Special Education

The goal of the Riverhead Special Education Department is to promote every student’s academic, physical, social and emotional growth in a safe, nurturing environment, as well as providing students with an opportunity to develop all facets of their character to the fullest potential.

The Office of Special Education supports a full range of services to all children, ages 3 to 21, who display a need for instructional and behavioral accommodations and supports in their academic settings. These students have been identified and evaluated in accordance with IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Act, PL.94-142).

The Special Education Department will only offer these supports after general education interventions have proven unsuccessful. When students are displaying acute difficulty in school, despite attempts at remediation through research based early intervention services, school personnel or parents can submit a request for an evaluation to the building psychologist or directly to the Committee on Special Education (CSE) via our office.

Parents and early childhood educators who are concerned with a preschooler’s development can request an evaluation through the Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) via our office.

Upon the receipt of a recommendation from an educator or referral by a parent, the Special Education Staff will contact parents to get their consent prior to conducting any evaluations, under guidelines of the Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) or the Committee on Special Education (CSE). These evaluations will include any procedures, tests, special education and/or related services. Recommendations from these evaluations may or may not include classification of the child as a student with a disability.

All parents should review the Parents Guide to Special Education, Procedural Safeguards, Informed Consent and other helpful information, which are provided on our website. If additional information on programs or other opportunities that are available to our students, please contact your child’s home school psychologist or Pupil Personnel Services at 631-369-6800.