SPECIAL EDUCATION DAY EVENTS & IDEAS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY
Hello!
Since you asked,
Thank you for your interest in celebrating Special Education Day. Here are examples of celebrations around the country. As you can see, they range from very basic to more elaborate events. They all bring people together to celebrate effective education for all students, including students with disabilities.
Some background information about Special Education Day.
This holiday is listed in Chase’s Calendar of Events. www.specialeducationday.com;
https://rowman.com/Page/Chases. It occurs annually on December 2.
December 2, 1975 was when President Gerald Ford signed the nation’s first special education law. His signing statement inspired a small group of us in Massachusetts to establish this holiday and get it included in Chase’s Calendar of Events. 2025 marks the 20th anniversary of this holiday—as well as the 50th anniversary of the special education law (the IDEA).
The signing statement speaks to both the hopes/dreams of this new law, and some of its challenges. It can be found at: http://www.ford.utexas.edu/LIBRARY/SPEECHES/750707.htm.
Our Massachusetts holiday’s themes have been three-part: Dreams, Realities, Possibilities. Over the years, we gathered school professionals, parents, education department administrators, legislators, and others. See below for our on-going reform that grew out of our celebrations, SpedEx Consultation. For more information about SpedEx, please visit https://sites.bc.edu/spedexconsultation/
A quick search online for Special Education Day shows that it is celebrated far and wide by many groups.
Here are some examples:
https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-special-education-day-december-2
https://www.cta.org/event/day-of-special-education/2025-12-02
https://cld.gsu.edu/2020/12/02/national-special-education-day/
https://bridgingapps.org/what-is-national-special-education-day/#:~:text=In%202005%20(the%2030th,those%20working%20to%20achieve%20them.&text=If%20you%20missed%20Special%20Education,be%20a%20big%20year!)
https://www.flaglerschools.com/about-us/news/details/~board/district-news/post/december-2nd-
2024-is-national-special-education-day https://www.conovercompany.com/celebrating-special-education-day/
https://www.lausd.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&ModuleInstanceID=36240&ViewID=7b97f7ed-
8e5e-4120-848f-a8b4987d588f&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=100511&PageID=12578
https://ies.ed.gov/learn/blog/national-special-education-day-looking-back-move-forward
Here are highlights of celebrations that have been shared with us before this year… from around the
country and from Mexico.
1. Massachusetts celebrations brought together educators, parents, and other interested parties for an event usually lasting two hours. We held the events in the afternoon or morning. We have included celebratory remarks (and balloons!) about special education’s success, remarks/ discussion about challenges that educators, students and parents face, and reform ideas for the future. Among the reforms that Special Education Day brought forth is SpedEx Consultation, the successful, voluntary, alternative dispute resolution model that is funded by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. For more information about SpedEx Consultation, please visit https://sites.bc.edu/spedexconsultation/
2. An Alaska school district held a basic celebration, consisting of an information table outside the special education office. The table held copies of a written timeline of special education, a history of Special Education Day, candies, and balloons. No event was planned.
3. A Maryland high school president of her student council organized a luncheon to honor teachers and students. School administrators spoke at the event—and gifts were given to the honorees. We heard that a good time was had by all and the school plans to make it an annual event.
4. A New Jersey special education teacher sent us information about their celebration last year. The school had a "football theme," with a "one goal, one team" slogan. “We wanted to show the students and staff that even with all of our differences, we are together as one. Each student decorated a personal football jersey and we put them on a huge bulletin board…. At the end of the day, we had an assembly.”
The teacher described it further. Throughout the week leading up to December 2, students practiced singing Bruno Mars’ song, "Count on Me." Then all students came to the gym, stood in a circle holding hands with different props—singing the song together.
In sum, “It really felt as if we were all united and working together despite our differences.”
5. A South Carolina middle school honored their “awesome” teachers and students to “make our school family feel as loved and appreciated as possible!”
6. One Maine college created posters to mark Special Education Day and facilitated conversation and awareness about services available to students.
7. We also heard from many other celebrants, including:
a. A program specialist in the San Francisco Bay area, CA
b. An assistant principal in Gwinnett County, GA
c. A special education PTA representative in CO
d. A school psychologist in WI
e. Two special education teachers in NJ
f. A preschool teacher in Mexico
g. A secretary in the special education office in CA
h. A high school student in TX
i. An educator in a small school district in Ohio
8. Please send us news of your event so we can add to this innovative and celebratory list of possibilities. It looks like these events are creative, inclusive, and fun!
We hope this information is helpful to you in planning your event. As you can see, whatever you decide to plan and do will further the goals of Special Education Day: a day to mark the achievement of this law (dreams!), to acknowledge its challenges (realities!), and to reform education for all (possibilities!).
If you hold an event, please share the information with us—so we can add to this bank of celebration options.
If you have questions or concerns, please email to info@specialeducationday.com.
Happy Special Education Day!
