Mission Statement

The Mission of Cedar Lane is to provide an education where all students can learn skills that will enhance the quality of their life. We strive to ensure the intellectual, personal, and social growth of our students, regardless of their emotional issues. Through a diversified curriculum offered in a safe, consistent and nurturing learning environment, students are given the opportunity to learn strategies and develop skills to change behaviorally and cognitively.

About Cedar Lane High School

Cedar Lane is one of two public high schools in FCPS offering a learning environment to better accommodate students with emotional, behavioral or social challenges.

Cedar Lane serves students in the western part of the school district, while the Quander Road school in Belle Haven offers a similar program for students in the eastern part of the county.

We get new enrollments throughout the year.  With approximately 100 students in the school at any one point in a year, students may transition back to their base high schools as needed, not necessarily staying at Cedar Lane from ninth grade until graduation. Several of our students take elective classes, main stream classes or Academy classes at base schools as a way of transitioning back at various speeds. 

Like a base high school, Cedar Lane follows the FCPS Program of Studies based on the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) for all classes, and the SOL scores for Cedar Lane students tend to be in line with students from other high schools. Our students can still participate in athletics and activities at their base school after the school day ends.

Cedar Lane offers classes for standard, modified and special diplomas.  Students can participate in our own graduation event as well as participate at their base school graduation.  Cedar Lane students will receive their high school diplomas from their base schools, and the diploma reflects the name of their base school.

A few of the features that make Cedar Lane different from a base high school include:

• All of our classes are small groups (4-12 students per class).
• All of our staff knows all of the students by name, whether the student is in their class or not.
• All of our classes are taught by teachers certified in special education and our elective teachers are certified therapists in their program.
• Most of our classes have both a teacher and an instructional assistant.
• We have a full time clinical staff which includes two social workers and two psychologists.
• Each student in the school has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
• Several of our students participate in an elective called Personal Development where students work on social and emotional skills, as well as specific course intervention and enrichment.

Beliefs

We believe that success influences self-esteem, attitude, and motivation. These beliefs help to ensure a successful learning experience where students are responsible for themselves as learners striving to achieve their personal best. The Cedar Lane staff, students, and families, and other agencies work together to develop individualized educational programs. These programs encourage self-advocacy and also provide students with vocational opportunities and further resources to become productive members of society.