How to Start Homeschooling in Virginia

Yes. Homeschooling is legal in Virginia. Under Va. Code Section 22.1-254.1, when its requirements are met, instruction of children by their parents is an acceptable alternative form of education under the policy of the Commonwealth.

Section 22.1-254.1 creates four options for families who want to teach at home. A separate pathway exists under a different statute, Va. Code Section 22.1-254(B)(1). That is the religious exemption, for a pupil who, together with the parents, is conscientiously opposed to school attendance by reason of bona fide religious training or belief.

Here is the one thing to understand before you go further. Virginia treats "home instruction" and "religious exemption" as separate legal systems. They live in different sections of the Virginia Code and follow different rules. Home instruction (Options I through IV) comes with an annual notice and annual evidence of progress. The religious exemption is a request to your local school board instead.

The Virginia Department of Education publishes guidance and a Sample Notice of Intent to Provide Home Instruction on its home instruction page.

Virginia's compulsory attendance law covers a child who will have reached the fifth birthday on or before September 30 of the school year and who has not passed the eighteenth birthday. This comes from Va. Code Section 22.1-254(A).

Here is something useful to know. If your child will not have reached the sixth birthday on or before September 30, and you believe your child is not mentally, physically, or emotionally prepared for school, you may notify the school board that you do not wish your child to attend until the following year. That delays attendance for one year.

Also helpful: the annual evidence of progress does not apply to children under age 6 as of September 30 of the school year.

Here is how to start homeschooling in Virginia, step by step.

Step 1: Choose your pathway. Hold a high school diploma? Option I fits. Are you a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education? Option II fits. Option III works if you provide your child with a program of study or curriculum, which may be delivered through a correspondence course, a distance learning program, or in any other manner. Option IV is for parents who provide evidence that they are able to provide an adequate education for the child. If your faith leads you and your child to oppose school attendance, look into the religious exemption under Section 22.1-254(B)(1).

Step 2: Write your Notice of Intent. The statute does not require a specific form, and VDOE offers a sample notice of intent on its home instruction page. Your notice states your intention to provide home instruction and includes a description of the curriculum, which the statute limits to a list of subjects to be studied during the coming year, plus evidence that you meet one of the four options. For Option I, that is your high school diploma. You do not need lesson plans or a detailed program description.

Step 3: Send your Notice of Intent by August 15. Send it to the superintendent of your local school division. This deadline comes every year. Starting home instruction after the school year has begun, or moving into a new division? Notify the division superintendent as soon as practicable, and then meet the remaining requirements within 30 days of that notice. Keep a copy.

Step 4: Withdraw from school. If your child is enrolled, Virginia law does not require a separate withdrawal letter, but a short note to the school keeps things clear. File your Notice of Intent with the superintendent first or at the same time. Some schools may have their own withdrawal form.

Step 5: Start teaching. The statute does not set a waiting period or an approval step for your notice.

Step 6: Send evidence of progress by August 1. After each school year of home instruction, send the division superintendent evidence that your child is making progress. Your choices are: a composite score in or above the fourth stanine on any nationally normed standardized achievement test, or an equivalent score on the ACT, SAT, or PSAT; or an evaluation or assessment that the division superintendent determines shows adequate educational growth and progress, such as an evaluation letter from a person licensed to teach in any state or a person with a master's degree or higher in an academic discipline, or a report card or transcript from a college, college distance learning program, or home-education correspondence school. Children under age 6 as of September 30 are exempt from this requirement.

Virginia homeschool requirements come down to two annual filings for Options I through IV, both sent to the division superintendent.

Notice of Intent (due August 15). State your intention to provide home instruction, list the subjects to be studied during the coming year, and include evidence that you meet one of the four options. Option I: your high school diploma. Option II: evidence that you are a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education. Option III: evidence that you provide a program of study or curriculum. Option IV: evidence that you are able to provide an adequate education for your child.

Evidence of progress (due August 1). Send standardized test results with a composite score in or above the fourth stanine on any nationally normed standardized achievement test (or an equivalent ACT, SAT, or PSAT score), or an evaluation or assessment the division superintendent determines shows adequate growth and progress, such as an evaluation letter from a person licensed to teach in any state or a person with a master's degree or higher, or a report card or transcript from a college, college distance learning program, or home-education correspondence school.

