Months after New Suffolk residents voted to make the New Suffolk Common School non-instructional, the halls of the historic red schoolhouse on Fourth Street will once again be filled with students.

Just Kids Early Childhood Learning Center executive director Steven Hand confirmed that the organization signed a four-year lease with the district to bring 18 students back to the three-classroom school in September. The early childhood learning provider is leasing the building and playground but not the nearby ballfield owned by the district.

The annual payments to the district will total $54,216 and will increase by 3% each year with an option to renew every five years, Mr. Hand said.

The process for taking over the building, which is more than 100 years old, started around six months ago, Mr. Hand said.

“The building is wonderful for children, young children with autism,” Mr. Hand said. “When you walk in, it feels like you’re being hugged and it’s a very cozy comfortable space.”

Just Kids is a private early childhood program for young children aged 3 to 5 that provides a “variety of services and programming for students with and without special needs, including special education and related services, Universal Pre-Kindergarten, and child day care,” according to the organization’s website. Just Kids will work with Port Jefferson-based architecture firm JAG Architects to add a ramp to the building and make improvements to one of the bathrooms, Mr. Hand said.

Just Kids was introduced to the community at the New Suffolk School Board of Education’s June 10 meeting. This will be the organization’s second facility on the North Fork. The other is in Laurel.

Virginia Barry, Just Kid’s chief operating officer, said that they welcome volunteers.

“A school like this is such an opportunity for children and families” Ms. Barry said. “The community is very lucky to have this kind of program available.”

New Suffolk School Superintendent Joe Vasile-Cozzo said this is a “great program [to bring] to the kids that really need it on the East End. We’re excited to utilize our building in this way.”

Just Kids is planning to offer three classes with six students per class, ranging from kindergarten to second grade. The program will provide a number of resources for students, the majority of whom will be on the autism spectrum, according to Mr. Hand. Those resources include three special education teachers, individual teacher aides for the children as needed as well as an occupational therapist, speech therapist, physical therapist and a behavioral therapist.

Since 1907, the New Suffolk Common School District taught elementary grades in the facility and tuitioned secondary school students to neighboring communities. New Suffolk residents decided in March for the first time in more than a century to transition to a non-instructional school district, but can vote to return to an instructional model in the future.

The district’s board also remains intact and will consider seeking Southold Town landmark status for the building. The iconic red schoolhouse has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2002.