Hopewell School also offers food service, a full time nurse, therapy, our sensory room, our home living room, our inclusive playground and we utilize Assistive Technology.
Typically our Food Service Manager goes to the Coshocton County Career Center to get the students food, prepares it and serves it in our lunchroom; however with COVID we have adapted our lunch routines. Our Food Service Manager has still been getting our food from the CCCC, but instead of serving it in our cafeteria she has been putting it on carts and delivering it to the classrooms and the students have been eating lunches in their rooms. Doing our lunches this way gives less exposure to the students, teachers and staff at Hopewell School.
We have a full time nurse on staff at Hopewell School. She has been vital because we have several students with medical needs that she can help take care of. She can do feeding tubes, pass medications and address any other medical need that our students have in a timely manner.
We are also very blessed to have a team of Therapists on staff- they are comprised of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and a Speech Language Pathologist. They are imperative at helping our students gain strength and developing their fine motor skills, sensory motor skills and visual motor skills that children need to function and socialize. In collaboration with the family and classroom staff, our therapists perform activities that children may find challenging by addressing sensory, social, motor and environmental issues. Typically we also offer aquatic water therapy at the 311 building but with COVID we have put that program on hold.
Our Sensory Room is a calm and quiet room that allows students to relax. This room has many different items that can help a student calm down including vibrating chairs, a water bed, color changing lights, crash pads and other tactile items. When the student is relaxed, it can be easier for them to focus and work on their IEP goals.
Our Home Living room is a kitchen and large table where students of any age can come learn how to safely be in a kitchen. They do fun cooking projects with their peers in a safe environment. They also learn how to find items and put things away. All of the drawers and cupboards are labeled with what goes inside so it is easy for students to find things and put them away at the end of the project.
Our inclusive playground is completely paved, has ramps and inclusive play pieces so all children; regardless of ability is able to play together in the same space. We recently purchased the Sway Fun which allows children in wheelchairs or walkers to easily access the piece and all the children can swing together on it. Our playground also has adaptive swings so those in wheelchairs or those with low muscle tone can safely swing.
At Hopewell School, we also utilize a lot of Assistive Technology. This allows for the children who do not communicate with words to learn how to communicate in a different manner with everyone around them. We use switches, iPads and our newest piece of equipment is the Eye Gaze. The Eye Gaze has a special eye tracking camera that observes one of the student’s eyes. This allows the student to control the computer using just their eyes! Our students are still in the beginning phases of learning to use this technology but as they learn how to use it, they will eventually be able to select words to communicate with anyone around them independently.
