School services programs

Hospital school is for patients who have an anticipated hospital stay of 10 or more days. Children’s Health works closely with the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) and Plano Independent School District (PISD) to offer classroom instruction for children from kindergarten-age through 12th grade. Instruction is provided by certified teachers employed by the school district.

What are the enrollment requirements for hospital-based school?

• The patient is expected to have a hospital stay of 10 or more days (at the time the school referral is made). This includes children admitted for a one-time illness or injury and those whose illnesses require multiple hospitalizations.

• The patient must withdraw from their local school to be enrolled in the program. This process will be taken care of by the school services department at Children’s Health.

• The parent(s) and/or legal guardian(s) are required to complete all school district registration paperwork for their child to be enrolled.

When and where are hospital classes held?

Classes are held Monday through Friday during the school year. Generally, one hour of daily instruction is provided in the four core subject areas (English, Math, Science and Social Studies). However, the school schedule is determined by medical treatments.

Bedside instruction is available for children who are unable to attend classroom sessions.

School Services partners with Volunteer Services to provide tutors to patient who need assistance with school work during hospitalizations.

All tutors go through the volunteer services screening which include a background check. Our tutors have a variety of experience from college students to retired teachers.

When is tutoring available?

Tutoring hours are Monday through Friday during the school calendar year, based on volunteer availability.

The goal of our program is to support you and your child’s community school for continued academic success and to provide tools for behavior and mental health support in the classroom.

The classrooms are staffed by teachers certified by the Texas Education Association from both Children’s Health, the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) and Plano Independent School District (PISD). The primary focus of the school program is to provide continuous school instruction and to decrease distraction from treatment, due to parental or patient anxiety regarding school achievement.

Specialized behavioral programs focus on increasing self-management and implementation of coping strategies within our classrooms. Those recommendations are communicated to the patient's school. Our goal is to stabilize your child’s behavior and teach you and your family the skills they need after your child leaves the hospital.

What are the enrollment details for the psychiatry school program?

All patients entering our psychiatry program will be assess for DISD or PISD school. If the assessment deems enrollment is necessary, it will be done at the time of admission.

When are classes held for the psychiatry school program?

Classes are held Monday through Friday during the school year. Hospital teachers also provide instruction to non-DISD patients as they transition back and re-enroll in community school, which is determined by their different levels of treatment.

What is the Partial hospitalization program?

Through the school re-entry program, a child life specialist and sometimes a nurse from the appropriate clinical area visit the class of a child who has been absent from school for a long period of time due to illness, but who will now be returning to the classroom. School re-entry also provides a chance for the hospital professional to explain misconceptions, ease worries, and disqualify myths.

These staff members prepare the class for the patient's re-entry into the school setting and help classmates better understand side effects of some medical treatments, such as hair loss, weight loss/gain, fatigue and nausea. They also answer any questions that peers may have about the disease but are uncomfortable discussing with the patient.

When a family needs to navigate the school system to obtain special services for their child, Children’s Health provides consultations for families to assess what their school concerns are and how their needs can be met.

Children’s Health does everything we can to keep your child’s sense of routine intact. We are here to assist parents and guardians with various school concerns or with issues that arise during or after a hospital stay.

Our expertise can help facilitate school reintegration and successful transition of patients into their community school, help reduce the number of patients retained in a grade based on absenteeism by offering tutors and hospital-based schooling, and provide the IDEA or 504 recommendations for educational services in a patient's community school

If your child’s illness affected their appearance or ability to do certain activities, you need resources that will help you and your child adjust to the return back to the classroom.

Our child life specialists are available to help ease the transition. The school re-entry program is designed to educate a patient's classmates prior to the patient's return to school.