park ridge school for girls
The Mason (Dave, Shirley, Russ & Don) family's house in Park Ridge, IL, was next door to the Park Ridge School for Girls. One of the girls at the school, Julie Corn, babysat Russ and Don, and became a lifelong friend of Shirley's. The Masons were also friends with the Hickmans, Smails and Watsons, all of whom lived at the girls school as "cottage parents."
A Chicago Tribune newspaper article entitled "Proxy Parents Add 12 Teen Girls to Their Family" about the Smail family's involvement with the girls school...
Some of the original "cottages" still exist (as of December, 2012) along with their fire escapes that we used to climb up and slide down as kids...