The Leslie Shankman School Corporation sponsors two schools: the Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, founded in 1915, for bright students with emotional challenges, and the Hyde Park Day School, founded in 2000, for bright students with moderate to severe learning disabilities. In 2014, LSSC opened a new three-story, 75,000 sf building housing both schools and providing living spaces for residential and transitional students. The two schools share a gymnasium, an exercise room, multipurpose rooms and an art studio.

Both schools celebrate students’ strengths and place a high value on individual uniqueness. Congruent with this philosophy, all spaces in both schools, including learning spaces, residences, dining and even circulation, are unique in configuration, layout, materials, color and furniture. This variety fills the building with moments of visual discovery, supplies a diversity of environments to suit all moods and temperaments, and provides students with valuable environmental cues to facilitate learning and behavioral development.

Spaces in the LEED Silver certified schools are positive and upbeat. Colors, patterns, materials and furniture are carefully selected to focus attention, modulate levels of stimulation and relaxation, and facilitate social bonding and self-esteem.