A national spotlight is on Ouachita Parish Schools this week, with the Knowledge Matters Campaign honoring the school system’s work in social studies and literacy instruction.

Kevin Skarupa recently spoke to the third-graders at Golden Brook School in Windham.

Last year, Simmers and fellow special ed teacher Emily Rositas pitched the idea of the sensory room to Kelly Principal Kelli Tannahill, and then to the school’s parent-teacher organization. Similar ...