And I want our community to represent the intersectionality of students. I want to give students everything that they deserve. Unfettered access to language and education, so they can be who they are.”
Creating something new
Stacy Abrams, ’99, is a Senior Project Manager for Early Intervention at Clerc Center who has known Eisan-Smith for almost 30 years. “We started as Resident Advisors together in the Gallaudet dorms,” Abrams says. “She can talk to anyone, regardless of their background or identity.”
Abrams sees how Eisan-Smith has brought that quality to HMS. “She has a vision and she values everybody’s contribution to that vision. Everybody has a role. She’s able to get the right people for the team and get them aligned. It hasn’t been easy, but HMS is on the right track. For Michelle, it’s about the children, period. She wants them to have a leader who understands them.”
Eisan-Smith still loves engaging with the people around her. “My favorite part of my job is seeing the staff, students, and families every day,” she says. “And every day is different.”
While seeing students graduate each year is bittersweet, she loves it when they return to HMS as adults. And some former HMS students are now teachers and staff at the school.
“We have the best staff and students here. It’s our community. It’s home.”
That home was built on the foundation of education and experience that Eisan-Smith developed at Gallaudet. She’s happy to be using the things she learned to uplift deaf and hard of hearing children today.
“At Gallaudet, I learned that supporting communities means understanding data and creating something new. It requires a culture of collaboration and feedback. ‘Good enough’ is never good enough for the community. Our students deserve the best.”
Gallaudet offers bachelor’s, doctoral, and minor degree tracks in Psychology. Visit the program page to learn more.
