Enrollment After Homeschooling
Enrollment After Homeschooling
If your time homeschooling is coming to an end and you’d like to reenroll your child in school, you must notify the school district. The guide below will explain how to enroll your child after homeschooling. To jump ahead, please click on the links below.
Letter of Termination
Florida parents who are done home educating their child–whether because the child is transferring to a public or private school, is moving out of the county, or is graduating high school–must submit a Letter of Termination (aka a Notice of Termination) to the school district within 30 days of finishing homeschooling.
No particular form is required as long as the student’s full name, date of birth, address, a parent’s name and signature are written and clearly indicate that the student is no longer being home educated. A sample Letter of Termination is provided below. Parents should keep a copy of this for their official records.
The law says to send the form to the school superintendent, but every Florida superintendent has named a Home Education Liaison to handle home education documentation on his or her behalf. Contact information for these can be found on a list the Florida Dept. of Education maintains.
Florida law requires (as of 2018) a final evaluation to come within 30 days of the Letter of Termination so the district has documentation proving whether the homeschooling ended successfully or not.
Placement in a School
If a child is being put into a public school, the public school’s Pupil Progression Plan dictates the child’s placement. Most children are simply placed according to their age (going into first grade can be more complicated–see the section on Enrolling Young Children). This is true regardless of the level of curriculum used. So if you place an eight-year-old in school and his age is typical for third grade, the public school will generally put him in third grade regardless of whether he used first, second, third, or even fourth grade materials the previous year.
To smooth the transition to a school typing a report card and/or transcript can help. There are lots of sample report cards and transcripts (and even some templates) available online. The styles will vary because schools use different styles; that doesn’t matter. Choose a style that looks good to you. Public schools are required to accept the records that parents present them as long as the child passes the first grading period; if the child fails the first grading period, the child can be put back a grade level.
Didn’t keep grades? That’s okay. Many homeschool parents don’t because we worry more about learning than grades. We don’t typically record a grade and move on. Instead, we try to make sure our kids understand the questions they’ve missed–that’s why homeschooling works so well. It’s okay to grade “holistically”–which basically means: Think about how your child did overall. If your child learned the material that you think he ought to have, give him an A. If he could have done better, didn’t put forth as much effort as he ought, then give him a B. If he learned enough to get by, but wasn’t doing a stellar job, then a C. And so on.
A school might ask to see the records you kept (the portfolio) of your child’s learning. But having a report card and/or transcript makes that less likely. They might give a placement test to decide whether the child can handle an advanced class or needs to be in a regular class. They will not give state testing (FCAT or FSA or whatever the next test will be called) to enroll your child as that can only be administered at the times approved by the state. High school students might be asked to take the Algebra 1, Biology, and Geometry EOCs (End of Course exams) if the transcript shows that those courses were taken anywhere other than a Florida public school but no other EOCs should be required.
Private schools, on the other hand, make their own requirements. Private schools might require testing or ask to view homeschooling records. Having a report card or transcript may also help with private schools.