All district school buildings now have ‘calming rooms’

By MOHAMED FARGHALY mfarghaly@liherald.com

Freeport Public Schools took a step toward a more comprehensive approach to education with the introduction of calming rooms in each of its eight buildings.

The calming rooms are designed to provide a safe, supportive environment for students in the Freeport school district.

School district officials recognized the need after the stress and uncertainty caused by the pandemic. To address this, the district decided to introduce calming rooms in each school serving as a safe space for students to manage their emotions, de-escalate, and self-regulate in stressful situations.

“We believe in educating the whole child, including their mental health,” Superintendent Kishore Kuncham said. “The calming spaces initiative is one of many that aim to bring services and support to students, including socially and emotionally learning. The space is designed to be a calming and peaceful place for students to go and de-stress, regain control of their emotions, and find their center or Zen.”

Archer Street School, Bayview Avenue School, Caroline G.

Atkinson Intermediate School, Columbus Avenue, Freeport High School, J. W. Dodd Middle School, Leo F. Giblyn School, and New Visions School, have had a designated calming room since last spring.

The school’s calming rooms provide sensory stimulation and calming visual focal points, including bubble tubes, textured walls and carpets with lights. Some rooms feature a microphone that changes colors when students speak into it, bean bag chairs and relaxing chairs that connect to Bluetooth speakers.

“We went and worked with a vendor to design age-appropriate spaces for our students,” Assis- tant Superintendent for Pupil Personnel Services and Special Education, Helen Kanellopoulos said. “We have one of these spaces in each and every one of our buildings and everything in there is sensory friendly.”

The calming rooms, open to every student, can be used as part of a student’s behavior plan, as a reward system, or sim- ply as a place for students to go when they are having a difficult moment.

“We want to provide them with the resources and strategies that they have access to, so that they know that they can be using this as a tool to help reduce stress for themselves,” Kanellopoulos said.

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