Evening star., 1938-10-13
VISITING TEACHER
PLAN LAUDED BY
HOSPITAL FORCE
ChiIdren's Officials See Hope
for Real Help to
Crippled.
THREE AGENCIES JOIN
TO SUPPLY FACILITIES
Education Board, W. P. A. and
Health Department Will
Cooperate.

Children's Hospital, looking back on
the l3 futile requests it has made dur
ing the last two years to the Board of
education for visiting teachers, today
expressed its enthusiasm for the Joint
efforts Of school. health and w. P. A.
officials to provide teachers for shut-in
children.
Dozens of children attending the
hospitals clinics are getting no educa-
ton at all. Miss Mary Poole, director
OF the social service department at the
hospital, revealed. Others lie bed
ridden in their homes, able to study
but with no one to teach them.
I'm the case Of our crippled chill
dren," she said, their only hope of
ever being self-supporting is through
learning trade or profession-getting
some kind of education. We've made
repeated requests for teachers but
they have never been supplied"
The Board of Education, which in
the past has been unable to get funds
to supply visiting teachers for children
not able to attend school, visualized
at least temporary solution to the
problem yesterday when representa-
tives Of the board, the Health Depart
ment and the w. P A. decided to CO.
operate in a plan to supply visiting
teachers as w. P. A. project.
Home Instruction.
Miss Poole pointed out that a num-
Der of crippled children now attend
ing school would benefit from home in
Struction.
Going to school every day is an
added burden to the one they already
bear" she explained. They naturally
miss lot of time and get behind in
their work"
She told of one case where a s-vesr-
old boy has lost so much time from
school he has been told he can't be
taken care of in the regular schools.
that he must attend Langdon School
for crippled children. But no trans
portation can be provided for him so
he faces the end of his education.
Another child, a l2-year-old boy,
attended school regularly until two
years ago when he was stricken with
a bone disease. Bright in his studies,
he was in the fifth grade when he
stopped school and since then has
asked continually for some help with
his work at home
Two crippled children who had been
denied transportation to Langdon
School for Cripples because of insuffi-
cient funds to extend special bus serv-
ice to their neighborhoods, were placed
on the transportation list today when
a minor change was made in the bus
route elsewhere.
Virginia Ray. 411i2 C street NV,
and Lester Allison, GA l street NV,
will go to school Monday as a result
of the change, which reduced the list
of those denied transportation to five.
Parents of a crippled child living in
the vicinity Of Seventh and Ingraham
streets NV, who already was receiving
the service, agreed to bring her each
morning to the home of another Grip
Pile near Fifth and Randolph streets
NV
The saving occasioned by picking I'D
these children at the same stop will
enable the addition of Virginia and
Lester.
Need Temporary Help.
Some children need a teacher to
keep them up with their work when
they're only out for a few months"
Miss Poole pointed out. "One of our
cases Is an 1l-year-old girl with rheu-
matte fever. She'll be able to 90 back
to school in little while, but she'll
De SO far behind in her studies. I'm
afraid she'll miss a whole year"
At the Washington Heart Associa-
ton offlcials expressed similar hope
that the visiting teachers plan can
be worked out. The association has
225 children enrolled in its "In-Bed
Club" OF that number, many Young
sters are out of school entirely and the
others are frequently in the stay-at-
home classification large part of the
time.
Among the children who need the
instruction of visiting teachers are
cardiac, crippled and tubercular cases
and those excluded from school because
Of social diseases.
When asked yesterday by Ross Ha-
worth, assistant administrator for
the District w. P. A., to estimate the
number of children not attending
school. DR.. Frank w. Ballou. super
intendent of schools, said he could
give no definite answer. He advised
Mr.. Haworth to decide on the nature
of the project and then expand it as