The school was initially called the Ingleside Convalescent Home but was later known as the Children's Hospital School. Harrison concocted many schemes to raise funds for the school, including a charity baseball game and a circus performed by prominent society members.
In 1905, Harrison spearheaded an effort to open a school for indigent convalescent children. She used her many connections to procure donations and offered a large stone house owned by her father in Catonsville, Maryland.