Helen Keller Services held a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday alongside local officials for a new Children’s Learning Center preschool in Islandia - marking the organization’s first expansion of its specialized early‑childhood program into Suffolk County.

The center, which will be located at 11 Oval Drive, will feature six classrooms and serve 50 to 60 children who are blind, have low vision or have complex developmental needs, according to CEO Susan Ruzenski.

“Today is a day we have been waiting for,” Ruzenski said at the ceremony. “We’re bringing our exceptional educational preschool services here to Suffolk County… And we can’t wait to meet the families and the children and begin the school year.”

The Islandia site is modeled after the organization’s Brooklyn Children’s Learning Center, which has operated for nearly 40 years and provides individualized education supported by teachers, therapists, specialists, nurses, and family‑support staff. The Brooklyn program serves children ages 3 to 5 with autism, Down syndrome, visual impairments, hearing impairments and multiple disabilities.

Avien Henry, principal of the Brooklyn preschool, said the Long Island expansion follows years of research showing a shortage of early-childhood special education placements in the region.

“We’re hoping to fill that gap,” Henry said. "We are very hopeful that everyone will be so excited for the school to open."

The Long Island expansion aims to bring its proven multidisciplinary model closer to families who often face long waitlists for specialized preschool programs, according to Helen Keller Services. And, they say, there is no tuition or out-out-pocket cost for eligible families, as the services are covered by the New York State Preschool Special Education Program.

Ruzenski called the groundbreaking a milestone years in the making.

“It began with just an idea, then it became a goal,” she said. “It has energized the entire staff… and shown how they can be agile and just be creative.”

Helen Keller Services will also begin construction of a Children's Learning Center in Plainview, Nassau County, with a groundbreaking to be scheduled in the near future. Both the Islandia and Plainview preschools will open in the fall. Each will start with four classrooms and eventually expand to six. Combined, they will service up to 120 students annually.