The O-School offers a school-day only Therapeutic Day Program for elementary, middle, and high school-aged students. All O-School students attend regular accredited classes while receiving a range of therapeutic and support services.
The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School is a coeducational residential treatment program for children and adolescents in need of support for profound emotional issues. The school provides young people, ages five to twenty, with a therapeutic and educational environment that recognizes their strengths and needs while challenging them to grow by achieving important developmental and behavioral outcomes.
As an affiliate of the University of Chicago, the School is committed to fostering inquiry into the clinical and treatment needs of troubled children and youth. We are operated by the Leslie Shankman School Corporation which is supported by the Foundation for Emotionally Disturbed Children (FEDC). It is equally dedicated to the education and training of its staff as the next generation of clinical scholars in the mental health field. The interrelated missions of clinical care, inquiry, scholarship and training assist the Orthogenic School in creating the best possible therapeutic and educational model for its students.
For over 75 years, students attending the O-School have consistently worked to close the gap between themselves and their peers. As a result of the School’s support, students have broken the cycle of repeated hospitalizations and prepared themselves to successfully transition to their home schools or colleges. In fact, based upon a recent long-term outcome study, 91% of O-School students finish high school and 55% go on to higher education. These results not only outperform national averages for students in special educational programs, they are also higher than the national averages for all students.