For the religious exemption, the process is different. The request goes to your local school board, not the superintendent. Under Section 22.1-254(B)(1), "bona fide religious training or belief" does not include essentially political, sociological, or philosophical views or a merely personal moral code. The statute sets no filing deadline or annual renewal, so ask your school board how it handles requests and whether it expects anything further.

Annual evidence of progress is required for Options I through IV under Section 22.1-254.1(C). It is due to the division superintendent by August 1 following each school year of home instruction.

You have two kinds of evidence to choose from.

Standardized test. A composite score in or above the fourth stanine on any nationally normed standardized achievement test, or an equivalent score on the ACT, SAT, or PSAT.

Evaluation or assessment. An evaluation or assessment that the division superintendent determines shows your child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress. Examples in the statute include an evaluation letter from a person licensed to teach in any state, or a person with a master's degree or higher in an academic discipline, who knows your child's academic progress; or a report card or transcript from an institution of higher education, a college distance learning program, or a home-education correspondence school.

Children under age 6 as of September 30 are exempt from this requirement.

What if the evidence is not provided? The program may be placed on probation for one year. You file evidence of your ability to provide an adequate education and a remediation plan for the probationary year with the division superintendent. If the superintendent accepts them, home instruction continues for the probationary year. If the plan and evidence are not accepted, or the required evidence of progress is not provided by August 1 after the probationary year, home instruction must stop and you would make other arrangements under Section 22.1-254. If you disagree with a decision of the division superintendent, you may appeal within 30 days to an independent hearing officer.

You can choose a different kind of evidence from year to year.

Virginia offers four home instruction options and a separate religious exemption. Here is a quick look at each.

Option I. You hold a high school diploma. File your Notice of Intent by August 15 and evidence of progress by August 1.

Option II. You are a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education. Same notice and progress requirements as Option I.

Option III. You provide your child with a program of study or curriculum, which may be delivered through a correspondence course, a distance learning program, or in any other manner. Same notice and progress requirements.

Option IV. You provide evidence that you are able to provide an adequate education for your child. Same notice and progress requirements.

Religious Exemption. A school board shall excuse a pupil who, together with the parents, is conscientiously opposed to school attendance by reason of bona fide religious training or belief. The request goes to your local school board. Political, sociological, or philosophical views or a merely personal moral code do not qualify. The statute sets no annual renewal, so confirm with your school board what it expects, including whether any assessment applies.

Options I through IV all share the August 15 notice and August 1 evidence of progress. The religious exemption follows a different process through your school board.

Two dates to remember. August 15 for your Notice of Intent. August 1 for your evidence of progress. Mark them now.

Moving to a new school division? Notify the new division superintendent as soon as practicable, then meet the remaining requirements within 30 days of that notice.

Do not over-report. Your curriculum description is limited to a list of subjects. Virginia home instruction law does not require attendance logs, grade books, or portfolios.

Keep copies of everything. Save every notice, every piece of progress evidence, and all correspondence with the superintendent's office.

Your information stays local. A division superintendent or local school board may not share the information you provide for home instruction or the religious exemption with the Department of Education or anyone outside the division without your written consent. The division may report only the number of home-instructed students.

Superintendent vs. school board. For Options I through IV, you file with the division superintendent. For the religious exemption, your request goes to the local school board.

Special needs children. When you withdraw a child with an IEP, the school stops providing IEP services. Under Virginia's special education regulations (8VAC20-81-150), home-instructed students are treated as parentally placed private school children. A child designated to receive services gets a services plan, which is more limited than an IEP. Contact your local school division to ask what is available. For the evidence of progress, an evaluation letter lets the evaluator consider your child's specific growth.

AP, PSAT, and PreACT exams. School boards must make AP, PSAT/NMSQT, and PreACT exams available to home-instructed students, set a registration date, and tell you about it and about financial help for low-income students.

Part-time courses. Virginia law contemplates home-instructed students enrolling in public school courses on a less than full-time basis. Ask your school division what is available and how to sign up.