The Wellness Learning Center, which was approved by the community in 2019, is a redesigned and repurposed space in the middle school for students to take a mindful break from their work and speak to pupil personnel services staff. It allows the District’s wellness team made up of counselors, psychologists, and social workers, to easily work together from one location, speaking to the sense of community Manhasset strives to create while increasing accessibility for students.

“Whenever a school gets beautified and/or resources are added, it makes me happy because I realize it’s really going to be the students that are the benefactors of experiencing it,” Secondary School Principal Dr. Dean Schlanger said.

The interactive space is filled with comfortable furniture and a sensory room dubbed the “cocoon.” It is a space for students to decompress, with the potential for small-group instruction.

“It continues to be the goal of the wellness team to educate all of our students in mind, heart, and body,” Dr. Joy-Anne D’Anca, Director of Guidance and Counseling Services, said. “The Wellness Learning Center allows us to do just this, and more as an alternative location for our students to access the middle school wellness team and have a place to relax and focus on themselves.”