The Keokuk High School has been awarded the 2025-26 Therapeutic Classroom Grant in the amount of $144,000 according to the Iowa Department of Education.
“KHS is honored to be awarded the grant,” Jennifer Roederer, KHS associate principal, said. “This funding will help us create a dedicated space at KHS with the resources and trained staff necessary to help those students thrive. It reflects our district’s commitment to meeting students where they are and ensuring every learner has the opportunity to succeed.”
At KHS, the grant will fund the creation of a sensory-sensitive therapeutic classroom, staff training in trauma-informed practices, SEL tools for general classrooms, and expanded mental health support for students and families, Roederer added. The grant was established to provide funding to public schools to establish therapeutic classrooms for learners ages three to 21 whose emotional, social or behavioral needs interfere with their ability to be successful in their current educational environment.
“The grant process was highly competitive and we applaud your district’s commitment to expand the continuum of Social-Emotional-Behavioral Health (SEBH) supports for learners,” pulled from the award email from the Division of PK-12 Learning at the Iowa Department of Education. “Your pioneering efforts will serve as a model to inform efforts to better respond to the SEBH needs of learners statewide.”
The districts awarded a Therapeutic Classroom Incentive Grant for the 2025-26 school year were:
- Bondurant-Farrar CSD
- Cedar Rapids CSD
- Cherokee CSD
- Davenport CSD
- Durant CSD
- Keokuk CSD
- Pella CSD
- Spencer CSD
The email additionally stated that the grant funds will be used to establish new therapeutic classrooms and/or install critical components into current classrooms and/or programs. The Therapeutic Classroom Grant provides competitive grants pursuant to Iowa Code 256.25 and Iowa Administrative Code 281 – 14.13.
“Therapeutic classrooms across Iowa provide vibrant, safe and healthy learning environments that best support students’ individual cognitive and behavioral needs,” McKenzie Snow, Iowa Department of Education director, said in a release. “We commend this year’s awardees and their community partners for their leadership and commitment to modeling best practices in skill building, stress and trauma coping, mental health treatment, and crisis prevention and intervention.”
KHS will work with the Iowa Department of Education per this initiative to “support the needs of students in Iowa.” The Iowa Department of Education released that the grants will be distributed this fall for implementation during the 2025-26 school year.
