Student Services / Special Education

Special Education Services for Student with Disabilities

The Farmingdale School District is committed to the development and implementation of an appropriate education for students with disabilities who reside in the district. The Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE), and the Committee on Special Education (CSE) and appropriate Subcommittees on Special Education are established for the purpose of evaluating students suspected of having disabilities and for placement of students with disabilities in appropriate programs. The CPSE and CSE provide a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment for resident children between the ages of three (3) and twenty-one (21) or until a regular high school diploma has been achieved by the student, whichever shall occur first. Students with disabilities have the opportunity to participate in school district programs to the maximum extent appropriate to the need of each student, including access to general education curriculum and extracurricular programs and activities, which are available to all other students enrolled in the public schools of the district.
 
Special education services are provided at all levels K - 12 in the Farmingdale School District.  In addition, a pre-school student with a disability may have special needs that require appropriate services.  All children are evaluated and recommended for services by the Committee on Special Education (CSE) or the Committee on Pre-School Education (CPSE).  If parents or guardians suspect their school-age child has a disability, they can refer their child to the Committee on Special Education by calling 516-434-5180.  For information about a pre-school child who may have a disability, please call the Special Education office at 516-434-5189.  Referrals in writing should be sent to the Farmingdale Schools Special Education Department, 50 Van Cott Avenue, Farmingdale, NY 11735.

Transition Resources for Parents and Students

NYS Law Chapter 408

Learning Resources

Hearbuilder - Parents can sign up for a free 14-day trial of this online foundational literacy program.
Build following directions, phonological awareness, sequencing, and auditory memory skills
Strengthen literacy ability in listening, memory, and comprehension.

Parent Workshops

Special Education Parent Workshop, Dr. Baltar - 2023-2024

Special Education Parent Workshop, Norton - 2023-2024

THE MISUNDERSTOOD CHILD

I am the child that looks healthy and fine.
I was born with ten fingers and toes.
But something is different, somewhere in my mind.
And what it is, nobody knows.

I am the child that struggles in school,
Though they say that I'm perfectly smart.
They tell me I'm lazy - can learn if I try
- But I don't seem to know where to start.

I am the child that won't wear the clothes
Which hurt me or bother my feet.
I dread sudden noises, can't handle most smells,
And tastes - there are few foods I'll eat.

I am the child that can't catch the ball
And runs with an awkward gait.
I am the one chosen last on the team
And I cringe as I stand there and wait.

I am the child with whom no one will play
- The one that gets bullied and teased.
I try to fit in and I want to be liked,
But nothing I do seems to please.

I am the child that tantrums and freaks
Over things that seem petty and trite.
You'll never know how I panic inside,
When I'm lost in my anger and fright.

I am the child that fidgets and squirms
Though I'm told to sit still and be good
Do you think that I choose to be out of control?
Don't you know that I would if I could?

I am the child with the broken heart
Though I act like I don't really care.
Perhaps there's a reason God made me this way -
Some message He sent me to share.

For I am the child that needs to be loved
And accepted and valued too.
I am the child that is misunderstood,
I am different - but look just like you.

- Kathy Winters, 2003

I do not choose to be a common man.
It is my right to be uncommon- if I can.
I seek opportunity- not security.
I do not wish to be a kept citizen,
humbled and dulled by having the state look after me.
I want to take the calculated risk
to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed.

- Henry Viscardi, 1967