Twenty-five Brooklyn preschoolers with disabilities and complex developmental needs put on caps and gowns Wednesday, marking the end of a two-year journey that saw some children go from nonverbal to speaking their first words. The graduation ceremony for Helen Keller Services’ Children’s Learning Center brought together families, educators, therapists and community leaders at St. Francis College in Downtown Brooklyn.
Vanessa Jackson, whose son entered the program nonverbal, said he graduated able to speak, according to the Brooklyn Paper. Most of the children in this year’s graduating class entered the program at age three and received specialized support for two years before preparing to enter kindergarten this fall, per the same report. Dr. Avien Henry, principal of the Children’s Learning Center, said families and teachers alike saw how far the children had progressed over that time.
A Ceremony Rooted in Nearly Four Decades of Service
The Brooklyn program has served children with special needs and their families for nearly 40 years, according to the Brooklyn Paper’s reporting. The Children’s Learning Center serves children ages three to five with autism, Down syndrome, multiple disabilities, complex developmental needs, blindness or low vision, and it relies on a multidisciplinary team of teachers, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists and vision specialists to help children build the communication, motor and social skills needed for the transition into kindergarten.
Dr. Sue Ruzenski, CEO of Helen Keller Services, said the ceremony celebrated not just the students but also their families, teachers and therapists. Tim Cecere, president of St. Francis College, welcomed the graduates to the campus that hosted the event. Elected officials also turned out for the occasion: New York State Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon, who represents District 52, and Deputy Brooklyn Borough President Rev. Kimberly Council both attended, while Anna Aguilar represented State Senator Andrew Gounardes at the ceremony.
Brooklyn's Only Program of Its Kind
The Downtown Brooklyn center is the only preschool facility in New York City exclusively specialized in serving children who are blind or visually impaired alongside complex developmental conditions such as autism and Down syndrome, according to Helen Keller Services. The center is housed within the organization’s headquarters at 180 Livingston Street, where it relocated in 2018 after selling its longtime Willoughby Street property, per the Brooklyn Eagle. Helen Keller Services traces its roots to 1893, when it was founded in Brooklyn as the Industrial Home for the Blind before adopting its current name in 1985 to honor its longtime friend and advocate.
Classrooms at the center follow an 8:1:2 ratio, pairing eight children with one certified special education teacher and two assistant teachers, alongside on-site nurses, social workers and therapists. To support communication and motor development, the program also runs weekly music and dance therapy sessions in partnership with the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and the Mark Morris Dance Group. Helen Keller Services opened a seventh classroom at the Brooklyn site in November 2025, ahead of this year’s graduation.
Expansion Aims to Ease a Statewide Shortage
Helen Keller Services is now planning to expand its specialized preschool services to Long Island, a move the Brooklyn Paper reports will bring a multidisciplinary approach to children with disabilities and developmental needs in Nassau and Suffolk counties. In June, the organization broke ground on a new Children’s Learning Center at 11 Oval Drive in Islandia, marking its first preschool presence in Suffolk County, and announced a second site at 303 Sunnyside Boulevard in Plainview in Nassau County, according to News 12 Long Island. Together, the two locations are expected to serve up to 120 children annually starting this year, with no tuition or out-of-pocket costs for families since funding flows through the New York State Preschool Special Education Program under Section 4410 of state education law.
The suburban expansion arrives amid a documented statewide crunch in special education preschool access. A December 2024 audit by the Office of the New York State Comptroller found that 83% of surveyed school districts in New York maintained waitlists for preschool special education services due to a severe shortage of providers. The same audit found that 93% of 550 surveyed districts reported provider shortages overall, while the State Education Department reviewed compliance for only one-sixth of districts each year. State law under Section 4410 mandates that early childhood special education placements happen within 60 days of parental consent, a timeline that shortages like these can make difficult to meet.
Against that backdrop, Wednesday’s graduation offered a rare, concrete example of the outcomes such programs can produce for children with the most complex needs. As the 25 Brooklyn graduates head toward kindergarten classrooms this fall, Helen Keller Services is betting that its low-ratio, multidisciplinary model can be replicated on Long Island to reach families still waiting for a spot.
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