Taking Flight Campaign
A multi-million dollar campaign to improve safety, accessibility and opportunity at Overbrook School for the Blind
Overbrook School for the Blind has launched the Taking Flight Campaign, a transformative investment in campus safety, accessibility, innovative learning and entrepreneurial programs that will benefit students, families, OSB and the Greater Philadelphia community.
Rooted in OSB’s nearly 200-year tradition of excellence, this campaign will help ensure that students with visual impairments, including those with additional disabilities, have the spaces, tools, technology and support they need to thrive.
Our Mission
Our mission is to empower individuals with visual impairments, including those with additional disabilities, to achieve their fullest potential through exceptional education, individualized support, and a culture that celebrates every person's unique abilities.
We are committed to advancing excellence, sharing our expertise, and creating lasting impact for our students, families, community partners, and the broader field of vision education.
The Meaning Behind Taking Flight
Taking Flight represents more than movement. It symbolizes growth, confidence, independence and possibility.
Every day, OSB students build the skills, knowledge and self-assurance to navigate the world on their own terms. With support from dedicated educators, therapists and staff, each child is empowered to discover their strengths and pursue a future filled with opportunity.
The butterfly is a powerful symbol of that journey. Through transformation, it emerges stronger, more capable and ready to take flight. In the same way, OSB students grow through individualized education, specialized support and meaningful experiences that help them realize their full potential.
The Taking Flight Campaign reflects that same spirit of transformation. As our students continue to grow and achieve new milestones, this campaign will transform our campus by creating safer, more accessible and more innovative learning environments for generations to come.
Campaign Goals
Improve accessibility across campus
Create safer, more navigable spaces that support students with visual impairments and additional disabilities.
Expand adaptable learning spaces
Develop flexible environments that can meet a wide range of instructional, therapeutic and mobility needs.
Attract and retain expert staff
Invest in the educators, therapists and specialists who make individualized learning possible.
Secure and apply advanced technologies
Equip students and staff with tools that strengthen access, independence and learning.
Launch innovative entrepreneurial initiatives
Create student-centered programs that build practical skills, confidence and real-world experience.
Expand OSB’s geographic reach
Extend OSB’s expertise and services to more students, families and professionals beyond campus.
Increase public awareness of OSB initiatives and students
Share OSB’s story more widely and highlight the strength, talent and potential of students with visual impairments.
Broaden OSB’s fundraising footprint
Build a stronger base of support to sustain OSB’s mission for generations to come.
Campaign Initiatives
Taking Flight brings together forward-looking initiatives that expand accessibility, strengthen life and career readiness, and create new opportunities for students and families. Each project is designed to build greater independence, access and long-term impact at OSB and beyond.
Braille Signage
The Braille Signage Initiative will create a new commercial enterprise that expands OSB’s life readiness programming and provides students with practical, transferable workplace skills.
CVI Complete
CVI Complete is OSB’s multi-faceted program designed to meet the needs of a growing population of children diagnosed with Cortical Vision Impairment, or CVI.
Through this initiative, OSB is establishing a dedicated clinic for highly specialized CVI assessments serving both OSB students and children in the greater community. CVI Complete will also provide training for educators and service providers, support and education for families and research opportunities that contribute to the field of vision education.
OSBnB
OSBnb will be a fully accessible, school- and student-run bed and breakfast located in a Victorian house on OSB’s campus.
Designed to address accessibility barriers many travelers with disabilities continue to face, OSBnb’s planned features will exceed Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. The goal is to set a new standard for accessibility in community-based lodging while creating meaningful learning and work experiences for students.
Student Safety, Access and Technology
As the needs of OSB students continue to evolve, so must our campus.
Today, more students than ever have visual impairments along with complex disabilities, creating a greater need for accessible facilities, adaptable learning environments and modern technology. The Taking Flight Campaign will help transform OSB’s campus to better support mobility, enhance learning and ensure every student has the tools they need to thrive.
Personal Investing Course
Financial literacy is an essential life skill that builds confidence and independence.
Through a personal investing and financial literacy course, students with visual impairments and additional disabilities will gain practical knowledge about budgeting, saving, investing and making informed financial decisions.
Why Support Taking Flight
For nearly 200 years, Overbrook School for the Blind has transformed the lives of children with visual impairments through innovative, individualized education.
Yet students with visual impairments continue to face significant barriers in education, employment and independent living. Today, OSB students also have increasingly complex needs, requiring specialized programs, accessible spaces, advanced technology and expert staff to help them succeed.
The Taking Flight Campaign is a multi-million dollar investment in changing what is possible. Together, we will expand specialized CVI services, create a safer and more accessible campus, equip classrooms with advanced technology, recruit and retain exceptional educators and launch innovative programs that prepare students for lifelong independence.
Your support will do more than transform our campus. It will transform lives.
Together, we can give every child the opportunity to discover their strengths, achieve their potential and take flight toward a brighter future.
How You Can Help
Every gift to the Taking Flight Campaign brings OSB closer to a future where every child with a visual impairment has the opportunity to learn, grow and thrive.
You can support the campaign through a one-time gift, multi-year pledge, campaign initiative sponsorship, planned gift or corporate contribution. Every investment helps create lasting impact for generations of students.
You can also help by sharing OSB’s mission with your family, friends, colleagues and community.
Thank you for supporting the Taking Flight Campaign.
Click Here to Make a GiftClick Here to Email our Team to Learn More about the Taking Flight Campaign
