History

During his first twenty years of teaching, Peter Gow, Jr. was fascinated by students who encountered difficulty with print language. He theorized that small classes and intensive drill would help these students to succeed. In 1926, he moved his family to South Wales, New York, where he converted a farm into a boarding school for young men.

Shortly after the school opened, Peter Gow, Jr. met Dr. Samuel T. Orton, a neurologist, whose research indicated that a phonetic approach was the best way to educate those suffering from "specific language disabilities." Through teaching and working with students, Gow eventually developed Reconstructive Language, a near relative of the Orton-Gillingham method, which has successfully remediated dyslexic boys for over eight decades.