In 1958, Professor and Mrs. L Leon Bernard opened the Cleland School, an independent, tuition-supoprted school in a "little brown house" on Eddy Street in South Bend, Indiana. The school was named in honor of Mrs. Bernard's grandmother who was a teacher in North Carolina. In the first year, students were accepted for Kindergarten and first grade. As grades were added, the Cleland school changed locations, and eventually moved to its present location. In 1964, the Board of Trustees purchased the Hoffman Estate at 3123 Miami Street and changed the name to The Stanley Clark School in honor of a prominent area physician. Faculty and students moved in to the new school in 1965. Mrs. Bernard served as Head of School until 1963, and was a life trustee until her passing in 2013.
