Professor Emeritus Peter Knoblock (1934-2025), founder of Syracuse’s Jowonio School and a champion of the inclusive schools movement, has passed aged 91.
Born in Passaic, NJ, Knoblock was among the first University of Michigan students to receive a combined Ph.D. in Education and Psychology. After a decade on the faculty at Michigan, in 1962 he joined Syracuse University School of Education, strengthening its expertise in special education and its ties to the community.
Among his initiatives, Knoblock established a team to serve chronically truant youth in community settings, and in 1969 he joined with a small group of families to create an alternative “free school” in the city: Jowonio School (the name means “to set free” in the language of the Onondaga Nation).
The school began with the goal of providing a child-centered learning environment, where children were free to pursue self-directed learning. Later, with the help of graduate students of special education, children with disabilities—at the time excluded from public schools before federal education law changes—were fully included in Jowonio School classrooms.
“Peter was a shining beacon in the field of special education. He understood the principles and importance of inclusion long before it was a term,” remembers Professor Emerita Mara Sapon-Shevin. “Jowonio was a model of what was possible for all children, and when people visited Syracuse University, a visit to Jowonio was imperative. When you saw the children and teachers there, you felt inclusion in your core. I am privileged to have worked with him and will be forever grateful for what he showed the education world what was possible.”
In 1975, Jowonio started receiving special support from the New York State Office of People with Developmental Disabilities, and ever since has operated as a “planful inclusive educational program.” Nearly six decades later, the school continues to be a model inclusive education environment, where students of all abilities learn and grow together.
Following retirement from Syracuse University, Knoblock opened a private psychology practice and served as a docent at the Everson Museum of Art. He was active in many organizations, including Parents for Public Schools, Alliance for Communities Transforming Syracuse, the Early Childhood Alliance, and the Thursday Morning Roundtable.
Among his honors and awards, Knoblock received a Mary Ficchi Lifetime Achievement in Education award from Parents for Public Schools and a Syracuse Post-Standard Achievement Award for his leadership in education.