A small, structured Chicago day school built for kids who need more
Trained teachers and licensed therapists work side by side all day, with small ratios and real academics. For children 18 months through 1st grade in North Center, Chicago.
Who is Black Bear Academy for?
Black Bear Academy is built for young children who do best with a smaller setting and a team that truly knows them. We provide instruction and intervention to students who need support with language, motor, sensory regulation, and social-emotional dynamics.
- A smaller setting and an individualized pace
- Communication support, including AAC
- Support for regulation and anxiety
- Bright kids who need a different pace
Safety and de-escalation
Every Black Bear Academy staff member is trained in Nonviolent Crisis Intervention® from CPI (the Crisis Prevention Institute), and we have a certified CPI instructor on staff. That means calm, evidence-based de-escalation is baked into how we handle hard moments, not added later.
Real academics, individualized to each child
For our youngest learners (18 months through junior kindergarten), the day is play-based, exploratory, and multisensory. Teachers pull learning targets into hands-on materials, print and books, videos, nature, and movement. Weekly themes build foundational literacy and math skills, plus hands-on art, music, social studies, and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Engaging activities build language, motor skills, problem-solving, mathematics, and foundational literacy skills, and plans flex to what a class is actually interested in.
Around junior kindergarten, the day shifts. Children are building more practical, social, and physical school readiness skills. By first grade, structured academics anchor the day.
We use a hybrid curriculum, not a single scripted one. Illinois state standards set the floor. Everyday Mathematics® is the foundation of our math program. Fundations® is at the core of our structured reading program, with Wilson Reading System® intervention strategies embedded so early literacy differences are caught and supported early. Handwriting Without Tears® supports early handwriting.
Extra support and advanced work, side by side
Teachers meet each child where they are, whether that means extra support, right on grade level, or ready for advanced work. Because classes are small, teachers can spend more time on the parts of the day a child needs most. Push-in and pull-out sessions with therapists create natural one-on-one and very small-group time for everyone else in the room. For rolling admissions, the team builds a bridge plan in the first two weeks so a new child can meet the group's pacing without losing their own.
For children who need advanced work in one area while needing support in another, we build a fully individualized plan, sometimes pulling in upper-grade materials or a different curriculum entirely.
AAC, visual schedules, and materials made for your child
AAC and multimodal communication
For multimodal communicators and children using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), our team works with the family to support the child’s communication across all environments. From customized, high-tech AAC devices to low tech core boards, we prioritize meaningful and effective communication for all students.
Visual aids
We create the materials that children need to feel successful and safe at school: visual schedules, social stories, lap books, hands-on manipulatives, Velcro pieces, and adapted versions of materials help to set students up for success.
How do we measure progress and share it with you?
We use ESGI to set quarterly classroom baselines and track progress. Children who join mid-year are assessed within their first two weeks.
Communication cards with specific, data-driven notes on your child's goals.
Report cards in a standard academic format, plus a therapeutic format on request that spells out the accommodations used to reach each goal.
Standardized academic tests conducted by the psychology team rather than classroom teachers, so results stay objective.
Therapy happens in the classroom and one-on-one
Therapists and teachers work as one team, inside the school day. Here is how it fits together.
The speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist, psychologist, and social worker work alongside the lead teacher, so goals get practiced at circle time, at lunch, and during play.
Focused sessions happen in a quiet therapy room, and those skills carry right back into the school day.
Teachers and therapists work from the same plan, so a goal practiced in one part of the day is reinforced in the next.
What does a school day at Black Bear Academy look like?
Therapy is not a pull-out appointment. It is woven through the same day the child already knows, with the same trusted adults.
Optional morning playgroup
For families who need an earlier start, available for an added fee. Drop-off is at 8:00 AM.
Drop-off and soft start
A calm, predictable welcome window. Children settle in and ease into the morning with a familiar adult.
Morning meeting
The school day starts with morning meeting, regulation routines, and a look at the day's plan.
Learning, play, and therapy
Small-group academics and play, with therapy woven into the same routines. Weather permitting, and with parent consent, children may go to nearby playgrounds to play.
Half-day pickup
The half day ends at 11:45. Pickup runs 11:45 to 11:55 AM.
Lunch and afternoon learning
Full-day students have lunch together, then continue with learning, play, and therapy in the afternoon.
Full-day pickup
The full day ends at 3:00. Pickup runs 2:50 to 3:00 PM.
Optional afternoon playgroup
For families who need a later pickup, available for an added fee. Pickup runs 3:50 to 4:00 PM.
Spaces built for how kids actually learn
Sensory gym
A dedicated space for occupational therapy and regulation, with swings, climbing, and safe equipment for sensory work.
Indoor gym
Room for gross-motor play and movement breaks year-round, whatever the Chicago weather.
Therapy rooms
Quiet, dedicated rooms for speech, feeding, and small-group work when a child needs a calmer setting.
Black Bear Elementary
Black Bear Elementary is our sister school for kindergarten through 8th grade, on its own nearby campus. For kindergarten and 1st grade, the right school is decided with your family during intake and evaluation. Students placed through an individualized education program (IEP) usually attend Black Bear Elementary.
Visit the Black Bear Elementary website, or ask us and we will walk you through whether it might be the right fit for your child.
A separate school at its own nearby site, not the 1801 W Byron St building.
Small classes and low ratios, with support woven into the school day.
Rigorous academics carried forward from the early years.
Therapy built into the school day, often billed to insurance
For students enrolled in the school, therapy is delivered inside the school day by our licensed team. When a family's insurance covers it, that therapy is billed to the plan, separately from tuition.
Coverage varies by plan. We confirm yours at intake.
Check insurance and billing →Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO and UnitedHealthcare through Northwestern. Cigna PPO for testing only, through the Center for Comprehensive Neurobehavioral Care (CCNC).
May apply. We provide a master bill you can submit to insurance, a flexible spending account (FSA), or a health savings account (HSA), and some costs may count as medical expenses on your taxes.
We help you confirm coverage before anything begins. Coverage varies by plan.
What questions do families ask?
How does enrollment work?
We use rolling admissions, so there is no single deadline. Most families start with a tour or a short info call, then we talk through fit, scheduling, and the path to a start date.
Do you do testing and evaluations?
Yes. We offer autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), neuropsychological, and academic evaluations, plus screenings for specific learning disorders, and a child does not have to attend the school to be evaluated. See the evaluations page for the full list.
Can we use your services without enrolling?
Yes. Therapy, evaluations, tutoring, and parent and caregiver support are open to children who do not attend the school. You do not have to enroll to work with our team.
What does scheduling look like?
Scheduling is flexible and customizable. Choose the half-day program (9:00 to 11:45 AM) or the full-day program (9:00 AM to 3:00 PM), with optional add-ons for an added fee: an 8:00 to 9:00 AM morning playgroup and a 3:00 to 4:00 PM afternoon playgroup. We build a schedule around your child and family.
What ages does the school serve?
Children from 18 months through 1st grade, with classrooms for every stage: 2s, Preschool, Junior Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and 1st grade. Classrooms are grouped by developmental stage, not just age. Classes are small, generally five to seven children, with ratios as low as 2:1 or 3:1.
Is Black Bear Academy a medical or 1:1 nursing setting?
No. We are a small day school that provides instruction and intervention, not a one-to-one medical or nursing setting. If another setting is the safer fit, we will say so honestly and help you find it.
How is the right school decided for kindergarten and 1st grade?
For kindergarten and 1st grade, the right school is decided with your family during intake and evaluation. Students placed through an individualized education program (IEP) usually attend our sister school, Black Bear Elementary.
What are the school-day hours?
The half day runs 9:00 to 11:45 AM and the full day runs 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Optional playgroups run before school from 8:00 to 9:00 AM and after school from 3:00 to 4:00 PM, for an added fee. The office is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, except scheduled closures.
Where to go from here
The school is one part of an integrated model. These connect to the rest of your child's path.
See a classroom and meet the team
A tour is the clearest way to understand the model. A team member will follow up soon.