Homeschooling in West Virginia

Yes, you can do this here. West Virginia’s notice route asks for a one-time notice, five subjects, and an annual assessment for each child covered by it.

If you are wondering whether homeschooling works where you live, the answer in West Virginia is yes. State law provides two home instruction routes. This page focuses on the Notice of Intent option under section 18-8-1(c)(2), which CHEWV recommends as the ordinary route for families providing home instruction. Here is what it asks and how each piece gets handled.

Two home instruction routes, and which one this page covers

Section 18-8-1 of the West Virginia Code lists the ways a child may be exempt from compulsory public school attendance. Two of them are home instruction: the approval route in subsection (c)(1) and the notice route in subsection (c)(2).

The approval route asks the county board to approve your program, requires instruction “for a time equal to the instructional term” set in section 18-5-45, and leaves it to the county superintendent and county board to judge whether the instructor is qualified to teach the subjects required in public elementary schools. If a request is denied, the county board must give good and reasonable justification in writing. The Christian Home Educators of West Virginia describe this route as rarely used and do not recommend it.

The notice route works differently. Under section 18-8-1(c)(2) a family files notice rather than requesting approval, and the statute imposes no approval step and no waiting period. If your child is enrolled in a public school, the statute requires that notice be given on or before the date home instruction is to begin. The Department of Education describes it as a one-time notice of intent, so you do not refile it every year. Everything in the table below comes from this route.

The Hope Scholarship is different. It is a separate exemption, not a version of ordinary home instruction. A student who participates is exempt under section 18-8-1(m) and follows Article 31 of the code rather than section 18-8-1(c)(2). A family teaching at home through Hope uses what the program calls an Individualized Instructional Program.

The requirements differ in ways that matter. Hope has its own application through the Hope Scholarship portal, its own Notice of Intent filed with the county superintendent after the application is found eligible, and an annual continued participation confirmation submitted to the Board. For a family choosing the Individualized Instructional Program pathway, year-end academic reporting offers two methods rather than the four available under section 18-8-1(c)(2). Program deadlines, award amounts, and current expense rules can change. Review the current Hope Scholarship Parent Handbook before applying, because choosing Hope changes which requirements govern your family.

What section 18-8-1(c)(2) asks, and how to handle it

The list is shorter than most families expect. Give notice. Show that each person providing instruction holds the required education. Teach five subjects. Obtain an annual assessment for each child covered by the notice, keep each one, and submit each applicable child’s results in grades three, five, eight, and eleven.

What section 18-8-1(c)(2) asks for

  • A notice of intent to the county superintendent or county board giving the name, address, and age of each child of compulsory school age to be instructed, with assurance that the child will receive instruction in the five subjects and be assessed annually. The Department of Education describes this as a one-time notice
  • Qualifying educational evidence for each person providing home instruction: a high school diploma or equivalent, or a post-secondary degree or certificate from a regionally accredited institution or an institution authorized to confer one in West Virginia
  • Instruction in reading, language, mathematics, science, and social studies
  • One academic assessment every year for each child covered by the notice, using any one of the four methods the statute allows
  • Copies of each student’s academic assessment kept for three years
  • Assessment results submitted to the county superintendent at grade levels three, five, eight, and eleven, by June 30 of the year the assessment was administered

How to handle it

  • No particular form is required. WVDE and CHEWV each publish an optional form. CHEWV recommends, as practical guidance, sending the notice by return receipt mail so you know the county received it
  • Submit qualifying evidence to the county superintendent or designee, and keep a copy for your records
  • Hundreds of courses across all five. The Department of Education says parents “may choose any curriculum they see fit”
  • Choose and arrange one of the four methods permitted by law. SchoolhouseTeachers.com does not provide the legal assessment. See the explanation below
  • Keep each assessment on file. Portfolio Builder organizes your student’s work and records year to year
  • Only those four grades. In other years you keep the result rather than sending it

What section 18-8-1(c)(2) asks for

How to handle it

  • A notice of intent to the county superintendent or county board giving the name, address, and age of each child of compulsory school age to be instructed, with assurance that the child will receive instruction in the five subjects and be assessed annually. The Department of Education describes this as a one-time notice
  • No particular form is required. WVDE and CHEWV each publish an optional form. CHEWV recommends, as practical guidance, sending the notice by return receipt mail so you know the county received it
  • Qualifying educational evidence for each person providing home instruction: a high school diploma or equivalent, or a post-secondary degree or certificate from a regionally accredited institution or an institution authorized to confer one in West Virginia
  • Submit qualifying evidence to the county superintendent or designee, and keep a copy for your records
  • Instruction in reading, language, mathematics, science, and social studies
  • Hundreds of courses across all five. The Department of Education says parents “may choose any curriculum they see fit”
  • One academic assessment every year for each child covered by the notice, using any one of the four methods the statute allows
  • Choose and arrange one of the four methods permitted by law. SchoolhouseTeachers.com does not provide the legal assessment. See the explanation below
  • Copies of each student’s academic assessment kept for three years
  • Keep each assessment on file. Portfolio Builder organizes your student’s work and records year to year
  • Assessment results submitted to the county superintendent at grade levels three, five, eight, and eleven, by June 30 of the year the assessment was administered
  • Only those four grades. In other years you keep the result rather than sending it

