CHESTERTOWN — Radcliffe Creek School has been awarded a grant from the Queen Anne’s County Mental Health Committee to provide the school’s faculty and parent community with resources to support students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and anxiety in the classroom and at home.
According to a news release, the grant will fund a new Sensory Resource Room, expand the school’s Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) library and continue the SEL program for older students, as well as support a full day of training with parents and teachers on ways to support mental health in neurodivergent children.
The school’s new Sensory Resource Room will be filled with tools and equipment for teachers to check out for their classrooms as needed, helping students calm and regulate their sensory systems.
“At Radcliffe Creek School, we recognize the needs of our students and how sensory integration will enhance their learning experience based off their own individual needs and strengths. The new Sensory Resource Room will enable our teachers to have the appropriate tools at their fingertips for ease and accessibility throughout their day,” Debbie Cohee-Wright, a special education learning specialist at the school, said in the news release.
Equipment in the Sensory Resource Room will include noise-canceling headphones; weighted lap and shoulder pads; indoor hanging sensory chairs; bean bags; chair bands; fidgets; white noise machines; and sound-absorbing wall panels.
The integration of these resources will support students by addressing their fine motor skills, gross motor skills, social skills, cognition and play skills.
Additionally, the grant will allow the expansion of the school’s SEL library and continued SEL curriculum for older students, as well as a speaking event to be hosted for Radcliffe Creek School parents and teachers in early 2025 with Vincent Culotta, Ph.D., a recognized expert in mental health and neurodivergent children.
“We remain grateful to QACMHC for their continued support of our school and for making these important educational and therapeutic mental health resources available to our parents, faculty and students,” Head of School Peter Thayer said in the news release.
This is the second year in a row that QACMHC has awarded a grant to Radcliffe Creek School, a K-8 private school in Chestertown that focuses on students with learning differences.
In a written statement, QACMHC President Kelly Phipps said: “The Queen Anne’s County Mental Health Committee is excited to see Radcliffe Creek School utilizing the grant funds from us to reach the goal of maintaining their social-emotional learning program ‘Brain Talk’ as well as faculty training, supplying the sensory room, and adding to their social-emotional learning library.
“The scheduled visit of Dr. Vincent Culotta to train faculty in helping students with ADHD and anxiety in the classroom will further enrich Radcliffe Creek’s program. The committee is proud to be a part of the school’s dedication in educating their students on achieving and maintaining sound, positive mental health.”
