Homeschool

Initial Planning & Notification:

• The state requires families notify their home school district of intent to homeschool every year.
• Learn about Colorado regulations for homeschooling. These are Colorado Revised Statutes 22-33-104.5 and 22-33-107.
• The district’s administrative offices and all schools have Notification of Intent to Home School forms available for your use. Standards and proficiencies as guidelines for grades K-8 may be provided upon request from TSD Learning Services.
• The district does not provide textbooks or curriculum for homeschooled students.
• Local Contacts:
1. LEAP - Thompson School District Homeschool Enrichment Access Program tsdleap.org, tsdleapschool@gmail.com 970-203-5489
2. Northern Colorado Home School Association –  http://www.ncha.info/
3. Probasco’s – 667-8819 – Homeschooling supplies & Christian book store
4. Salt & Light Learning – HomeSchool curriculum store - 278-0322
5. Elizabeth Ridgway – 970-532-5653 - private individual testing (Woodcock-Johnson IV), academic evaluations and homeschool coach

Thompson School District Home-Based Education Policy IHBG-R states (in part) the following:
In accordance with Colorado law, a parent or guardian of a student below the age of 16 who wants to establish a home-based educational program for that child shall comply with the procedures listed below:

• The parent/guardian shall submit the results to the district’s Learning Services staff or to an independent or parochial school within the state. 
• If the parent/guardian chooses an independent or parochial school, TSD's Learning Services must be given the name of the school.
• If the score is at or below the 13th percentile, the parent/guardian shall be given the opportunity to have the student retested using an alternate version of the same test or a different nationally standardized test selected by the parent/guardian from a list supplied by the State Board of Education.
• If the student’s composite score on a retest continues to be at or below the 13th percentile, the district shall take steps to require the parent/guardian to enroll the student in a public, independent or parochial school.
• Acceptance will be determined by the district on a space-available basis. Parents who wish to use this option should request information and follow timelines for pre-registration at their selected school. 
• To be eligible to participate in classes offered by the district,  home instruction students shall be enrolled and attending school by September 15, of the current year for at least 90 hours per semester. 
• Plan to teach four (4) hours per day, 172 days per year. 
• Students will be required to pay the material fees and course fees

Steps:

1. Prior to registering the student, the parent should select a curriculum appropriate to the needs of the child.
2. If the student proposed for enrollment has been declared habitually truant at any time during the last six months of his/her attendance at public school, the parent/guardian must also submit a written description of the curricula to be used in the program. This must be approved by the Director of Accountability/Accreditation or his/her designee.
3. The parent/guardian must certify in writing the name, age, place of residence and number of hours of attendance of each child enrolled in the program. 
4. The parent/guardian must maintain permanent records for each child enrolled in the program. These shall include, but need not be limited to, attendance data, test and evaluation results, and immunization records. 
5. Each student enrolled in the home-based educational program must be given a nationally standardized achievement test upon reaching grades three, five, seven, nine and eleven, or have his/her academic progress evaluated by a qualified person (Example: licensed teacher or counselor).  
6. If the student’s composite score on the test is above the 13th percentile, or the evaluation indicates that the student is making sufficient academic progress according to his/her ability, the student shall continue to be eligible for the home-based educational program.
7. Students who reside in the district and are registered for and receiving home instruction may apply for enrollment in classes offered by the district schools.

Services: Children with disabilities who would receive special education and related services, if they attended school full-time, are not entitled to those services if their parents elect to homeschool them. Those services are available if the student enrolls in a district school. IEP teams will issue a Prior Written Notice (PWN) to parents in the event a parent of a student with an IEP chooses homeschooling, explaining that the student will not have access to their specialized instruction and related services in the IEP while they are homeschooled. Thompson schools remain ready to serve students with disabilities should parents of homeschooled students choose to re-enroll their child in a district school.

• No nationally standardized achievement testing is available from the district.
• Home schooled students may take the current state standardized tests by notifying their neighborhood school of their desire to participate in the testing. The school will provide testing times/dates. Please note that state tests are NOT recognized as national standardized achievement tests.

Homeschooled students may participate in any R2-J school district’s athletic or activity program if they meet R2-J’s Board of Education and the Colorado High School Activity Association’s eligibility rules, namely that the student:

1. Can be certified by the neighborhood school as eligible in a consistent fashion with other students (high school only).
2. Meets age, physical exam, semester, and course load requirements.
3. Resides in the R2-J attendance area or has an out-of-district waiver which may be approved by the league and state to participate (high school only).
4. Paid the activity or athletic fee.

Homeschooled students in elementary and middle school must submit a homeschool transcript to their neighborhood school when re-enrolling.

• Transcripts for High School students need to be submitted to the Registrar at the receiving school.
• The Colorado State Academic Standards can be found at here.
• Provide 2 to 3 examples of how the homeschool curriculum aligns to CDE standards for the course(s) that need to be added to the Thompson School District transcript.
• Provide a list of courses and the date/semester the homeschool course was completed (no more than 8 per year).
• 65 hours equals .5 credit.

• To receive a Thompson School District graduation diploma, homeschooled students must be enrolled for the entire senior year and pass all proficiency tests, all embedded assessments, and all graduation requirements.