The four assessment methods deserve a plain word, because families often think there is only one. First, a nationally normed standardized achievement test covering reading, language, mathematics, science, and social studies, published or normed not more than ten years from the date of administration, given under the test’s published instructions by a person qualified in accordance with the test’s published guidelines. Progress is acceptable when the mean of the results in the required subject areas is within or above the fourth stanine, or, if below the fourth stanine, shows improvement from the previous year’s results. Second, the testing program currently in use in the state’s public schools, administered at a public school in your county of residence. Third, a portfolio of samples of your student’s work reviewed by a certified teacher, who writes a narrative about progress in the five subjects and notes any area that in the reviewer’s professional opinion shows a need for improvement or remediation. Fourth, an alternative academic assessment of proficiency mutually agreed upon by the parent or legal guardian and the county superintendent.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com does not provide the standardized test, the public school test, the certified teacher’s determination, or the mutually agreed alternative. What it does is keep the year’s work in order behind whichever method you choose. The Education Plan Builder and Custom Schedule Builder hold your plan and schedule, Schoolhouse Gradebook and Applecore Record Keeping hold grades and records, and Portfolio Builder organizes the work samples a reviewer would look at if you choose the portfolio method. If you choose public school testing, CHEWV suggests contacting the school early enough to make arrangements.

Your West Virginia year

When compulsory attendance applies. Compulsory attendance begins with the school year in which the sixth birthday is reached prior to July 1, or upon enrolling in a full-time publicly funded kindergarten program, and continues to the seventeenth birthday or for as long as the student remains enrolled in a school system after that.

Before you begin. Give notice to the county superintendent or county board. If your child is currently enrolled in a public school, the statute requires that notice be given on or before the date home instruction is to begin. Under this route you are not waiting for approval.

Once, not every year. The Department of Education describes the notice of intent as a one-time filing. You do not send a new one each year.

If you move to another county. Notify your previous county superintendent and submit a new notice of intent to the superintendent of your new county.

If you stop. Notify the county superintendent upon termination of home instruction for a child of compulsory attendance age.

Once each year. Obtain an academic assessment for each child covered by the notice for the previous school year, using one of the four permitted methods, and keep each assessment for three years.

By June 30, in four grades only. Submit each applicable child’s results to the county superintendent at grade levels three, five, eight, and eleven.

If an assessment does not show acceptable progress. Begin a remedial program. The county board on request will tell you in writing what services are available to assess eligibility for special education, and the statute says identification of a disability “does not preclude the continuation of home schooling.” If a second consecutive year does not show acceptable progress, submit additional evidence to the county superintendent that appropriate instruction is being provided.

Graduation. A person administering a qualifying secondary home school program may issue a diploma or other appropriate credential to a student who completes the program. West Virginia law recognizes that credential as legally sufficient and prohibits a state agency or institution of higher learning from treating a person differently solely because of its source.

Some counties send families their own form and ask for a plan of instruction, the number of instructional minutes per subject per day, or the number of instructional days per year. CHEWV points out that while this may be required under the approval route in subsection (c)(1), it is not a requirement under subsection (c)(2), and that the Code does not authorize a county to require you to name your assessment method in advance. The Department of Education states that parents providing home instruction “do not have a set instructional year.” If a county asks for more than the law requires, CHEWV can help.

What comes with one membership

The Curriculum Lane. Hundreds of courses for preschool through twelfth grade, written from a Biblical worldview. Interactive iST courses, Virtual School Boxes, World Book Online, and thousands of family-friendly videos. Under the notice route, West Virginia names five subjects and leaves the choice of curriculum to you.

The Records Lane. The Homeschool Records & Compliance Center, with the Education Plan Builder, Custom Schedule Builder, Portfolio Builder, Applecore Record Keeping, Schoolhouse Gradebook, and more, including Certificates of Completion for every course. Transcript templates and tools that members use to prepare their own transcripts.

One membership covers every child in your house. No fee per child. No fee per course.

“This online curriculum has so many options! It is so nice to be able to have many different options to include video. I have been using SchoolhouseTeachers.com for many years and recommend it highly to anyone!”

Dawn Runge, SchoolhouseTeachers.com member

You do not need a teaching degree

Under the notice route, each person providing home instruction must submit evidence of a high school diploma or its equivalent, or a qualifying post-secondary degree or certificate. The Department of Education states that parents providing home instruction “are not required to be certified teachers.” No teaching certificate and no college degree are required when the high school credential satisfies the statute, and no one approves your curriculum.

Your child is being discipled either way, whether at your kitchen table or in a classroom across town. Someone is answering the big questions. Someone is teaching whom he answers to. You get to be the one.

Questions? Call 1.888.718.HOME or email customerservice@theoldschoolhouse.com. A real homeschooler answers.

Requirements vary and change. Confirm current statutory requirements with the West Virginia Department of Education before filing. Contact the county superintendent’s office for submission instructions, and consult CHEWV if a local form requests information beyond section 18-8-1(c)(2). Confirm Hope Scholarship requirements directly with the Hope Scholarship Board before applying. SchoolhouseTeachers.com provides curriculum and recordkeeping tools. It is not a school, it is not accredited, and nothing on this page is legal advice.

Sources: W. Va. Code §§ 18-8-1, 18-8-1a, 18-8-12, 18-31-7, and 18-31-8; guidance published by the West Virginia Department of Education; the current Hope Scholarship Parent Handbook; and guidance from the Christian Home Educators of West Virginia.

Last reviewed: August 2026