 Léonie was among the first students at the Free Kindergarten organized by Felix Adler's Ethical Culture Society and became a member of the first class of the Workingman's School (later Ethical Culture School).After her graduation in 1887, Adler found a place for her at the recently opened Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore.As one of the few students to pass the Bryn Mawr School's rigorous graduation requirements, she was awarded its first four-year college scholarship, funded by school president Mary Garrett.