Schooling of child patients

Pikonlinna opened a ward for children in 1937. Because there were lots of child patients at Pikonlinna, schooling for those who were at compulsory school age was arranged as soon as the war ended. This way children could continue normal school with their peers after they were discharged from hospital.  Shortened elementary school started its operation in the sanatorium on Oct 2^nd, 1950. At that time there were eight pupils in the lower level classroom (grades I-III) and ten pupils in the upper level schoolroom (grades IV-VII). The eighth grade was implemented in the form of non-classroom courses.

The elementary school was housed on the fifth floor of the sanatorium building. The school followed a curriculum and timetable that had been approved by the elementary school inspector of the Tampere district.  The upper level students had three hours of school and the lower level students had two class hours every day. The school year started at the beginning of August and it ended on June 15^th. There were 225 school days per year.

The Pikonlinna elementary school had one teacher  – Aira Heikkilä from 1950 to 1955 and Maija-Liisa Pihlajamäki from1955 to1964. Boys’ handicraft lessons were given by janitor Kalle Ketola in 1950-1962. The student register covering the years 1950-1964 reveals that the total number of pupils was 246.