What is an Extended School Year?

📌 Extended School Year (ESY) is a special education service for students with disabilities that continue beyond the regular school year. ESY is different from regular summer school. It provides one-on-one teaching designed to stop students from losing important skills during long breaks from school. The federal law called IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) requires these services, and families don't have to pay for them[1][2][3]. Think of ESY as helping students keep the skills they've worked hard to learn, rather than teaching them new things.

✅ ELIGIBILITY: Not every student with disabilities gets ESY services automatically. Each year, the student's IEP team (the group that creates their education plan) looks at information about how much the student forgets during breaks and how long it takes them to remember what they learned[4][5]. Students who lose a lot of skills during breaks or need a very long time (usually eight weeks or more) to get back to where they were often qualify for ESY[6]. Students with serious learning challenges, emotional problems, or multiple disabilities usually benefit the most from these services[7].

⚙️IMPLEMENTATION: ESY programs usually happen during summer vacation, but they can take place during any long school break[1][3]. These services became official federal law in 1997 with IDEA[3]. Programs can be held in many different places - some are in regular school classrooms, others are in special buildings[8][9][10]. Each school district runs their programs differently, and they design the services to meet each student's specific needs rather than using the same plan for everyone[9][10].

🎯 PURPOSE: ESY helps with several important educational needs, not just preventing students from forgetting what they learned. For students with severe disabilities, these services help them keep important life skills that help them be more independent[2]. ESY also provides steady support for students who are close to learning important new skills, making sure their progress doesn't get interrupted[2]. Teachers measure how well ESY works by checking if students kept their skills, not by seeing if they learned new ones. They compare what students could do before and after ESY to see if the program helped prevent them from losing abilities[5]. This focused approach makes sure students get the support they need to keep making progress, even when school is out.