Students at East Peoria Community High School in East Peoria, Illinois will soon have access to a new, custom sensory room.
EPCHS social worker Laura Monson applied for a THF grant to update the school's current sensory room, which she said has been pieced together over the years.
"The sensory room is used on a daily basis at our school," she said in the application. "As the school social worker I meet with students in there for sessions or if a student is having a crisis. We also have life skills students that use the sensory room when they are needing to reset."
Monson said there are currently 172 students at EPCHS with an IEP, which is about 18.6% of the population. Many of those students, she added, benefit from having sensory time built into their schedules.
"This will give students a safe place to escape to when they need a place to regroup," she added. "It should also decrease the amount of students that are sent home early due to mental health concerns."
Monson will work with a sensory room provider to custom design a space that meets the need of her students and plans to have the space available this fall.