Recreational activities are a great way to provide safe and fun experiences where children can explore, make friends, decompress from the school year, stay physically active and learn new things, especially during summer months. Unfortunately not all activities, camps and programs accommodate children with special needs. For this reason, the Calais School developed a special half-day Extended School Year (ESY) Program designed specifically to address the unique challenges experienced by children with special needs all while in a nurturing environment.

While preventing academic regression is a large part of the program, the various recreational activities and weekly field trips are a significant part of the overall experience. Every morning students and staff start the day off together enjoying a group breakfast. Everyone comes together again for an afternoon meal as well. During this time the family style seating gives kids a chance to socialize and make friends. We have fun activities throughout the duration of the program including our annual badminton tournament and talent show. The Calais ESY Program also includes weekly outings which typically include trips to the local pool, Turtle Back Zoo, bowling, the Morris Museum, a mini golf outing and more.

Our ESY program includes K to Elementary and Middle School to 12 Plus levels. It is staffed by fully certified teachers and counselors from the academic school year program. Counselors, reading specialists, and learning disability teacher-consultants work with students daily. Additional therapeutic services include occupational therapy, Animal Adaptive Therapy, and good old-fashioned summer fun!

We also offer a summer SLE (Structured Learning Experience) program for our high school students which helps to reinforce the employment and work readiness skills students have worked so hard to develop during the school year. This ESY year we introduced a new SLE (Structured Learning Experience) opportunity with No Fuss Lunch, learn more about that experience from our recent blog post “Food for Thought”.