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I am a homeschool evaluator in PA (you will need one, btw).  Once you find your district, their site should have pdfs of the necessary paperwork.  

 

If not, use this website to print out the affidavit.   Get the affidavit notarized and drop it off, along with your objectives, to the district office.  Be sure to get a receipt from them.

 

Standardized testing must be done in 3rd, 5th and 8th grades, so plan on that at sometime during the year.

 

Any other questions, feel free to reach out to me!  And welcome!

 

ETA:  Oops.  Forgot to include link.

 

 

Edited by lisabees
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I am a homeschool evaluator in PA (you will need one, btw).  Once you find your district, their site should have pdfs of the necessary paperwork.  

 

If not, use this website to print out the affidavit.   Get the affidavit notarized and drop it off, along with your objectives, to the district office.  Be sure to get a receipt from them.

 

Standardized testing must be done in 3rd, 5th and 8th grades, so plan on that at sometime during the year.

 

Any other questions, feel free to reach out to me!  And welcome!

 

I found the school district.  I have an address.  They have nothing on their site about homeschooling.  At least the search feature turned up nothing and it wasn't under any of the tabs.  

 

I may be reaching out soon.  This is so different than anything we've had to do before. 

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We were new to PA this school year. It can be overwhelming at first, esp coming from a less complicated state, but the paperwork is actually fairly straightforward in practice. You don't need anything from the school district's website, except the name of the superintendent and the address. You can write the affidavit and objectives yourself - no requirement to use their forms and many districts don't have one anyway. Carry it in and get a receipt or send it certified mail. Remember you don't need to report students before mandatory school age (8).  http://askpauline.com and https://pahomeschoollaw.com are good places to start. Good luck!

Edited by Andie
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I found the school district.  I have an address.  They have nothing on their site about homeschooling.  At least the search feature turned up nothing and it wasn't under any of the tabs.  

 

I may be reaching out soon.  This is so different than anything we've had to do before. 

 

You're not in Philadelphia or Montgomery or Bucks counties, are you?

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I found the school district.  I have an address.  They have nothing on their site about homeschooling.  At least the search feature turned up nothing and it wasn't under any of the tabs.  

 

I may be reaching out soon.  This is so different than anything we've had to do before. 

 

I'll add my welcome to PA.  We never found the paperwork difficult to do - and each year you can cut and paste from the previous year just tweaking as needed.  The plus side to PA's regs came for us with college apps.  Many folks in admission told us we didn't have to do things like course descriptions because we came from a regulated state.  They were right.  We didn't.  ;)  Then too, when it came to application time transcripts, reading lists, and pretty much anything else was right there for me to use.

 

We never had one iota of trouble or annoyance homeschooling here.  Our local school district even allows homeschoolers to take the PSAT there - not all do across the US.  I hope the same is true for you in your district.

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I found the school district. I have an address. They have nothing on their site about homeschooling. At least the search feature turned up nothing and it wasn't under any of the tabs.

 

I may be reaching out soon. This is so different than anything we've had to do before.

I would be surprised if their website acknowledged homeschooling. Just fill out an affidavit as Lisabees linked above and your objectives and turn them into your district office asap. I would hand deliver and ask for a receipt. My school district automatically gives one. Ask for one, if they don't offer. This is your proof that you are following the law. You should get a letter from the school board saying they "approve" your affidavit and objectives. Approve is not the correct terminology because they aren't giving you permission to homeschool, they are acknowledging your decision to do so.

 

The reason you need to do this asap is because one, you can start counting days/hours for this school year once you have done so. Two, school starts in about three weeks so you don't want your student to be truant.

 

Welcome to Pa!

 

Eta: the affidavit requires your notarized signature. Your local bank will usually do this for free for you.

Edited by school17777
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Welcome to PA!

 

In general, the school districts don't have accurate information about homeschooling, and would be the last place I'd look for information.

 

Continuing homeschoolers file by Aug 1 annually, but first-time homeschoolers would file when you begin, so you have a bit of time to get your paperwork together. Remember, affidavit only asks for age, not grade of the child. School district receives your paperwork, they do not "approve" anything. You also do not need to provide copies of your diploma or degrees

 

Affidavit https://phea.net/the-pa-home-education-affidavit/

Objectives https://phea.net/pa-home-education-objectives/

 

In the spring (before June 30)

https://phea.net/pa-home-education-portfolios/

https://phea.net/pa-home-education-evaluations/

Grades 3/5/8 https://phea.net/the-pa-home-education-testing-requirements/

 

The law: https://phea.net/pahomeeducationlaw/

It looks overwhelming, but it's more of an annoyance than a hindrance. Know the law and get information from several sources. Many people make it more complicated than it is...

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Welcome to PA. Our laws look scary but aren't hard to live with.

 

What part of PA are you in? Maybe someone local can help you maneuver your local district. Most districts are cake but others are harder to deal with until you show them you stuff your stuff.

 

We're in Luzerne County.  I've read the law and don't think it's overly complicated.  But then I couldn't even find the school district.  Rough start.  

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