Schoen Family Foundation Awards $2,493 to Foundation for Dubuque Public Schools to Purchase Sensory Room Equipment
DUBUQUE, IOWA--The Foundation for Dubuque Public Schools (FDPS) and the Schoen Family Foundation recently awarded $2,493 in funds to purchase equipment for sensory rooms at five Dubuque schools.
A sensory room is a space designed to engage a child’s senses and help them gain emotional control. It is used as therapy for children with limited communication skills, such as those who are struggling with autism, Down’s syndrome, trauma, mental illness, and other sensory processing disorders.
The rooms provide opportunities for engagement in prevention and crisis de-escalation strategies, promote self-care/self-nurturance, and provide new strategies for teaching life skills. Grant funds have been used to purchase and install multi-sensory equipment for the rooms, such as platform swings, pressure foam rollers, balance equipment, kinetic sand, and weighted blankets.
This project serves students enrolled at Table Mound, Kennedy, Lincoln, and Audubon elementary schools, as well as Jefferson Middle School in Dubuque, Iowa.
“The Dubuque Community School District is making tremendous strides in meeting the needs of students with serious behavioral and mental health concerns. The recent development of research-based programs that use highly structured, trauma-informed, skill replacement interventions and programming are showing promising results,” said Kari Bappe, Ed. S., of the Dubuque Community School District Social Emotional Intervention Team. “The Schoen Family Foundation’s grant allowed us to purchase a variety of sensory tools that will play an important role in meeting the individualized goals of these students. We are so grateful for this gift in support of the great work that is happening in our public schools!”
The grant was awarded by the Schoen Family Foundation through FDPS. FDPS is a local organization that seeks financial support for public school programs and projects that are not sufficiently funded by tax dollars.
For more information, contact Jennifer Klinkhammer, FDPS executive director, at Jennifer@dbqfoundation.org or 563.588.2700 or visit www.dbqfoundation.org/FDPS.
# # #
The Foundation for Dubuque Public Schools (FDPS) promotes the importance of public education by increasing community investment for the enhancement of student achievement in the Dubuque Public Schools. FDPS board members and staff fulfill this mission by securing financial gifts and grants for school programs and projects that are not currently supported by public tax dollars. Learn more at www.dbqfoundation.org/FDPS.