HPHS Senior Renovates High School Sensory Room

Piper Heath hopes to return to campus someday as a special ed teacher

The sensory room at Highland Park High School is getting a major upgrade this spring thanks to the generosity of the community and the hard work of HPHS senior Piper Heath.

Heath has raised $50,000 to renovate the room, which gives students with intellectual disabilities an area to get their energy out, calm down, and refocus between activities. The room also serves as a space for peer tutoring and music therapy, and it can be used by all students who need time to recharge.

Equipment has been added to the sensory room piece by piece over the years, said HPHS principal Kevin Hunt. But the needs of students have changed and some of the furnishings have become worn or outdated. This year, the room was due for a refresh.

“Piper saw that need, brought it to our attention, led the charge on getting it all organized, and planned, and budgeted, and everything,” he said. “And all we had to do was just say, ‘Yeah, do it.’”

Heath, who uses the room daily as a peer tutor, began working on the renovation in September. She gained ideas from a similar space at Highland Park United Methodist Church, where she volunteers with special needs children, and from students with intellectual disabilities who told her what additions they would like.

Heath’s efforts were supported by the David M. Crowley Foundation, the Highland Park High School Parent Teacher Association, the Park Cities Learning Difference Association, the Special Education Parent Advisory Committee, and community donors.

The result of her work will be a room that’s transformed to better meet the needs of students with intellectual disabilities. 

Heath has moved some older equipment that students weren’t using, like a tic-tac-toe board, a foosball table, and oversized beanbags, out of the room to benefit other programs.

In their place, she plans to add sensory equipment including a wall-mounted interactive touchscreen, fiber optic lights, a projector, a platform swing, and 80-inch-tall bubble tubes. 

Heath has already given the room a fresh coating of light blue paint, replaced the ceiling tiles to create a three-dimensional look, and installed color-changing LED lights.

The families of special needs students said the project, which Heath will complete before the end of the school year, will greatly benefits those it serves.

“It’s huge for the community,” said Shannon Dalton, the mother of a special needs high schooler. “It exponentially improves all of the lives of the families who are affected by a family member that learns differently and has different sensory needs.”

Cathy Amos said her son was excited about the renovation. “It’s not a bunch of administrative people saying, ‘Oh, I think this is going to be cool for the kids,’” she said. “They’ve all had some input of what they think is really cool.”

Heath hopes to one day return to Highland Park as a special needs educator herself. But she has a more immediate goal in mind for the room.

“I want kids to feel welcome and calm, so that they can have a better learning environment,” she said.