How Wellness Rooms Are Transforming Schools and How You Can Create One Too

Across the country, schools are recognizing a simple but powerful truth: students cannot learn if their nervous systems are overwhelmed.

We often focus on curriculum, assessments, and behavior plans, but without addressing emotional regulation, true learning and connection remain out of reach. In today’s classrooms, students are navigating not just academics, but stress, trauma, anxiety, and social pressures. And staff are carrying heavy loads too, often feeling stretched thin trying to meet students' emotional needs on top of everything else.

This is where Wellness Rooms come in and why they are becoming a vital part of school culture.

What Is a Wellness Room?

A Wellness Room is a designated space outside of the classroom designed to support emotional regulation, connection, and reflection. It is not a "timeout room" or a reward system. It is a proactive, trauma-informed resource that helps students:

• Recognize and move through emotions
• Build self-regulation skills
• Practice healthy coping strategies
• Return to class ready to focus and learn

Instead of reacting to behavior once it escalates, a Wellness Room offers students (and staff) a safe, supportive place to reset before problems grow bigger.

Real Impact of a Wellness Room

Looking for inspiration? Watch how Mabel Thackeray, a school counselor at Forks Elementary, created a Wellness Room with limited resources and saw a 75% decrease in behavior referrals in just one year. Her story is a powerful example of what’s possible when we lead with care and intention.

Why Wellness Rooms Matter Now More Than Ever

The need for emotional support in schools has never been greater:

• 1 in 5 children experience a mental health challenge each year
• Rates of anxiety, depression, and behavioral disruptions have risen sharply since the pandemic
• Educators are reporting higher levels of burnout, compassion fatigue, and classroom management challenges

Wellness Rooms are one way schools are addressing today’s challenges with care instead of consequence. When students have access to regulation strategies and a calming environment, schools often see decreased behavior referrals, increased time on task, improved academic performance, stronger relationships among students and staff, and greater resilience and emotional intelligence over time. These spaces also align with MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports) frameworks, offering both universal and targeted support based on student needs.

A New Resource to Help You Get Started

Building a Wellness Room does not have to feel overwhelming. To make the process simple, we created the Wellness Room Resource Bundle! A complete, step-by-step guide filled with research, checklists, posters, data forms, PPT slides, and case studies.

Designed to save you hours of planning and packed with everything you need, the Wellness Room Resource Bundle helps you create a space that supports student and staff well-being from day one.

Because every student deserves a place to pause, regulate, and return to learning and every educator deserves simple, effective tools to make that happen.

Click here to learn more and start building your Wellness Room.