This People's History of Children's Orthopedic Hospital School is taken from Building for Learning: Seattle Public School Histories, 1862-2000 by Nile Thompson and Carolyn J. Marr. That book, published in 2002 by Seattle Public Schools, compiled profiles of all the public school buildings that had been used by the school district since its formation around 1862. The profiles from the book are being made available as People's Histories on HistoryLink.org courtesy of Seattle Public Schools. It should be noted that these essays are from 2000. Some of the buildings profiled are historic, some of recent vintage, and many no longer exist (new names and buildings not included in these profiles from 2000 have been added), but each plays or has played an important role in the education of Seattle's youth.
Children's Orthopedic Hospital School
Children's Orthopedic Hospital was founded on Queen Anne Hill in January 1907. In October 1912, the director approached the Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools to request a kindergarten to serve small children at the hospital. Soon the half-time teacher assigned there was promoted to full-time. In early February 1913, the hospital requested that the district take over direction of the program and pay the expenses of the teacher.
The Orthopedic Hospital School opened in fall 1913 under the supervision of the principal of John Hay School.
The curriculum of the Seattle Public Schools was applied as far as possible. Instruction was almost entirely one-on-one, although occasionally the teacher would teach small groups. During the course of the day, the teacher frequently worked on three floors of the hospital in up to three wards on each floor.
In spring 1924, the superintendent personally presented an eighth-grade certificate to the first "graduate" of the school, a girl who had been a patient in the hospital for six years. On May Day 1947, pupils from Hay delivered baskets of flowers to invalid children who couldn't participate in a May-pole celebration.
Details:
Children's Orthopedic Hospital School
Location: 2107 Warren Avenue
1913: Opened as annex to John Hay
1953: Closed
