Kathy Ho teaches high school inside Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford (LPCH). “Sometimes I don’t like saying that I’m a teacher,” says Ho. “People get in their minds an idea of what teachers do, but that’s not really what it is here.”

“Here” is room 386, where each year, about 500 LPCH patients also become students. The hospital school is free of parents, doctors, and medical procedures. It’s a place of learning. About half of Ho’s students stay for a week or less; others are there for more than a year. Most of Ho’s students will recover, which means that preparing them to return to school is an increasingly important component of care.

Still, in room 386, academics don’t come first. Physical health and mental health are the priority. “If you’re scared about something and thinking only about that, there’s no way you’re going to be able to learn,” Ho says. “I’m a coach, an adviser, and a comforter, and that’s what it means to be a hospital teacher.”

There are up to 30 students at any given time in Ho’s class. She generally works with their regular teachers to get lessons and tests being used at their home schools. Some teachers don’t give the kids any assignments; they express sympathy instead. “I feel like it is a disservice to the kids,” Ho says. “They think their teachers don’t care about their schoolwork.”

Ho recognizes the psychological benefit of helping kids keep up with their peers (同龄人) outside the hospital. “I actually think the medicine is only a small piece for some problems,” says Julie Good, director of pain management services at LPCH. “It’s about problem-solving around what it means to have a full life. Those kids have dreams. School can keep those dreams alive by giving kids a way to learn and grow.”