Johnston Schools constructing therapeutic classrooms with grant money

JOHNSTON, Iowa — The Johnston Community School District is now in the process of creating therapeutic classrooms after receiving a grant from the Department of Education.

The Department of Education awarded over $2.3 million in grants to six school districts to help them establish therapeutic classrooms. These classes will help students whose social, emotional, or behavioral needs impact their ability to succeed in traditional classrooms.

Johnston brought on Mary Jane Stites as the new Director of Alternative Learning Programs. Stites said they will create four classrooms for kindergarten through eighth-grade students. Each class will have a maximum of six students in the class.

Each class will have a teacher and an associate to help the students. There will also be a social-emotional behavior interventionist in the building, and they will create a sensory room.

Stites said that students who need the extra help can spend as much time as needed in these therapeutic classrooms as an alternative to traditional classrooms.

“To have a place where kids and families can connect and look to what’s that next step to transition them back to their classroom or back into their educational path, that we’re here to support that along the way,” said Stites.

The district is now focused on constructing these classrooms inside their District Offices. While they’re undergoing this process, Stites is taking inspiration from other districts with therapeutic classrooms.

The Johnston School District is also using its 9-12 Drop-In Program as a model for these upcoming therapeutic classrooms. This program allows high school students to have an alternative to traditional classrooms.

Once the construction of the classrooms is complete and new staff members are brought onto the team, the classes will be available for students in need in their district.

Stites said that the main benefit of these classrooms is not having to send students to other districts for the help they need, but instead offering the services within their own district.

Five other school districts within Iowa also received these grants. These districts include: