Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Active Seating Boosts Student Focus

  • 11/01/16
Flavors Noodle chair

Smith System’s Flavors Noodle chair helped to reduce fidgeting and enhance student focus at Central Avenue School.

A sharp rise in the global rate of pediatric ADHD cases has motivated schools to find better solutions for student seating. That includes Central Avenue School (CAS), a pre-K through fifth-grade school of 500 students within New Jersey’s Madison Public School District.

Megan Kelly Petersen, a CAS occupational therapist, had observed a common denominator at the school: students who struggled to sit still, stay focused and hone their fine motor skills, like writing. Often, students were sitting with poor posture and continually fidgeting. She could see how the school’s predominant one-size-fits-all seating — a hard, traditional shell on four legs — wasn’t working for many students.

“Traditional chairs tend to facilitate a posterior pelvic tilt and, therefore, a slouched posture. This impacts students’ breathing, vision and fine motor skills.”

Peterson found a better option with Smith System’s Flavors Noodle chair. The “active seating” chair features a patented suspension below the seat pan that allows it to tilt slightly in all directions, moving with the student. It provides comfort, back support and promotes core muscles use. In fact, studies show that academic performance improves when students can move naturally (i.e., fidgeting and shifting) while learning.

CAS added 30 Noodle chairs last year. Though the sample was small, nearly 90 percent of the teachers agreed the chairs increased attention span. Among students, 100 percent said the chairs helped them focus. The chair’s success will likely lead to a larger purchase this year.

Many students need modifications to fully access their education, says Petersen. “When purchasing furniture, schools must consider attention level, movement seeking amount, muscle tone/muscle strength, posture, fine motor skills, length of sitting time and work expectations.”

www.SmithSystem.com

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • R.I. District Holds Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for New Elementary School

    Cranston Public Schools in Cranston, R.I., recently announced the completion of Gladstone Elementary School, according to a news release. The 100,000-square-foot facility serves as a replacement for the 1950s-era former building, and it consolidates the student, faculty, and staff populations of Gladstone and Arlington Elementary Schools.

  • Missouri K–12 District Cuts Ribbons on Two New Middle Schools

    Springfield Public Schools in Springfield, Mo., recently celebrated the completion of two new middle school facilities with ribbon-cutting ceremonies, according to a district news release. The district officially opened the new Pipkin Middle School and Reed Academy on Sept. 3, both of which were funded through the $220-million Proposition S bond program approved by voters in 2023.

  • URI Cuts Underwater Ribbon on New Ocean Robotics Laboratory

    The University of Rhode Island recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Ocean Robotics Laboratory at its Narragansett Bay Campus, according to a news release. Two students used a remotely operated vehicle to cut an underwater ribbon in a 30-by-20-foot test tank.

  • Embry-Riddle Completes Construction on Research, Lab Facility

    Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) in Daytona Beach, Fla., recently announced the end of construction on a new research and lab facility on campus. The Center for Aerospace Engineering II (CAT II) will support aerospace research and technology development and broke ground last summer.