What does ESY stand for? ESY stands for Extended School Year. Extended School Year is different from traditional Summer School in that students qualify for ESY through the Individualized Education Planning Process.
For Giant Steps and many private day schools, extended school year is meant to be a time to focus on maintaining skills that were introduced during the school year. Students continue to work on their IEP goals and access their program’s curriculum (e.g. Math, English, Social Studies/Science, Physical Education, Career Exploration, Life Skills, Community Based Instruction, and a variety of electives) and therapeutic services.
Giant Steps Therapeutic Day School staff and students resumed remote learning on Monday, June 22, 2020 for ESY. ESY for this summer will look different from last year. Typically during ESY, in addition to working on IEP goals, curriculum, and receiving therapeutic services, classrooms have the opportunity to attend a few field trips to a variety of locations including water parks, indoor bounce houses, bowling, and more. Additionally, the entire Day School typically attends a field trip put on by the Tri-City Chargers Football team, which has been postponed until next summer.
We hope to see the Tric-City Chargers Football team in Summer of 2021! We miss you!
This summer, ESY will be conducted remotely with teachers and therapy team members continuing to support students through live stream opportunities and resources that are emailed and/or mailed home to families. Live stream opportunities include 1:1 sessions with teachers and therapy team members, small group sessions that focus on academics and living skills, and small group sessions focusing on any of our therapeutic areas, including speech and language, occupational therapy, music therapy, behavior supports, and social work.