When you walk up the entrance of Manchester Community Music School (MCMS), in the heart of Manchester, you can feel the learning, floating like tiny, enlightened molecules in the air.
The fact that the school occupies the renovated Notre Dame College building certainly contributes to the academic ambience; but it’s more than that.
You can tell that within these halls, exceptional students have thrown themselves entirely into their craft. And that craft: making music.
Music is a universal language. And so it makes perfect sense that Crotched Mountain Foundation and CMF Kids partner with MCMS to help children of all abilities tap into the wonder of music-making.
The partnership project? The creation of a special sensory room for the music therapy department. This funky-looking, cutting-edge enclave may look different from the orthodox academic brick and mortar of the larger school, but make no mistake: the learning is just as rich.
“We have clients who are in their twenties as well as kids as young as three who come down here,” says Suzanne Denu, Director of Music Therapy for MCMS. “There's something in this room to offer a unique experience for everyone.”
Here’s what lies in store for clients. The room has soft, welcoming, non-harsh lighting. Throughout the room is a series of neat-looking apparatus. There is a bubble tube and a neon aquarium filled with bobbing fish and crash pad perfect to leap and fiber optics strings to braid.
Each installment is especially designed to calm, soothe, promote focus, or give body support. It’s all, in a word, therapeutic.
“The mission of CMF Kids is to help children of all abilities live, learn, and thrive in the community,” says Melissa White, Executive Director of CMF Kids. “With this sensory room, the music therapy department at Manchester Community Music School has the capacity to meet the various needs of their students, ensuring all children can enjoy the power of music.”
“This has meant everything,” Suzanne says. “It has meant absolutely everything.”