Dunmore Elementary’s ‘Calming Corner’ supports students’ well-being

Dunmore Elementary debuts a Calming Corner to help students manage emotions with a sensory-friendly environment.

DUNMORE, Pa. — Inside Dunmore Elementary School, students now have a new space designed to help them slow down, breathe, and find peace.

The school’s new Calming Corner is equipped with low lighting, white noise, and fidget tools — all meant to create a comfortable, sensory-friendly environment where students can reset.

“It’ll be an asset for everybody,” said Katie Feeney, Vice President of the Dunmore Elementary PTA. “Everybody has something going on in their life that can stress, or make you uncomfortable, or sometimes it’s just a bad day.”

The project was made possible by the Dunmore Elementary PTA and the Gino LaRusso Foundation for Suicide Awareness.

“We want the kids to know it’s okay to be angry, it’s okay to be sad, it’s okay to be mad,” said Katrina Kurilla, founder of the Gino LaRusso Foundation. “But we need to express it in the right way.”

The calming space is already being used by autistic support students, and educators say it’s making a difference.

“If they were having a hard time controlling their emotions or their bodies, they were able to come in here,” said Michelle Kokindo, Assistant Principal at Dunmore Elementary. “If they wanted to be loud and free and release their energy, this is a place for that as well. You don’t just have to be calm in here. You can be yourself in here.”

Now, the room will be available to all students — anyone who needs to de-escalate, cope, or take a short break during the day.

For Feeney, the project is personal.

“We lost our three-year-old last year accidentally,” Feeney shared. “So our children are facing grief and trauma and different things.”

She says the Calming Corner gives kids a sense of privacy during difficult moments.

“They can go down and just calm themselves and return to class in a few minutes without other kids seeing it,” she said. “Other kids don’t understand what position they’re in.”

Kurilla hopes students see the space as a welcoming environment for everyone — not just those who are upset.

“I think the kids need to see that it’s not just for the sad kids or the angry kids,” she said. “It’s really something for everybody — and even for adults, we need that pause sometimes.”

The Calming Corner is officially open and already in use — helping the youngest students in Dunmore learn how to process big emotions in healthy ways.