Miss C. Elizabeth Rieg

History of School

    C. Elizabeth Rieg was a pioneer leader in the education of special needs children.  For two decades, from 1952 until her retirement on January 1, 1973, Miss Rieg was the Supervisor of Special Education for Prince George's County Public Schools.  During this time span, the Special Education Program progressed from just two small classes for the mentally retarded to the second largest continuum of public school programs and services for special needs children in the country.  The school system soon became recognized nationally and internationally for the creativity, innovation and excellence of it's Special Education Department.

    An early champion of the civil rights of special needs children, Miss Rieg insisted on individual intelligence testing of children to identify their needs before permitting their placement into special needs classes.  She implemented this policy in 1952, making Prince George's County the first county in the state of Maryland to require testing.  Twenty-two years later, her policy would become state law.

    A string of firsts marked her career, as Miss Rieg repeatedly broke new ground in providing programs and services to an ever-broadening range of children with special needs.  In 1956, she developed the first programs in Maryland for learning disabled children and children with communication disabilities.  In the early 1960's, she initiated the first programs in the state for pre-school special needs children, both learning and physically disabled.  By the time the hearing disabled infant victims of the 1964 - 1965 Rubella epidemic were toddlers, she had developed the first county-wide daily pre-school hearing program in the state - and perhaps the nation.  For years, Miss Rieg worked closely with Children's Hospital's Hearing and Speech Center in Washington, D. C., and with their consultation, she offered and maintained the only known public school system program for aphasic children.

    During her career, Miss Rieg hosted national and international visitors from universities, hospitals, and other educational institutions.  Visitors came with the intent to learn of new developments in the teaching of special needs children.  Miss Rieg was the consummate teacher, nurturing and inspiring her staff's professional development to the point where a nationwide demand for their expertise and consultation was created.  It was congressional testimony from her staff members that helped form many of the federal laws governing the educational rights of those with special needs.

    Born in Roslyn, Washington in 1916, Miss Rieg moved as a child to Indiana, Pennsylvania.  After receiving her Bachelor's Degree in Education from Indiana State University of Pennsylvania, she taught mathematics for several years and then went on to obtain a Master's Degree in counseling from Columbia University.  From 1947 to 1952, she was the supervisor of pupil personnel for the Calvert County, Maryland public school system.

    On November 16, 1978, Miss Rieg achieved another historical first when the Prince George's County Board of Education unanimously adopted a resolution naming a new public school in her honor.  In the unique position of being a living recipient of such recognition of her remarkable accomplishments, she received homage from hundreds of friends and former co-workers at the formal dedication of the C. Elizabeth Rieg Special Center, Mitchellville, MD on March 18, 1979.