How Does School Work in Child and Adolescent Eating Disorder Treatment?

If your child is suffering from an eating disorder, we understand the pain you’re experiencing as a parent. You want your child to get the help they need, but you’re also worried about them falling behind in school or missing out on childhood experiences. These concerns are completely valid. Your child’s health must come first, however. Early intervention is key to a successful, long-lasting recovery from eating disorders. Fortunately, prioritizing treatment does not mean that academics have to go ignored. 

At Veritas Collaborative, we serve the whole person on their path to recovery, including supporting our child and adolescent patients’ academic progress. In our higher levels of care – including inpatient and residential – we offer a range of onsite education options, allowing your child to make progress in their academics while prioritizing their treatment.

Academic Support in Our Eating Disorders Programs

Our multidisciplinary care teams collaborate to provide our patients with the best eating disorder care, education, and resources possible. Education staff work to ensure every inpatient and residential patient receives integrated and personalized educational support in our onsite classrooms, while PHP and IOP patients are supported in navigating school by their home districts. 

At the inpatient and residential levels of care, our education programs vary by location. 

Education at Veritas Collaborative’s Child and Adolescent Center in Durham, NC

Our Child and Adolescent Center in Durham has a distinctive school program that offers hospital education services through a relationship with the local school district to patients participating in our inpatient and residential levels of care. The education program includes a team of highly qualified teachers and science and math tutors, who are trained in the unique learning needs of students in treatment for an eating disorder. The educators provide individualized, one-to-one instruction in the Center’s classrooms. Students complete coursework and receive credit from their schools at home.

We build strong relationships with your child’s school to collaborate on appropriate learning plans. Through regular communication with teachers, families, and clinicians, Veritas educators ensure your child is equipped to successfully transition back to their learning environment with recommended accommodations. In Durham, our teachers are student advocates as well as content experts.

Education at Veritas Collaborative’s Child and Adolescent Center in Atlanta, GA

At our Atlanta Center, we work with LearnWell Educational Services to manage and oversee your child’s academic development during their treatment with us. LearnWell is a national leader in providing academic services for adolescents who are receiving care in treatment centers. We have a qualified LearnWell teacher available onsite to offer academic support to patients and collaborate with the home school district. This teacher will work with your child during classroom time and collaborate with their school administration and/or district. 

In addition to the LearnWell teacher, Veritas provides an education specialist to assist with coordinating Hospital/Homebound Services for students in Georgia who are temporarily unable to attend school while in treatment. In addition, this education specialist will aid in transition planning when it is time to prepare your child for discharge. Our goal is to support your child during treatment and prepare them for a smooth transition back to school once they leave Veritas.

While your child’s health and recovery are always the priority at Veritas, academics are often a welcome piece of home. You can have confidence that your child will have all the academic support they need to successfully continue their education while in eating disorder treatment.

Learn more about the inpatient and residential care we offer children and adolescents at Veritas Collaborative here.

About the Author

Mindy Elliott is the Director of Education at Veritas Collaborative. Dedicated to providing individualized education services to meet the unique needs of each patient treatment, Mindy developed our academic programming since we first opened in 2012. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction and graduate certificates in academically gifted and school leadership. She taught middle school, high school, and community college English in California and North Carolina.

A leader in the hospital educator field, Mindy serves on the executive board of the Hospital Educator and Academic Liaison (HEAL) Association, the North American organization supporting professionals who work to improve the educational outcomes of students with medical and mental health needs. Mindy is also an Associate Editor of the international journal, Continuity in Education, focusing on the education of children and young people with medical and mental health needs.