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Palo Alto Unified marks 100 years of hospital school, highlights services for students receiving medical care
Summary
District presenters celebrated a centennial for the hospital-school program, describing classrooms at Lucile Packard and Ronald McDonald House, virtual-reality lessons and summer literacy programs that served hundreds of medically fragile students.
District leaders and hospital-school staff told the board they are celebrating 100 years of the district's hospital-school program and outlined how it serves students who are hospitalized or living at Ronald McDonald House.
Rose and Katherine Enos said the program began in 1924 and now serves about 450 to 500 students annually, many of whom come from outside Palo Alto while receiving treatment. The district operates a main classroom at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and a program at the Ronald McDonald House, offering bedside instruction, group lessons and enrichment including art, music and virtual-reality field trips.
"We make sure to meet them where they are," Rose said, describing tailored instruction for TK-12 students, an ed specialist dedicated to the program and summer programming funded by a literacy grant that supported credit recovery and math/literacy boosts for younger students.
Katherine Enos described how the Ronald McDonald House program adapted during COVID to continue serving immunocompromised students and noted a first summer program held this year. Presenters said the program will be featured in Glamour magazine through a partnership with Ronald McDonald House Global.
Board members thanked hospital-school staff and noted the program's role connecting families to services while students are in treatment. The presentation did not include a board action request but highlighted the program's staffing model, partnerships and outreach.
