History

History of The Stanley Clark School

In 1958, Professor and Mrs. L. Leon and Mollie Bernard opened the Cleland School, an independent tuition-supported school in a "little brown house" on Eddy Street in South Bend, Indiana. The school was named in honor of Mrs. Bernard's grandmother who was a teacher in North Carolina. In the first year, students were accepted for kindergarten and first grade.

As grades were added each year, Cleland moved into the Moose Lodge on Jefferson Boulevard and later onto the Fish Estate, also located on Jefferson. In 1963, the Board of Trustees purchased the Hoffman Estate at 3123 Miami Street and changed the name to The Stanley Clark School in honor of a prominent physician of the South Bend, Mishawaka and Elkhart areas. After the capital funds were raised, the necessary construction was completed, converting the estate into a school. Faculty and students moved in on November 9, 1965.

Mrs. Mollie Bernard served as head of school until 1963. She served as a lifetime trustee until her passing in July 2013. The main building is named Bernard Hall in honor of Mrs. Bernard and her husband, who was a University of Notre Dame faculty member, in recognition of the many years of devotion and service to the school.