New sensory room

Mary T. Harrison, the Director of Special Services, created a sensory room during the winter break of the 2016-17 school year.  The room is located in room D01 and is open anytime for special needs students who need a quiet place to work or just to calm down and take a break.

The sensory room is a room meant to be a calming environment for special needs students who feel overwhelmed in the classroom anytime by providing a soothing environment and sensory tools that students can use to calm down when they feel stressed.  The room has many calming features provided in mind to be calming for the students.  The walls are painted blue, and there is also a sound machine from which students can choose any relaxing sound they prefer such as crickets, thunder, water, etc.  There is even a bubble lamp that lets students change the color of the bubbles.  The room is equipped with a variety of seats for students to choose from: a Big Joe beanbag chair, a regular couch, a rocking lounge chair, and even an exercise ball for students who like to bounce while they sit.  The room also contains a shelf that stores fidget toys such as weighted lap pads and squish balls.

The room is useful because it provides students with an alternative environment where they can feel calm and comfortable while working, and it can also be used as a go-to coping strategy for when a student feels overwhelmed.