For 23 years, the author worked with high school students from a wide range of language backgrounds and widely differing circumstances. What they all had in common was that they were all developing competence and confidence in academic English. One of the challenges in teaching them was that some students had traveled back and forth between the United States and their country of origin, alternating between school systems and languages, and frequently missing periods of formal schooling entirely. Without a carefully thought-out system of support these students may end up feeling overwhelmed and fail. Throughout her teaching career in New York, the author developed ideas on how to best support these students. Among the challenges of supporting Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFE) includes the fact that they come from vastly different backgrounds and experiences. Before identifying any specific academic strategies a few basic practices in the classroom that support SIFE students are suggested. Supports for these students come in two broad categories--systemic and academic. Examples of various strategies, and ways in which systemic and academic supports are implemented in the classroom landscape are discussed.