The Initial Educational Staff Associate (ESA) course is intended for health professionals to transition to public school service. This includes current or soon-to-be nurses, behavior analysts, orientation & mobility specialists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, social workers, counselors, psychologists, and speech language pathologists or audiologists who wish to work in a school setting in Washington state.
This course satisfies the Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) requirement of 15 clock hours/one semester of course work required as one piece of obtaining the Initial ESA Certification requirements in Washington State for School health specialists as detailed on the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) website. Please visit the OSPI website for further information about ESA requirements for your specialty.
This course is an online course, administered through Canvas. Participants should have continuous, reliable internet access and be proficient in utilizing online technology. Participants are not required to be at the computer at a specific time; it is an asynchronous course that runs over six weeks. The course is broken into four modules, each of which has content to be completed by the assigned deadlines.
Certification requirements and ESA application questions should be directed to OSPI. We provide the ESA course requirement only; we cannot answer questions regarding the certification or application requirements.
The Puget Sound Educational Service District (PSESD) also offers this course a few times a year via Zoom. Please visit the PSESD website for more information.
2026-2027 ESA Offerings:
Fall 2026: October 12-November 21, 2026
Winter 2027: January 11-February 20, 2027
Spring 2027: April 12-May 22, 2027
Summer 2027: June 28-August 7, 2027