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Anchor Lead: Chances are you know someone with an Attention and Hyperactivity Disorder. They can't stay still and are easily districted. For children with extreme cases, learning in a regular classroom is nearly impossible. Everything from bright colors to a crowded room can overload their senses and result in emotional meltdowns. In the latest edition of The Learning Curve, KPLU's Jennifer Wing tells us about a special place for these students. It's at Seattle's Coe Elementary, in "Room 310."

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Ten-year-old Gwen gets off her school bus and bounds into her house in North Seattle. She offers up a quick hello and then…

Gwen: "Want to see something new I got?"
JW: "Sure."

On the floor of the den, she pulls off her pink cowboy boots and unfolds what looks like a plastic mat for the game Twister. It's connected to a video on the television. A robotic voice barks out dance steps. Gwen stomps her feet wildly to the music, immediately working up a sweat.

Diane, Gwen's mom, says her daughter has always had this much energy since the day she was adopted as a toddler.

Diane: "She slid off my lap and literally ran around the house. She was just so hyper that she ran constantly. We finally got her to eat something and put her to bed. So that was the introduction to Gwen."

Gwen has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD. She's also been diagnosed with Asperger's, a high functioning form of Autism. Diane home-schooled Gwen through kindergarten and tried getting her into private school.

Diane: "They were always very sweet and very gracious, but they'd always say 'you know, we just don't think this is the place for Gwen'."

Then she heard about "Room 310" at Coe Elementary in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood. It's a special education classroom designed for children like Gwen. It's the only one of its kind in the district and perhaps the country.

Walking up to the third floor at Coe you pass by lots of tidy classrooms. Small jackets hang neatly on hooks. Kids sit quietly at desks. Then as you head to Room 310 you notice something's really different. There's a tent set up in the hallway right outside the classroom door.

Shealeen Stabelfeldt: "It's basically their safe spot."

Shealeen Stabelfeldt teaches Gwen and eight other students with severe ADHD.

SS: "If they’re having a meltdown in another classroom or here, they go to the tent and they'll stay in the tent. It has sleeping bags and stuffed animals. And they can go in there and it's a place where they can cry or they can scream or do whatever. I teach them how to work through their emotions."

Many of Stabelfeldt's students are very bright, but they have heightened senses. For example, bright colors can make them anxious.

SS: "There used to be red tables in here and I got rid of those. So, I got these tables that are just plain. I don't put a lot of stuff up, bulletins. We don't have paper on the bulletins. They're just a plain, earthy color."

The students are also more sensitive to loud noises, so cloth was put on some of the walls to quiet the room. And then there are the tools Stabelfeldt gives Gwen and her classmates to help them focus. Chewing gum is a tool. It keeps their mouths busy and can prevent them from yelling out. Some students fidget less and can concentrate more when they sit on one of the classroom's bouncy balls. And for kids who are feeling really hyper, there's a heavy vest they can wear.

SS: "The feelings when they talk about when they feel hyper is that they feel like they're flying or they can feel dizzy. You start to notice that they might need a weighted vest when they keep bouncing out of their seat or they're walking around and trying to work but they can't. So the weight acts like something that pushes them down to kind of root them to the ground, so they stay grounded. Whereas most people feel normally grounded. They're not."

The kids spend about half the day on the third floor. Not only are they learning academics, but they're also being taught social skills, like how to greet someone and how to read another person's body language. In the afternoon they attend regular classes, where they get to interact with the rest of the children in the school. This is what Gwen likes most: being in a classroom with other students who don't have ADHD.

Gwen: "I'm integrated into another classroom, and I actually built a humdinger."

Gwen excels in science.

Gwen: "You see the wire had foil on it and there was foil in the other wire, which was on a clothing pin. When I pulled the string they attached and they hummed. Then I would let go and it went DING."

Diane, Gwen's mom, stands in the kitchen listening to her daughter with a look of surprise. This is the first time she's really heard Gwen talk about how much she enjoys being in a regular classroom. Diane likes that her daughter is able to do this, but says the reality is (that) being in a classroom other than 310 can be incredibly stressful.

Diane: "What doesn't work for Gwen is the transition from her self-contained class to the regular class. The schedule changes, it's too much commotion. The largeness of the class, having 25-30 kids in the class. She gets anxious and falls apart."

The ADHD classroom is finishing up its third year. It's considered to be a success by parents and teachers alike. But it's expensive. The Seattle School district spends more than $14,000 on each student in Room 310… triple what it costs to educate the rest of the students in the school. Sara Woolverton is in charge of special education programs for Seattle.

SW: "Our programs cost a lot of money and we don't get that back. So that comes out of baseline dollars. And it's also really difficult for principals to see so much money going to a small proportion of the kids at the same time they have to displace staff and raise class size to 28 and 30 kids. That's really difficult and creates some internal tension."

This is not the case for Coe Elementary principal David Elliot. He says there is much to be gained from the classroom on the third floor.

Funding for programs like Room 310 is being scrutinized as the Seattle School district faces a major budget deficit. Just in the last few weeks, Sara Woolverton has had to eliminate several programs for Autistic students.

SW: "We're having to make really tough choices. We're having to make choices to cut ten programs out of 100 and then you have to pick which ten, and it's pretty difficult."

For now, 310 is safe from budget cuts. And Woolverton says it will remain that way as long as it's the best option for kids like Gwen. The educators who created this classroom hope their students will now have the skills to go to middle school, high school and college. This is the path they wish for Gwen, who is graduating from Room 310 this year.

Jennifer Wing, KPLU NEWS.