Homeschool benefits: Riverside School District
Riverview School District in Oakmont lends homeschool families copies of its planned courses, textbooks, and curriculum materials matched to your child's age and grade, under Board Policy 137. You ask as the home education supervisor; the district's policy says it shall lend them on request.
Who qualifies
Lives in Riverview School District
Policy 137 covers home education programs for compulsory-age students who live in the district.
Has a filed affidavit
The parent or guardian files a notarized affidavit with the superintendent before the program starts and again every August 1.
The supervisor makes the request
The loan is made at the request of the supervisor, the parent or guardian who provides the instruction.
What you can borrow
The terms come from Riverview School District Policy 137, adopted June 18, 2012 and last revised September 21, 2015.
- Copies of the school's planned courses
- Loan
- Textbooks for your child's age and grade
- Loan
- Curriculum materials for your child's age and grade
- Loan
- Services for a student with a disability
- Supervisor may request
The posted copy of the policy is dated 2015, and it does not give a request form, a due date, or a return date, so ask the superintendent's office which titles are available and when they must come back.
How to request materials
- Before you start
File the affidavit
File your notarized affidavit with the superintendent before your home education program begins.
- Any time after filing
Request materials
Contact the district office and list the planned courses, textbooks, or curriculum materials you want for your child's grade.
- By June 30
Submit the evaluator's certification
Send the home education evaluator's certification that an appropriate education is occurring to the superintendent.
- Each August 1
Renew the affidavit
File a new affidavit each year to continue the program, then request materials for the new grade.
What it includes
Included
- Copies of planned courses
- Textbooks
Not included
- Materials kept permanently: they are loans
- Materials outside your child's age and grade level
Who to contact about materials
The superintendent receives home education affidavits and can tell you which planned courses and textbooks the district can lend.
412-828-1800 Superintendent's office
Homeschool rules and statewide help in Pennsylvania
You must file a notarized affidavit or unsworn declaration with the superintendent before starting and by August 1 in subsequent years. Include educational objectives and required health and immunization documentation or exemptions. Certify that the supervisor, adults living in the home, and persons with legal custody have no conviction for the listed statutory offenses in the preceding five years.
Pennsylvania sets these rules:
- Subjects: Teach in English the subjects required for elementary or secondary home education, including English, math, science, geography, history/civics, health, PE, art, music, and ongoing fire-safety instruction. Provide 180 days or 900 elementary/990 secondary hours annually.
- Testing: Include reading and math test results in the portfolio in grades 3, 5, and 8. Obtain an annual evaluation and submit the evaluator’s certification to the superintendent by June 30. The supervisor, parent or guardian may not administer an alternative approved standardized test.
- Records: Keep a portfolio with a reading-materials log, work samples, required test results, and the annual evaluation. Document the required instructional days or hours.
- Teachers: The supervisor must be the parent, guardian, or legal custodian with a high-school diploma or equivalent. The supervisor, adults living in the home, and persons with legal custody must meet the statutory five-year criminal-conviction condition.
Read the Pennsylvania homeschooling guide See statewide programs in Pennsylvania
Questions parents ask
- Who has to ask Riverview School District for the materials?
- You do, as the supervisor of the home education program. The policy defines the supervisor as the parent, guardian, or legal custodian who provides the instruction and holds a high school diploma or its equivalent.
- When do we return materials borrowed from Riverview?
- The policy does not say. The materials are loans, so ask the superintendent's office which titles are available and when they must come back.
- Can the district help a homeschooled child with a disability?
- Possibly. The supervisor may ask the district or intermediate unit for services, and if both agree, the services are provided in district schools or a licensed private school.
- What if we move to another district mid-year?
- Request a letter of transfer from the superintendent by registered mail 30 days before you move, then file it with the new district's superintendent.
Turn support into your child’s next lesson
Local classes cover the subjects they offer. We teach the remaining subjects, so a local class can stay part of the year without becoming the whole curriculum.
$149/month per child after the trial.
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