school.php

<?php 
    $pdo = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost; port=3306; dbname=misc', 'kings', 'zap');
    $pdo->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);

    session_start();

if(!isset($_SESSION['user_id'])) {
    die('ACCESS DENIED');
    return false;
}

header('content-type: application/json; charset=utf-8');
$term = $_GET['term'];
error_log('Looking up typeahead term='.$term);

$sql = "SELECT name FROM institution WHERE name LIKE :prefix";
$stmt = $pdo->prepare($sql);
$stmt->execute(array(':prefix' => $term. "%"));
    $retreive = array();
    while ($row = $stmt->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC)){
        $retreive[] = $row['name'];
    }
echo json_encode($retreive, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);