Hutch School

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Hutch School www.hutchschool.org is a fully accredited K-12 school program sponsored by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the Seattle Public Schools. Its mission is to serve patients (and their family members) receiving treatment at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

The program reflects the commitment to helping families stay together during this time. The school hours include a combination of academic class time, recreation and art programs, field trips and individual tutoring.  Hours are flexible and take into account our students’ needs to spend time with their families.

Hutch School students are all going through an extraordinary time in their lives as they cope with illness, emotional distress and moving.  The school accommodates the reality of the students’ lives by offering a nurturing environment and flexible ways to learn. Students make new friends, stay engaged with school and grow in surprising ways.

Life Lessons
Learning happens inside and outside the classroom. The students, for instance, learn valuable lessons about biology and physiology from their experiences with cancer. The school values field trips as a part of our curriculum and a way to help students connect to the environment of the Northwest. Students meet classmates from all over the country and the world and learn from each other. The goal is to help students connect with life and the education it offers, while moving ahead academically. Keeping the mind and spirit active is good medicine and supports recovery.
 

Academic Programs:
-Patient Program
-Grades K-3 Primary Family Member Program
-Grades 4-7 Middle School Family Member Program
-Grades 8-12 High School Family Member Program

Other Programs:
-Counseling
-Enrichment
-Summer Program

The Hutch School receives funding from a variety of sources, including the Seattle School District and the Department of Education. Each year, the Hutchinson Center provides institutional dollars to support the school’s operations. To do this, the center relies on the generosity of private donors.

Private donations help support:

-Exceptional teaching staff
-Books, supplies, and equipment
-Professional development opportunities for teachers
-Training for volunteers and tutors

Volunteers and Tutors:

The programs at Hutch School could not be provided without the amazing volunteers and tutors who come in once a year or each week throughout the year, to help make Hutch School what it is! Each year the school relies on these wonderful community members and are so grateful for their time. Some of the many ways that volunteers and tutors help the school are: volunteering in the multi-age classrooms, tutoring family member students and patients one-on-one in a subject when extra support or an expertise is needed (such as a foreign language, science, or math), teaching a musical instrument, teaching art to a group of students, updating the website, and maintaining the library.