Category Archives: News

The We Rock the Spectrum International family is about to get quite a bit bigger across the pond! It has been an incredibly successful few months for our Australian franchise and we will be welcoming 4 new gyms in the land down under. Sally Johnson of the WRTS Corporate Australian office is on the team that brought the We Rock the Spectrum brand to Australia in 2018: “We had a hunch that the WRTS concept would be well received national in Australia, but we admit to being completely blown away by the support and interest the brand received,” says Johnson. “It is a hugely exciting time and we are so pleased that more communities around the country will soon have access to our sensory-beneficial play spaces.” Sally and her brother, Marcus, will be working hands-on with all of these upcoming gyms. Let’s introduce you to our new locations and the awesome new gym owners that will be joining the family! Wollongong, often referred to informally …

It’s been a  ROCKIN’ summer for us at We Rock the Spectrum. From Grand Openings, to awesome events, to expanding internationally, let’s catch up on everything we’ve been up to! We Rock the Spectrum – Waretown The first of our Summer Grand Openings was in Waretown New Jersey with gym owners, Jeff Kachuba, and Mary Topoleski. It was a day full of fun and surprises for the whole community. Read more >> We Rock the Spectrum – Federal Way We celebrated our newest Washington location in Federal Way on July 28th. Owner, Colin Hirsch, is a Special Education Teacher who saw the need of a place where all children of all abilities could play to the fullest in his community! Read more >>  We Rock the Spectrum – Placerville This location happens to be extra special as it was opened in our CEO & Founders hometown! Owners, Keri and her Husband, Patrick, learned about the importance of sensory processing from one of their foster children and instantly knew they had …

We’re proud to announce that We Rock the Spectrum – Edwardsville has been named a Regional Training Facility! Since June of 2017, Jennifer Kilbride Range has made We Rock the Spectrum – Edwardsville a community staple in Madison County. Prior to We Rock, Jennifer had been working as a special eduction teacher for 12 years! As soon as Jennifer learned about We Rock the Spectrum gyms, she knew she needed to be part of the organization. (Jennifer pictured with her family in We Rock attire!) We Rock the Spectrum – Edwardsville will be our Regional training Facility for the Midwest, to train new owners as they become part of the We Rock Family. To commemorate her gym being named a new regional training facility we asked her a couple questions to see how things are going! We hold all sorts of classes and events at the gym, from Yoga, Art Clubs, and Kindermusik! We also recently hosted a Daddy & Donuts Day where local fathers …

We Rock the Spectrum is proud to announce that We Rock the Spectrum – Jacksonville and We Rock the Spectrum – Agoura Hills have been named regional training facilities. Since December 2016, Lea Wells and Marissa Chunn have made We Rock the Spectrum – Jacksonville a community staple in Duval County. These two best friends are ABA therapists that worked hard for their dream to own a sensory gym. After hosting many fundraisers and busting down walls, they opened a 7,000 square foot gym (yes the largest out of all locations worldwide) and have been thriving ever since. “What I love most about Marissa and Lea is how they have become a beacon to the special needs community in Jacksonville,” says We Rock the Spectrum Founder Dina Kimmel, “whether they are supporting a local 5k, hosting a vendor fair for mommy-run businesses, or creating a sensory-safe Easter egg hunt, these girls are leaders who understand the importance of bringing people together.” The Jacksonville Regional Training …

It’s been a busy summer for us at We Rock the Spectrum. From Grand Openings, to rockin’ events, to expanding internationally, let’s catch up on everything we’ve been up to! We Rock the Spectrum – Edwardsville The first of our Summer Grand Openings was in Edwardsville, Illinois with gym owners, Mike and Jennifer Range. It was a day full of fun and surprises for the whole community. Read more >> We Rock the Spectrum – Redondo Beach We celebrated our newest California location in Redondo Beach on August 26th. Owners, Sharalle Horn and Sabina Sandoval, are both founders of their own organizations that led them on the path to open their own We Rock the Spectrum gym. Read more >>  We Rock the Spectrum – Ballston Spa Lastly this summer, we opened in Upstate New York! Gym owner, Eva, is an occupational therapist who has been working with children with special needs for years. She says she knows how much her community needs a place like WRTS and she’s proud …

