The Hospital School Program (HSP) collectively has 167.5 years of teaching experience and can be found on all units of the Hospital, including the Cardiac Center.
A is for all areas of the Hospital
- The HSP provides instruction to eligible inpatients throughout the Hospital as well as some outpatient areas.
- We have Education Coordinators in the Main Hospital, Seashore House and the Voorhees office who can help assist with school services.
B is for billable
- HSP is a billable service to a child’s school district and instruction can begin once we have approval from that school district.
C is cyber school
- If the student attends Cyber School like Connection, Agora, etc., we are not able to provide instruction to that student.
- If the students are working with their district and doing a cyber portion of their curriculum online, HSP is able to work with those students.
D is for district
- We must follow that child’s school district calendar for holidays, end of school year, etc.
E is for eligible
- Patients who meet the following criteria can be eligible for HSP:
- Be enrolled in a school in the United States (K-12th grade).
- Be hospitalized for 10+ calendar days.
- Have a chronic illness requiring multiple hospitalizations.
F is for family
- We value the input that families provide on how their child works best in a school setting.
G is for goals
- Special Education students who have IEP (Individualized Education Plan) goals may be eligible for HSP.
- If a student has an IEP, we can begin instruction once we have a copy of that IEP for the teacher to work from.
H is for hospital homebound
- HSP is considered hospital homebound and we have to go by that patient’s district homebound polices for school instruction here at the Hospital.
I is for instruction
- Instruction takes place either bedside or in group for an hour each day unless the sending district tells us a different amount of time.
J is for journey
- HSP Education Coordinators support patients and families on their journey by providing advocacy resources and other materials that can help them navigate the education system.
K is for keeping students on track
- The HSP staff will support students to keep on track with all of their subjects so that they are ready to go back to school once they leave the Hospital.
L is for liaison
- HSP acts as a liaison with families, schools and Hospital teams to support patients’ academic success.
M is for maintain
- We strive to maintain academic skills during hospitalizations.
N is for normalization
- We help to normalize the hospital setting, since school would be part of daily life for a young person if not in the hospital.
O is for one's own schoolwork
- We try to get a student’s own school work here to use for instruction. If we do not have work from the school, we will supplement with our own materials.
P is for partner
- We partner with the patient’s school district to meet academic requirements, attendance policies and follow assigned curriculum.
Q is for quality
- We strive to provide quality instruction for every HSP student.
Ris for re-entry
- We assist rehabilitation patients with new cognitive and/or physical needs, and support school re-entry following a lengthy hospitalization or illness on the rehabilitation unit.
S is for summer
- During the summer we have limited staff. Two teachers work in July and two in August.
- We do not provide Extended School Year (ESY) but we can offer Extended Homebound.
- If a patient has an IEP and has been approved for ESY, we can look into if he/she would be eligible for HSP during his/her hospitalization.
- We have to get approval from the school district to begin instruction.
T is for teachers
- Our teachers are highly qualified, Pennsylvania-certified teachers who are trained in a variety of areas, including elementary, middle, high school and special education.
U is for upon discharge
- Upon discharge, the teachers send a progress report to the student’s school explaining how many hours of instruction were received and what work was completed at the Hospital.
V is for volunteers
- Patients from school districts that deny payment will receive HSP Volunteer services when available and are placed on a priority list.
- If you would like to volunteer in the HSP, please reach out to our Volunteer department.
W is for ways you can help
- To find out how to make a gift to benefit the Hospital School Program, or to donate new school supplies, please contact the Child Life, Education and Creative Arts Therapy Department at 215-590-2001 or click here.
X is for extended homebound
- A patient may have Extended Homebound on his/her 504 plan or IEP; this may allow HSP to make up instruction hours during the summer months.
Y is for you
Z is for zealous
- The HSP staff is zealous in their pursuit of making school accessible to those hospitalized.