The Cornerstones of Care Education Campus is here — and it’s a reason to celebrate.
For decades, the Gillis Campus has been a place of learning, healing, and possibility for the young people we serve. We honor everything it has meant to our community. And now, we’re excited about what comes next.
The Cornerstones of Care Education Campus, located in the former Archbishop O’Hara High School building in South Kansas City, is a modern, purpose-built facility that gives our trauma-informed education programs the strong, stable foundation they deserve — now and into the future. The Education Campus combines healing and academics to help students grow and change in ways they can’t get in a traditional school environment.
Built for What’s Next
The Education Campus offers an expansive space to consolidate our education programs, but this move is about much more than bricks and mortar. It’s about giving every student, educator, and family we serve an exceptional facility to help navigate trauma.
The campus provides what is needed to serve our students as they work through trauma.
- A therapy suite to decompress should a student’s emotions become overwhelming.
- A training kitchen to provide youth in our Seed to Plate program a chance to learn culinary skills.
- Playground equipment to let kids be kids.
A resource center to provide food, clothing, and other items to support students and families in need.
Built for What’s Next
The Education Campus offers an expansive space to consolidate our education programs, but this move is about much more than bricks and mortar. It’s about giving every student, educator, and family we serve an exceptional facility to help navigate through trauma.
The campus provides what is needed to serve our students as they work through trauma.
- A therapy suite to decompress should a student’s emotions become overwhelming.
- A training kitchen to provide youth in our Seed to Plate program a chance to learn culinary skills.
- Playground equipment to let kids be kids.
A resource center to provide food, clothing, and other items to support students and families in need.
“To see how our day treatment education supports our young people both academically and emotionally, look no further than Ben. He is a student in our day treatment program who struggled to communicate. With the support of family, faculty and staff, Ben found his voice. Today, he loves facing challenges, writing essays, and is passionate about Greek root words.”
– The Learning Academy Team
What This Campus Makes Possible
The Education Campus isn’t just a new address. It’s a platform for growth — and for greater impact across our entire community.
K–12 Learning Academy
Our trauma-informed school now operates as a unified K–12 facility. By combining the Learning Academy into a single facility, we create more effective collaboration among students, faculty, and staff to provide better outcomes to the young people we serve.
Build Trybe
Offers workforce development programming that equips young people with real-world skills and pathways to careers.
BIST (Behavior Intervention Support Team)
Providing specialized support for teachers to manage student behavioral challenges and increase learning time in the classroom.
Collaborative Learning
Training courses for everyone from foster parents to social service practitioners and our own team members.
Together, these programs transform a formerly empty space in the Hickman Mills community into a vibrant hub of learning, healing, and community investment.
Your Support Changes Lives
Launching the Education Campus in an important step in Cornerstones of Care’s Bridge Plan, which will ensure that our physical spaces align with the needs of children and families we serve now into the future. Our Ozanam Campus, which opened in 1948, has transformed thousands of lives over the years. The Ozanam Campus will receive much-needed upgrades to provide the best possible care for youth now into the future.
This transition is smart planning and a meaningful investment in the future. It ensures our programs remain safe, licensed, and compliant for years to come — protecting the Qualified Residential Treatment Program that youth with significant needs depend on. It positions Cornerstones of Care to serve even more young people with excellence.
Your support will help us energize a community and change the lives of young people as they work through trauma.
Help a Young Person Build Their Future
- $250 Equips a therapeutic classroom with essential tools
- $500 Supports critical safety and licensing upgrades
- $750 Helps fund trauma-informed spaces where youth can heal