We’re so excited to announce that We Rock the Spectrum is opening in our 5th country… Australia! Let’s get to know Sally Johnson, our new international owner! After Sally and her husband’s son, Digby, was diagnosed with autism and ADHD at the age of two, she dreamed of an inclusive place that she could take him where he could play freely on suitable sensory equipment and where she could meet families on a similar journey. Many years later, she learned that such a place existed – We Rock the Spectrum – but that there were none in Australia. Sally reached out to fellow autism mum and WRTS founder, Dina Kimmel, and the concept for We Rock the Spectrum — Australia was born! With an extensive background in marketing and brand management and deep routes in the Australian autism acceptance community, Sally is hugely passionate about bringing the We Rock concept to Australia. “Within my own community, I see the desire families have to connect with …

We are proud to announce the newest member of our West Coast Corporate Team, Shane Stahl! He will serve the role of Tech Specialist for We Rock the Spectrum. Shane was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. He attended Van Nuys High School and received his degree in Business Economics from UC Irvine. Shane has always had a knack for technology. In college, he developed a love for marketing and refined his passion during his internship with a digital marketing agency. Upon graduating from UC Irvine, he decided to combine his passions of technology and marketing by taking the role as the in-house Tech Specialist at the We Rock the Spectrum Corporate Office. He has become an integral part in assisting owners in accomplishing their marketing goals. Shane has experienced firsthand the benefits of inclusion while attending CHIME Charter Elementary School, a model inclusion school in Southern California. During his time at CHIME Charter, he made many life-long friends some of which were …

Los Angeles, CA – June 1st, 2017: We Rock the Spectrum, an international children’s gym franchise, announces its expansion into Dubai and Saudi Arabia. A little less than two and a half years ago, a mother from California decided to franchise her business that was designed to provide an inclusive play area for children of all abilities. When Dina Kimmel’s son, Gabriel, was diagnosed with autism at the age of two, she personally saw the lack of places available that she could take Gabriel and his neurotypical sister, Sophia. This led her to create a gym that features sensory-safe play equipment and welcomes all kids, no matter their ability. Today, there are more than 69 locations across the world, including the first international location, which opened in Malaysia in December of 2016. “We Rock the Spectrum aims to be a leader in inclusion worldwide. After meeting Dr. Nashila Jaffer, the master franchisee for Dubai and Saudi Arabia, we recognized she shared the same beliefs and knew …

We are proud to announce that we’ve launched the official We Rock the Spectrum Mobile App! We’ve spent the past few months in development, fine-tuning our app so that it can be as easy, fun, and beneficial to use as possible for all our We Rockers. With the We Rock App, it’s never been more seamless to connect with your local gym. Want to know what classes are in session? Looking to book break time? Have a special date coming up and want to celebrate at the gym? Now, that’s all possible from your fingertips with the We Rock the Spectrum App. Let’s say that you and your kiddo have some free time in the afternoon for a fun activity. You think, “maybe I’ll take them to We Rock today.” Now, you can find out what’s going on at the gym right from your mobile device. Simply log onto the We Rock app, navigate to the side menu, and click “classes.” Once the page loads, …

On December 22nd, 2016, We Rock the Spectrum opened its first international location in Ara Damansara, Malaysia. This was the first gym to open outside of the continental United States. CEO and Founder, Dina Kimmel, attended the grand opening with her family. Rahmah Mahmood, Nori Abdullah, and Hana Jamaluddin, the owners of We Rock the Spectrum – Malaysia, were also in attendance along with the Minister of Youth and Sports, Khairy Jamaluddin and the Former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. We Rock the Spectrum’s journey to Malaysia was filled with countless blessings and meant-to-be moments. Through a series of serendipitous events, We Rock the Spectrum – Ara Damansara took the brand Dina Kimmel built seven years prior — and her mission — global. Greetings from Malaysia Greetings from Malaysia! The grand opening of We Rock the Spectrum – Ara Damansara was an amazing success! It was everything we had hoped for and more. Malaysia is the first stop of our international expansion, but it certainly won't be …