Under Construction

The religious school wing was filled with the voices and laughter of children again.  It is a most glorious sound echoing down the halls after summer break.  Students and teachers were greeted with a few surprises.  The religious school office has almost entirely new-to-it furniture (and a big thank you to Ellen for helping arrange the acquisition of the furniture donation), a fresh coat of paint, and some other small “upgrades” throughout the wing.   

These seem like relatively small changes, but I’ll share a secret with you – there was a lot of discussion behind them.  The choice to put the wooden shelves in the office and a small couch makes it feel more relaxed.  The light blue paint is intentional to be a calming, learning-conducive shade.  I could go on.  And while I’ll brag to anyone about how the Religious School Office looks, there’s another space that I want to direct your attention to in the wing, for which, I need to take you back to March 13, 2020. 

When we pivoted to virtual learning, the wing froze in time.  In transitioning back to in-person learning, we needed to arrange seating to allow for social distancing.  This meant moving out tables and dusting off the desks.  To make a long story short, room 113 became a storage area for furniture we couldn’t use, and then that furniture attracted some other friendly stuff to hang out with it from various places at Temple, as stored stuff is wont to do. 

For this school year, we dug up some of the tables, with social distancing (mostly) a thing of the past (Thank God), and how to use the space as something other than storage to help meet our current learning outcomes became possible.  It is still under construction, but with the help of Danielle Zeisloft, a few donations, a few purchased items – our vision of a sensory-friendly space is coming to fruition.   

Over the coming weeks, you’ll notice the remaining storage items relocated to hang out with other dusty friends, and what I hope to be an oasis for our children emerge.  The room will have some larger foam pieces for toddlers to climb on and school-agers to use as landing pads and punching bags.  It will have some soft seating.  It will have some quiet activities.  It will have some items for sensory-seekers.  And it will have a 22-piece modular “couch” that can be arranged into various designs for different purposes (couch, fort, tunnel, floor is lava, etc.).   

There will likely be more to come – as I said, it’s still very much under construction as we piece it together and evaluate what items are best meeting our students’ needs.  They, like the room, and ourselves, are also under construction, and learning to self-regulate is a major aspect of child development, and one that was severely disrupted by the pandemic situation.  In order to set children up for success in the classroom and in life, we need to be able to meet their sensory needs – both for sensory overload and sensory seekers.  I am proud to be able to bring this space to fruition to better meet the needs of our students.  In the meantime, if you have fidgets, floor pillows, or items you think might work in the space, let me know – or just stop by and take a peek at our progress.