Homeschooling in North Carolina

Yes, you can do this here. North Carolina asks for less than you think.

If you are wondering whether homeschooling really works where you live, the answer in North Carolina is yes. You file one notice, one time. There is no required curriculum, no required subject list, and no required number of hours in the day. Here is what North Carolina asks of a family and how each piece gets handled.

One office, one notice

North Carolina home schools file with the Division of Non-Public Education, known as DNPE, rather than the local school district. You file a Notice of Intent to Operate a Home School directly with DNPE. Online filing is preferred, and DNPE also provides instructions for paper submission. You do not renew the notice each year. Operation continues until you close the school.

Under the law, your home school is a nonpublic school made up of the children of no more than two families or households. You decide the scope and sequence of instruction, you provide the instruction, and you decide what other sources of instruction to use. DNPE explains that those additional sources may include tutors, group classes, co-ops, online courses, and outside experts. The home school itself may still include children from no more than two families or households.

Each person listed as a provider of academic instruction must hold at least a high school diploma or its equivalent. That is the only qualification the law requires. No teaching credential and no college degree. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-564.

A home school that complies with these statutes is not subject to other North Carolina laws relating to education, except immunization requirements. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 115C-565.

• A Notice of Intent filed with DNPE and an election to operate under Part 1 or Part 2

• Evidence of high school education for the chief administrator and each person named as a provider of academic instruction

• Withdrawal from your student’s previous school

• Annual attendance records for each student

• Nine calendar months of regular operation

• Immunization records or exemption documentation, plus any grade-specific reporting that applies

• An annual nationally standardized test for each enrolled student

• Address and enrollment updates, responses to DNPE communications, and notice when you close

• Submit a copy or image of accepted evidence, such as a high school diploma, GED, college diploma, or qualifying transcript. Do not send the original

• After DNPE opens your home school, give the previous school’s registrar a copy of your DNPE registration. Our Letter of Withdrawal Template may accompany it

• Applecore Record Keeping

• Custom Schedule Builder, with Applecore attendance records as your documentation

• Keep the official immunization record or written exemption documentation in your files. If your home school includes a student in kindergarten, seventh grade, or twelfth grade, confirm with DNPE, NCDHHS, or a statewide North Carolina homeschool organization whether an annual immunization report is due by November 1

• You purchase and arrange the test. Use the Portfolio Builder to organize the results with your other records

• Update your school’s DNPE account and respond promptly to DNPE

Your North Carolina year

Before you start. File your Notice of Intent with DNPE at least five days before your home school opens. DNPE permits only one open home school per household. File one notice for the school, not one notice per student.

Wait for confirmation. Do not withdraw your student and do not begin instruction until DNPE confirms your notice was received. Confirmation comes by email, and processing takes three to five business days. Check your spam folder.

July through April. Notices are accepted during those months only, and none are accepted in May or June. The state’s home school year runs July 1 through June 30. If you are starting in the fall, file no earlier than July.

Nine calendar months. Document attendance and instruction for nine calendar months of the academic year. If you begin midyear, time your student already spent in a traditional school that year counts toward it.

Age seven. Compulsory attendance begins at seven. If your child turns seven before June 1, file at least five days before that birthday. Students under eighteen who want North Carolina driving privileges have additional compliance considerations.

Once each academic year. Give the standardized test and keep the results on file for at least a year.

Before November 1, if applicable. If your home school includes a student in kindergarten, seventh grade, or twelfth grade, confirm whether the annual state immunization report applies to your home school.

One detail worth knowing before you file. You will name your school, and that name will appear on any diploma your home school later issues. DNPE cannot change the registered name later. Keep it to thirty characters, review DNPE’s list of words that may not be used, and choose something you will still want in twelve years.

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. North Carolina sets no required subject list, so you build the year that fits each child.

The Records Lane. The Homeschool Records & Compliance Center, with Applecore Record Keeping, the Custom Schedule Builder, the Portfolio Builder, and more. 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.

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