Tampa Bay Thrives Brings Wellness Rooms to Tampa Bay’s Students

November 13, 2025

In 2024, Tampa Bay Thrives opened its first Wellness Room at Sligh Middle School—a space designed to give students the tools and support they need to manage stress, build resilience, and stay engaged in school. Since then, the initiative has grown to four Wellness Rooms across Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. Early results show powerful impact: 70% of students who participate in Wellness Room programming experience a reduction in absenteeism. These rooms are quickly becoming an essential resource in our community, helping students strengthen their emotional well-being and stay connected to learning.

What is a Wellness Room?

A Wellness Room is a dedicated, on-campus space designed to help students pause, regroup, and build healthy habits for their wellbeing. Guided by evidence-based activities and mindfulness tools, these rooms support emotional regulation and help students return to class ready to learn.

Our rooms prioritize:

Safety and supervision
Calming sensory tools & mindful activities
Emotional support through structured check-ins
A stigma-free environment for every student

Why Wellness Rooms Exist

Today’s students face more pressure than ever—social, academic, and emotional. Tampa Bay Thrives created Wellness Rooms to give schools a proactive way to support mental well-being before challenges escalate.

We built these rooms because:

2023’s CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 2 in 5 (40%) high schoolers report persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness
Students need more than academics—they need emotional tools and safe spaces.
Early intervention reduces stress, improves focus, and strengthens resilience.
Normalizing mental health support helps break stigma and promote open conversations.

Our mission is to ensure students have the resources they need to feel heard, supported, and empowered—every single day.

How Wellness Rooms Help Students

Wellness Rooms deliver benefits that parents can see—in the classroom and at home.

Students who use the Wellness Room experience:

Improved focus and classroom readiness
Healthier well-being skills they can use throughout life
A sense of belonging and support
Tools for stress management, emotional awareness, and self-expression

Each Wellness Room visit includes guided prompts, reflection tools, and calming techniques to ensure students return to class feeling more regulated and confident.

How Your Student Can Use the Wellness Room

It’s easy for students to participate. Most schools follow a simple, supportive process:

1. Student Request

Students may:

Ask their teacher for a Wellness Room pass
Be referred by a staff member
Join during designated times approved by the school

2. Guided Visit

Once inside, they can participate in calming activities, quiet reflection, or structured prompts that help them reset.

3. Return to Class Ready to Learn

Visits typically last 10–15 minutes, allowing students to re-center without missing valuable instructional time.

Ways Parents Can Support Their Child

Parents play an important role in building healthy habits. Here’s how you can help:

Talk with your child about how they feel and why breaks are healthy
Encourage them to use the Wellness Room whenever they need support
Ask school staff how the Wellness Room is used on campus
Reinforce techniques learned—such as deep breathing or grounding exercises—at home