Playing truant by faking an illness is one thing, completely missing out on lessons while laid up in the hospital is something totally different. The nonprofit Virtual High School (VHS) has just made it possible for sick kids at three hospitals to continue their education through online classes.

The $30,000 pilot project is being kick-started with 50 free course seats being donated to the Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, St. Mary’s Hospital for Children in Bayside, N.Y., and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a national program based in Memphis, Tennessee. These hospitals are already equipped with the necessary infrastructure needed to provide education to children requiring long-time care.

The donation announcement was made at the Advanced Online Learning Conference hosted by VHS in Danvers, Massachusetts on September 28.