Commack's 9th 'Official' School Will Serve Special Needs Students

COMMACK, NY — Cedar Road Alternative School will become the ninth "official" school in the Commack School District starting with the 2024-25 academic year, Superintendent Jordan Cox announced at Thursday night's board of education meeting.

Cedar Road will initially serve high school-age students with special needs at grades 9 through 12, a district spokesman told Patch.

Students ultimately can graduate from Cedar Road with a regents or other diploma, he said, but one goal of Cedar Road is to provide its students the comfort level to return to Commack High School when they are ready.

"So there is no geographic-based assignment to Cedar Road," the spokesman said. "It's students who need the services offered there during their ninth through 12th grade years."

Cedar Road, which has housed the district's special education administration offices for the past several years, offers programs to assist students who are struggling with school avoidance, trauma and who present with social-emotional needs, the district wrote in a Facebook post.

"The Commack School District values having the resources and infrastructure in place so that all students who live within the district’s boundaries have the ability to attend school here," the district stated on Facebook.

The district says it has spent the past six years investing into Cedar Road, working to make an "ideal home" for students in need, with help from the board of education.

That investment included roof and window replacement, installation of new blinds, new gym flooring, and interior upgrades to ceilings and flooring. Many of the spaces, including the counseling center, have a "soothing, modern design" rather than a "traditional classroom feel," according to the district.

"One of the things that we pride ourselves on here in Commack is keeping our students home," Cox said.

Cox said that students who have attended Cedar Road "sing its praises."

During the board of education meeting, he pointed to the success story of a student who had avoided school for nearly two years, and who now embraces attending school and who serves as an ambassador for the program.