Singing Lessons and Voice Coaching for Homeschool Students in Arizona.

Homeschool singer practicing her lesson at home

Did you know that over 1 million Arizona students are not part of the state's public school system? Most attend private schools, and many are homeschooled. These children often have access to private music lessons at no cost to their families. When I inform my students' families about the availability of free lessons, they are often surprised.

How is this possible, you might ask? It's through the Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Account. The ESA covers music lessons, including voice lessons and activities, with certified, approved teachers like myself who accept ESA students.

How did this program start? The AZ Empowerment Scholarship program was initiated to support families with special needs children who felt public schools didn't meet their educational needs. The homeschool program expanded to serve 10,000 families by 2022, most of whom are not in special education programs. ESA funds a variety of resources for homeschool families, including educational tutoring. Private music lessons fall under this tutoring category! Many families are unaware that private music lessons and community music activities are included in this lesser-known program.

How can you ensure the teacher or tutor is certified through the program? ESA does not provide a list of tutors and teachers to families. Parents are expected to find this information independently! Each teacher offering services through the ESA must be registered and certified with the agency, providing all necessary credentials to be on their approved list. The program prohibits relatives or family friends from teaching related students.

How do families hire teachers or tutors? All teachers in the program must submit credentials to the ESA. The student's application must be approved first. When a family chooses a teacher, the teacher's credentials must be attached to their request form. Even if a teacher is registered and approved by ESA, the family must repeatedly attach the teacher's credentials to each student's application, including siblings.

Who can apply? To apply, the student must have attended public school for the first 100 days of the previous year. After this initial 100-day public school enrollment, parents can renew the scholarship annually without any prior year public school attendance.

Are you interested in the scholarship? If you want to learn more about the ESA program, please visit the following link https://azed.gov/esa and help your child explore their musical world!