Adath Israel to reveal new sensory rooms

On Sunday, January 7th, Adath Israel’s Jarson Education Center will open its new sensory rooms for public viewing. “It feels like the picture that I’ve had in my head for the last year is finally a tangible thing that others can see,” said Rachel Brown, Director of Education and Family Programming. “I think it has been hard for people to picture what we’re doing because it is so unusual. It will be gratifying to watch people see the spaces for the first time and understand the direction we’re going in the Religious School and in the synagogue as a whole, to move toward becoming a more inclusive community.” 
Through its Youth Sensory Initiative, Adath Israel received a grant from The Jewish Federation of Cincinnati. The grant included funds to convert two classrooms on the lower level of the school into a High Sensory Room and a Low Sensory Room. Rachel Brown said, “The Low Sensory Room is a calming space. The idea is to create a very soothing and calming environment for students who benefit from less stimulation.” Walking into the Low Sensory Room, students are immersed in a blue ocean theme. Thick blue carpeting shimmers with light and dark areas that appear to be waves. The entire back wall is covered with a realistic ocean mural where students feel like they are swimming with a large sea turtle and other friendly fish. Several jellyfish decorations hang from the ceiling. They create a successful illusion that the jellyfish are floating upwards over a stream of bubbles. Large comfy beanbag chairs and alcoves with blue netting provide areas where students can seek safe refuge. Brown said, “Our Low Sensory Room can be used by groups of students, but it is also intended as a quiet, soothing space for individual kids who need to remove themselves from loud or overstimulating group activities or spaces. It is our hope that these spaces will serve both individual students who need a temporary reprieve from structured class time as well as groups of students and classes who benefit from a variety of learning spaces.”
The High Sensory Room is a play sensory learning space for K-6 graders. It features a large custom-designed play structure. Brown said, “While our Israel-themed High Sensory Room might look like just a fun playroom, we have worked hard to provide a variety of active learning opportunities, including Hebrew games, activities to learn Israeli geography, and opportunities to try out things our students might get to do in Israel someday — like put a note in the Kotel or climb Masada and watch the sunrise. This is also an ideal space for individual students who may need to temporarily leave their classroom because they are exhibiting sensory-seeking behavior while allowing them to remain at school in a learning environment.”
When students enter the High Sensory room, they step onto mats where they can safely tumble. Over several months, a construction crew built a sturdy 20-foot multi-level wooden play structure. Students can crawl through an ivy-covered cavern. They can climb a rock wall on one side, walk the ramparts on the upper level, and go down a tall slide on the other side. Brown said, “We kept getting more and more ideas of ways to make it more fun and versatile, so it pushed our timeline out by a couple of months, but it was so worth it.” She continued, “I’m excited by all of the possibilities that these rooms offer, and how versatile the spaces will be. It’s also exciting to be able to move our school and youth programming even further in the direction of active, inclusive, and hands-on learning and activities.” 
The two new sensory rooms as well as their two existing age-specific play rooms will be open during Shabbat services. “The activities in these rooms are completely yontif-friendly, so the kids can play the day away! We are excited to get community feedback on these spaces to help us better meet the needs of our families, and we will be soliciting feedback from families to help us keep learning and improving,” said Brown. Three of the rooms include a TV monitor that livestreams services for parents to view. 
The Youth Sensory Initiative also included funds for sensory items to use in other places in the school building and the synagogue. “We’ve already put out a number of items in the main sanctuary, which were a big hit during the High Holidays. We also have cozy corners or “Shalom Zones,” along with fidget tools in all of our classrooms, and we plan to expand this initiative into our Marcus Chapel, the library, and other spaces. The goal of the Youth Sensory Initiative is to provide items and spaces throughout the building to make all aspects of synagogue life accessible to and inclusive for children and families, particularly for those who want to become more involved, but who need additional support to fully participate,” Brown said.
Youth Coordinator Samantha Rose spearheaded the project along with Brown. Many others were involved, too, “When I say that it has taken a village to make this initiative a reality, that isn’t an exaggeration. The support that we have received from the Adath Israel leadership, Rabbi Smolkin, the families in the school, and our community at large has been essential to getting us to this point. This would not have been possible without our team of consultants, including faculty in our Religious School, experts in the Cincinnati Jewish community, and the generous people at Matan, who specialize in this kind of work. I especially want to thank our Religious School teachers Julie Guilfoyle, Sarah Manning, and Emily Glazer, who have been a huge help throughout the planning process and making the rooms a reality. But the person who has been the most closely involved in making this initiative happen is our Youth Coordinator and Programming Assistant, Samantha Rose. I could not have done this without her,” said Brown.
The sensory room reveal is open to religious school parents and families on Sunday, January 7th from 11:30 a.m. until noon. The rooms will also be open to view during Family Friday on January 12th from 5 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.. Others in the community who would like a tour of the rooms may contact Rachel Brown at Adath Israel Congregation.