Frederick J. Gaenslen School opened its doors in 1939 with a mission to educate children who survived polio, a deadly and contagious disease that stalked families across the globe and right here in Milwaukee in the first half of the twentieth century.

Just two years before Gaenslen School opened in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood, city officials ordered 15,000 children to stay home from school to prevent new polio infections.

Named for Milwaukee native and noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. Frederick J. Gaenslen, the school provided an educational home for children living with long-term effects of polio that ranged from paralysis or muscle weakness to compromised speech and respiratory processes, and other complications.

The original school building made its home on what is now the Gaenslen School parking lot and playground. In the spring of 1988, Gaenslen School and nearby Fratney Street School merged and moved into the present building at 1250 E. Burleigh Ave.

Built to accommodate students who use wheelchairs, the current Gaenslen building has extra-wide hallways, large custodial bathrooms, an elevator in each corner of the building, ramps that go from the second floor to the ground for fire escapes, and a full-sized pool with a ramp.

Nearly a century later, Frederick J. Gaenslen School honors its founding legacy by providing a high-quality education to students who receive orthopedic, vision, speech, and other special-education accommodations. Children attend the school from many Milwaukee neighborhoods. The diverse backgrounds and abilities of Gaenslen’s 600+ students – from general to special-education classrooms in grades K4 through eight – make this historic school one of Wisconsin’s most inclusive and collaborative learning communities.