Nestled in a quiet neighborhood in the suburban hamlet of Hawthorne is the Hawthorne Cedar Knolls school district. The district, composed of three schools, appears from the outside to be almost like any other district in the state.

Almost.

The campus is remarkably quiet considering more than 430 residential and day-treatment students in grades 3 through 12 are attending classes.

One explanation is the staff of dedicated educators; another is the men in blue T-shirts stationed at the end of hallways and near the doors — crisis intervention aides.

Hawthorne is one of 13 Special Act districts around the state, so named for the special acts of the Legislature that created them.

The district serves students assigned through a variety of sources, including: the court system, committees on special education referrals and Social Service placements.

"Many of our students come with a pretty horrific back story," said Joe Choma, president of the Hawthorne-Cedar Knolls Federation.

"I've had students who have witnessed the death of a parent at the hands of another person in the home," he said. "How do you get through a social studies class when you have a flashback of that?"

Faced with the same requirements for student progress as traditional schools, "We have this elephant in the room in terms of their lives," Choma said.

Three separate schools occupy the campus: The Little School serves fragile and school-phobic elementary and middle-level students; Hawthorne Junior Senior High School serves students with special needs; and Linden Hill High School serves fragile middle-level and high school students, most of them placed through the state Office of Mental Health.

A constantly changing population and time spent getting students prepared to learn are major challenges for faculty, said Superintendent Mark Silverstein.

"A regular school district knows how many kids they will have," he said. "Joe's class could change 70 percent from September to June."

Behavior management is the prime reason students are referred to the district, so behaviors must be addressed first.

That, Choma said, means taking advantage of every teachable moment — like showing the gang-influenced student how he's being offensive to others while, at the same time, constantly talking about "respect."

Like many Special Act schools, Hawthorne Cedar Knolls faces staff turnover, but a core of hardworking educators provide a stable environment for students.

'Make a difference'

Latonia Davies, a senior assistant teacher at the Linden Hill school, is president of the Hawthorne Cedar Knolls Paraprofessionals.

She joined the staff in 1991 because she wanted "to make a difference."

The district was Aisha Prendergast's first foray into education; she teaches at the Little School.

"I knew I wanted to work with children with special needs," Prendergast said. "It's the most challenging and most satisfying job you'll ever have."

Union leaders and administrators agree that some of those challenges come from the state.

Special Act schools operate on an outdated funding methodology that does not take into account unexpected expenses, delays in state reimbursement or allow for future planning.

NYSUT has been advocating in the Legislature for enactment of a more equitable funding formula for Special Act schools.

"The money that's funding us this year was established in '05-'06," Choma said.

In spite of the challenges, coaxing even one school-phobic child from beneath the desk, or watching a pair of siblings graduate and go on to college, makes it all worthwhile, Choma said.

"When you do reach a kid, and you're able to lift some of the burden, that's the stuff that feeds you. It is a calling."

— Clarisse Butler Banks