Mission Statement

The mission of Cedar Lane School is to provide a small, structured, and nurturing environment that supports the academic, social-emotional, vocational and behavioral growth of every student. The mission of Cedar Lane is grounded in Excellence, Equity and Opportunity. By grounding our mission in excellence, equity, and opportunity, we can create a school where all students can thrive.  We believe that every student deserves the opportunity to reach their full potential, regardless of their background or circumstances. We are dedicated to creating a learning environment that is inclusive, supportive, and challenging for all students. 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 is located in Vienna, VA and serves students in the western part of the school district, while the Quander Road School  offers a similar program for students in the Eastern  part of the county. Admission is on a rolling basis. With approximately 100 students in the school at any one time, students may transition back to their base high schools as needed, not necessarily staying at Cedar Lane from ninth grade until graduation.

Similar to a neighborhood 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. If appropriate, Cedar Lane students can access sports at their base schools or students can also participate onsite in basketball, environmental projects, community services,  and weekly after school clubs, which include a variety of student driven choices.

Cedar Road offers classes for standard and applied studied diplomas, but the students will receive the high school diplomas from their base schools.

A few of the features that make Cedar Lane different from a neighborhood 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.

• All of our classes are taught by teachers certified in special education.

• Many of our classes have both a teacher and an instructional assistant.

• We have full time clinical staff which includes two social workers and two psychologists.

• Each student in the school has an Independent Education Plan (IEP).

• Most students participate in an elective called Personal Development where students work on social and emotional skills, as well as specific course intervention and enrichment.

• We offer small group electives to include Art, Music, Gourmet Foods, HPE 9 and 10 and Driver Ed.

• Cedar Lane has four full- time Clinicians.