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Empowerment Scholarship Account
Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) Program
Desert Hills Community School of Music is an approved vendor for music instruction through the State of Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program. Families who qualify for ESA funding can choose to use a portion of it on group or private lessons at DHCSM. The ability to use ESA funds for DHCSM instruction is the result of an expansion of the ESA
program, which went into effect on September 24, 2022. The expansion allows eligible students outside the public school system to use public funding for a variety of educational expenses, including music instruction.
Who Qualifies for the ESA Program?
Any student who is not enrolled in a public school (including district, charter and public online programs) may be eligible for Arizona’s ESA program. In essence, this includes students at private schools and students who are home-schooled, as well as some other students in unique categories (click here to view the full list). The idea behind the ESA is that since the state of Arizona is not paying to educate these students, they are making those educational dollars available to the families. Eligible students receive 90% of the state aid that would have gone to the student’s school had they enrolled in the public school system.
Students must be enrolled in the ESA program to use ESA funds for DHCSM tuition.
To pay for DHCSM classes with ESA funds, you can use your prepaid debit card from ClassWallet, or you can pay DHCSM directly and submit your invoice for reimbursement through ESA’s ClassWallet system.
For more information about the ESA program, visit the Arizona Department of Education’s ESA information page at www.azed.gov/esa.
34605 N. Tom Darlington Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85266
(480) 869-7660