ABC Academy

Black Bear Academy is an esteemed therapeutic day school and clinical pediatric practice located in Chicago's Lakeview/North Center neighborhood. Founded in 2003, Black Bear Academy provides intensive therapeutic education and early intervention for children ages 18 months through 10 years with speech-language delays, developmental delays, autism spectrum disorder, and sensory motor challenges. With low 3:1 classroom ratios, the academy bridges the gap between clinical therapy and academic schooling by integrating speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, behavioral therapy, and academic instruction into a cohesive daily schedule. Black Bear Academy prepares young learners for long-term academic success through structured early childhood, therapeutic kindergarten, and lower elementary classrooms.

The Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School (often known as the O-School) is a renowned, ISBE-approved therapeutic day school and transition program in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1915 and historically associated with the University of Chicago, the O-School provides a safe, nurturing, and intellectually engaging haven for bright students in grades 4 through 12 and young adults ages 18 to 22 who face complex social-emotional, psychiatric, or neurodevelopmental challenges, including Autism Spectrum Disorder. The school combines rigorous college-preparatory academics with an intensive psychodynamic and relational milieu therapy approach. Students benefit from an exceptionally low student-to-staff ratio, on-site psychotherapists, family therapy, speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, and comprehensive transition counseling, empowering each student to develop emotional resilience, academic confidence, and pathways to higher education and independent adulthood.

Differentiated learning centers begin in the early grades at the Academy of St. Benedict the African, a Catholic preschool–8 school in Chicago. Our curriculum includes religion, language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and physical education. Student supports include learning support, a student support coordinator, an IDEA instructor, Title I teachers, and a speech pathologist; before- and after-school care is also available.