About Us

The Little Flower School, located on North Wading River Road, Wading River, New York, is the only residential Special Act public school district on Long Island. Little Flower was originally founded as a Catholic parochial school in 1931 by a nationally acclaimed educator of disadvantaged children, Mother Katherine Drexel, of Philadelphia.  She spent her considerable inheritance as a Drexel family heiress to establish sixty-two schools for disadvantaged children throughout the United States.

The Little Flower Union Free School District was established by a special act of the New York State Legislature in May 1972, recognizing the school as a public special act school district.  The district is co-located on the campus of Little Flower Children and Family Services of New York, which operates a residential treatment center (RTC) under the Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS) and other support programs.   

Little Flower UFSD provides educational programming to students requiring supports in a therapeutic setting. The school currently serves students from almost 40 districts in Suffolk and Nassau counties, who may be transported daily or reside residentially on campus at the residential treatment center (RTC), operated by Little Flower Children and Family Services. Counseling, psychotherapy, and related services are provided to every student. Students are referred to Little Flower UFSD by other local schools in New York State through their Committee on Special Education (CSE), as well as by placements through county departments of social services and family courts. 

The teaching faculty and staff are specially trained in the education and behavior of learning disabled and emotionally handicapped children.  Certified Special Area teachers provide instruction in Physical Education, Art, Music, Technology, Home and Career Skills, Computer Literacy, and Business Education.

Programs are approved by the New York State Education Department Office of Special Education. Little Flower UFSD is approved to operate 8:1+1 classes in 10-month (regular school year) and 2-month (extended school year/summer) models. Currently approved disability classifications include autism, emotional disabilities, intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, multiple disabilities, and other health impairments. 

The tuition rate is established by the New York State Department of Education.  The tuition is paid by the referring local school district or sending agency for each child.  The referring district is reimbursed for the tuition cost under a formula established by the State under the education law.