Homeschool benefits and savings in Bellevue

Bellevue Parks & Community Services financial assistance gives each eligible person up to $700 a calendar year for city recreation activities, or up to $1,200 per youth for day camps, plus a year of unlimited drop-in sports, skate park, and swimming. Residents of Bellevue city limits who meet the household income limits qualify, and school enrollment plays no part.

By Andrew Garber, founder of TheHomeschoolingCompany. Reviewed August 25, 2026.

Who qualifies

1. Lives in Bellevue city limits

   Prove it with a water, sewer, or garbage bill, a PSE gas or electric bill, or a lease or mortgage paper showing your name and service address.

2. Meets the household income limit

   Your household is everyone on your tax return plus anyone living in your home whom you care for. Yearly income before taxes must fall under the limit for your household size.

3. Proves household income

   Send one item, such as tax returns or W-2s, or the most recent month of pay stubs, for every earner 21 and older. Families on DSHS food assistance automatically qualify for 75% with four or fewer people, or 50% with five or more.

4. Gets approved before registering

   Applications must be approved before you register, and scholarships do not apply to activities you have already signed up for.

What it is worth

Bellevue's scholarship application sets the discount by household size and income, and caps the dollars each person can use in a calendar year.

Up to $47,150

100% of the fee

Up to $78,550

75% of the fee

Up to $121,150

50% of the fee

Yearly limit per person

$700

Yearly limit per youth for day camps

$1,200

Supply fees and day camp late fees stay your responsibility even when the scholarship covers the activity fee.

From applying to keeping it

1. Before you apply

   Gather copies

   Copy one proof of income and one proof of Bellevue address. Send copies only, because the city does not return them.

2. Any time

   Turn in the application

   Download the form or pick one up, then drop it off with your copies at a community center such as Crossroads, Highland, North Bellevue, or South Bellevue.

3. After approval

   Register for activities

   Use your scholarship dollars for classes, camps, theatre, and other registered activities, and use drop-in sports, the skate park, and swimming during scheduled times.

4. By December 31

   Use the year's funds

   Both the dollar amount and the drop-in access run for the calendar year, so ask the office how to renew before January.

What it pays for

Covered

• Registered Parks & Community Services activities
• Fitness, art classes, camps, and theatre

Not covered

• Supply fees
• Day camp late fees
• Activities registered before approval

Who to contact

Parks & Community Services reviews scholarship applications and handles questions from families just outside the income limits, at option 1 on its main line.

parksweb@bellevuewa.gov 425-452-6885 Scholarship page

Homeschool rules and statewide help in Washington

You must file a declaration of intent by September 15 for the school year, or within two weeks after the start of a public-school quarter or term for a later start.

Washington sets these rules:

• Subjects: Teach occupational education, science, mathematics, language, social studies, history, health, reading, writing, spelling, and art and music appreciation. Provide hours equivalent to the annual program hours per grade for approved private schools under RCW 28A.195.010 and .040.
• Testing: Each year, obtain a state-board-approved standardized test administered by a qualified person or a written assessment by a Washington-certificated person currently working in education.
• Records: Keep annual test or assessment results permanently, along with immunization records. Forward required records if your child transfers to a public or approved private school.
• Teachers: The parent needs 45 college quarter credits or the semester equivalent, a home-instruction course at a postsecondary or vocational-technical institute, supervision by a certificated teacher, or the superintendent’s finding of sufficient qualifications. Teacher supervision includes planned objectives, an average of at least one contact hour per week with the child each month, and progress evaluation; the teacher may supervise no more than 30 children.

Read the Washington homeschooling guide See statewide programs in Washington

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