Rhodes Academy in Hempstead unveils 'serenity suite' to help relieve teacher stress
Kindergarten teacher Alexis Jovel sits in one of the two massage chairs offered in Rhodes Academy's new calming room for staff. Credit: Rick Kopstein
Wearing a string of flashing light bulbs around her neck, kindergarten teacher Alexis Jovel stretched out on a black massage chair Tuesday, her foot resting on an ottoman.
It was “a moment to unload, refresh and reset,” said Jovel, who was on her lunch break.
Jovel was among the first staff members to try out the newly unveiled “serenity suite” at the Rhodes Academy, a K-6 elementary school in Hempstead. The calming room, the first in the district meant for teachers and other staff, had lounge chairs, a puzzle game table, potted plants, inspirational quotes plastered on the wall and background music mimicking natural sounds.
It cost about $2,000 to outfit, said Principal Sheena Burke, and is meant to function like “a sanctuary” where staff can take some time to relax and "leave renewed.”
Others agreed.
“Anybody that works with children — you're going to give a lot,” said Dorothy Butler-Crayton, a social worker at Rhodes Academy. “You need a place that you can just regain yourself and get back out there, because you're still going to give as long as you have children.”
Teacher Joshua Thomas tries out one of the massage chairs. Credit: Rick Kopstein
In recent years, wellness rooms like the one in Hempstead have been created at Long Island schools. Officials in the Three Village School District spent $14,000 to equip a space with relaxing music, soft lighting and comfy chairs at Ward Melville High School in East Setauket. A wellness room for students and staff in the Valley Stream district 30 was equipped with blackout curtains, aromatherapy diffusers and a glowing, colorful cube light.
Some educators have said such spaces promote a school culture that elevates emotional support for teachers and staff, whose jobs have grown increasingly difficult as schools continue to recover from the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and face hot-button issues such as political battles over curriculum. Teachers are dealing with academic learning gaps, rising chronic absenteeism and mental health challenges among students.
A Pew Research Center survey of K-12 teachers in April found a majority of respondents said they are feeling frequently stressed and their job is overwhelming.
Bonita Johnson, a kindergarten teacher at Rhodes Academy who has taught for nearly four decades, said many of her students are struggling with anxiety. It prompted her at the beginning of this school year to design a calming corner in her classroom.
At Rhodes Academy, each classroom now has such a space, though they are designed differently to suit the needs of different grades and classrooms.
In Johnson’s classroom, her corner features a white tent anchored to the floor under rainbow-colored banners hung from the ceiling. For the holidays, she decorated it with colorful balls and silver tinsel garland. Inside, there is a rug, pillows and stress balls in a basket.
“Since COVID … I found the children have a lot of anxiety,” the veteran teacher said. “Children needed a place to just take a moment to be calm.”
Johnson, who likes to meditate, was glad that there will now be a calming space for staff like her as well. “It’s necessary,” she said.
Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.
