High Road School of Frederick County, a new school that’s part of the national organization Specialized Education Services Inc., is serving special education students in the county.

The school is not part of Frederick County Public Schools, but the district can refer students to the school through their Individualized Education Programs (IEP). High Road serves students living with emotional disabilities, autism and other health impairments.

Cullen King, the education director for High Road School of Frederick, said it focuses on academic progress while also providing behavioral support through social workers, behavior analysts and other staff members trained in verbal de-escalation.

“Our goal with that is when a student has a difficult time, or when a student is having trouble regulating their emotions, we can de-escalate those situations as quickly as possible to maximize academic time,” he said. “Also, in those moments, teach them the skills that they need to be more successful next time.”

High Road — on Broadband Drive in Frederick, near Monocacy Boulevard — began operating on Sept. 3.

Twenty students are enrolled — six elementary school students, eight middle school students and six high school students.

The school can accommodate up to 70 students from first grade through 12th grade, ages 6 to 21.

King said students in FCPS are referred to High Road through their IEPs. Most of the students currently enrolled at High Road are from FCPS.

King said students have begun building positive relationships with their classmates.

“The first quarter of the school year is always a lot of testing and doing things to make sure we can meet students’ needs, but it’s also been nice to see students make connections with the staff members and the other peers in their classrooms,” King said.

He said the school is governed and monitored by the Maryland State Department of Education.

Specialized Education Services Inc. is in 17 states and owns school buildings in Howard, Cecil, Harford, Anne Arundel, Montgomery, Prince George’s and Baltimore counties, according to the organization’s website.

Caroline, Dorchester and St. Mary’s counties have High Road Schools that serve students within the public schools they attend.

Before this school year, King said, some students living in Frederick County attended High Road schools in other counties to receive special education services.

“We were hoping to be able to bring a school here to the community, so that way, people can feel more connected and we could reach students a little bit further out west in Maryland,” he said.

The school provides several programs meant to transition students from a school environment to a work environment. These programs emphasize building the skills necessary to be productive at work after graduation, according to High Road’s website.

King said the school is structured and consistent, which is important, but also works to meet the students where they are and offer individual support for different needs.

“Our goal is to bring in students that we feel we can successfully and safely serve in the program,” he said.

He said if FCPS or any other school district in the state “feels like a school such as ours is an appropriate environment,” a student would get the opportunity to tour the school and meet with staff members before making a choice for enrollment.

“As the population continues to grow in Frederick, and hopefully the work that we do and that we pride ourselves on here goes well, we would expect that the student population would grow within our schools,” King said.

High Road finished the first quarter of the school year on Friday, the same day FCPS did.