The building has been listed by the city as a San Francisco Designated Landmark since March 15, 2019.

The Sunshine School was founded by the Rotary Club of San Francisco, and was part of their International Society for Crippled Children (formerly the National Society for Crippled Children) program.

[3][4] During the 1926 Rotary Club District Conference in San Diego, California, the California Society for Crippled Children was formed and the San Francisco Rotary Club led the efforts to build a school (found prior to the 1937 building).

[6] The Sunshine School building was built between 1935 and 1937, by the Public Works Administration (PWA), in a Spanish colonial revival architecture style with details from Moorish revival and Art Deco architecture.

The school was designed to serve two populations; students with physical disabilities occupied the first floor level with a therapeutic swimming pool and gymnasium, and students with illnesses (both chronic and acute) occupied the second floor with open‐air rooms.