Proper health and hygiene is imperative to a child’s ability to learn and thrive in a school. It is also critical for a school to be clean in order for successful learning to take place. Today, we think of hygiene as hand-washing and immunizations to prevent the outbreak of disease; however, in the early 20th century, there was a heavy focus on creating institutions that were clean in terms of race and even mental capacity. It was sad to read about children who were not afforded equal opportunities because of their race or because they were not considered to be mentally “normal.” Although we continue to see separate classrooms for children who have severe learning disabilities, greater effort is made nowadays to ensure that these children are integrated and afforded the best opportunities they can be.