Meeting Street history

The Schwartz Center began in 1947 when a parent, Agnes “Posa” Raposa, found that there were no local services available for her son who was born with cerebral palsy.

A firm believer in the philosophies and techniques first embraced by Poggy Langdon and Doctor Eric Denhoff, D’Wolf joined Meeting Street’s staff in 1952 as a physical therapist.

By 1969, a cohort of our professionals received national recognition for their development of the Meeting Street School Screening Test to evaluate kindergarten and first grade students for the early identification of learning disorders.

In 1971 the Cerebral Palsy Clinic was renamed The Schwartz Center for Children in honor of Doctor Isaac H. Schwartz, the founding medical director of the Center, for dedicating nearly 25 years to children in the area.

1973: The Charleston City Market is placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ayers sold the property to Gedney Howe in 1976 at a time when the house was in great disrepair.

Doctor Denhoff volunteered his services as Meeting Street’s medical director for 35 years, until his death in 1982.

1986: The 440-room Charleston Place Hotel opens across from the Charleston City Market, a watershed event for the local tourism industry.

1994: The newly renovated 64-room Planters Inn opens across from the Charleston City Market.

In recognition of the steadfast dedication of our staff, Meeting Street was chosen as the Outstanding Philanthropic Service Organization of the Year (National Philanthropy Day 2000) by the Rhode Island Chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives.

In December 2006, Meeting Street opened our custom-designed 80,000 square foot building on a nine acre campus in the heart of Providence.

MSS opened its Charleston, SC flagship Pre-K-5th independent school in 2008 as a proving ground; a place to demonstrate that it is indeed possible to close the opportunity gap that has plagued our community for decades.

Later in 2010 Meeting Street became an Early Head Start (EHS) provider to support parents' efforts to fulfill their parental roles, and move families toward self-sufficiency.

June 27, 2011: The newly refurbished City Market reopens to the public.

MSS then launched its network of schools in 2012 with the opening of Meeting Street Academy Spartanburg, which was made possible by the contributions of a generous private donor who had been inspired by the success of the flagship school.