Appleton Education Foundation (AEF) awarded a $95,000 grant to provide sensory regulation toolkits for Appleton Area School District (AASD) students in kindergarten through fifth grade. This is AEF’s largest project grant to date.
Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, all kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms will be equipped with sensory regulation toolkits. This includes neighborhood and charter schools; regular education classrooms, as well as art, music, phy. ed., and STEM classrooms and LMCs.
Toolkits will include items like worry stones, bubbler tubes, breathing cue cards, and gel mazes, which help students self-regulate without needing to leave the instructional space.
More than 6,700 students are expected to benefit from this grant annually.
The grant is in response to a growing need in AASD.
“Over several years, we saw an increase in grant requests asking for sensory and other regulation tools for use in classrooms. After funding many requests, we asked school district leaders to determine what the standard should be for all classrooms,” said Julie Krause, AEF Executive Director. “Now all Appleton public elementary students will have the same sensory regulations resources in their learning spaces.”
The supplies in the sensory regulation toolkits were curated by a cross-section of AASD staff, including administrators, occupational therapists, and regular and special education educators.
During AASD’s professional development week in August, all elementary educators will learn about the new toolkits. Video trainings also will be available for staff to access year-round.
Expected outcomes for the $95,000 investment include increased instructional time for all elementary students, decreased office referrals, and ultimately, students who can process big emotions, calm themselves, and think clearly – even in challenging situations.
“These are skills that will benefit our students for the rest of their lives,” said Amy Steiner, AASD’s executive director of special education.
Wisconsin Connections Academy, AASD’s virtual 4K-12 charter school, will receive four kits for use during in-person testing days. All Appleton Community 4K sites will receive additional items to help young children understand and manage their emotions and build positive relationships.
Funding for this grant comes from AEF’s Big Ideas Fund. The Big Ideas Fund launched in 2019 to support large, needle-moving, transformational initiatives. To date, more than $160,000 has been awarded from this fund, including a $25,000 grant to expand the community school model to Ronald C. Dunlap Elementary School, $10,000 for a high school-elementary student mentorship program, and $10,000 to support Appleton high school students’ participation in the Kaboom Collective year-long programming and performance during the 2023-24 school year.
To learn more or for media inquiries, please contact Lori via email or phone: 920-832-1517 ext. 2.
