Homeschooling in Vermont

Enrollment is open all year. For 2026-2027, partial-year enrollments stay open through March 31, 2027. A student not enrolled in a public school, independent school, or home study program by the first day of school in your town may be considered truant, so for a full-year program the Agency recommends sending paperwork by early August.

First-time enrollment has two parts:

• The Notice of Intent, with your child's name, birth date, and the public school your child would attend, each parent's contact details and town of legal residence, and the attestations the law requires
• Independent professional evidence on whether your child has a documented disability, completed by a licensed professional not related to your child, or an accepted alternative such as a Vermont public school report card, an IEP, or a 504 plan

You can file online or print the forms and send them by email, fax, or mail. Submitting a notice does not by itself enroll your child. Superintendents receive a weekly list of enrolled and pending students, which is how the school learns of the change.

The Agency recommends keeping each year's end-of-year assessment until your child turns 18. A school can use it later to set grade placement on enrollment, as part of a disability evaluation, and to decide credit toward graduation.

A written minimum course of study, the plan for your curriculum, is recommended but not required, and the Agency no longer collects it. The two college programs below still require it.

The Agency can send a Verification letter stating when your child was enrolled in home study, which colleges, employers, trade schools, and the military accept as proof. Request it by email with your child's name and date of birth.

Vermont requires no state tests of home study students. The end-of-year assessment is the only testing rule, and a standardized test, given by the school district, a testing service, or as the test publisher allows, is one of five ways to meet it.

Home study students may also take the statewide assessments, at the school they would otherwise attend and at the same time as their age or grade peers. Ask the principal about the schedule. Your family receives the report, and the scores are not included in the school's results.

Federal law requires each school district to find and evaluate children with disabilities, a duty called Child Find. In Vermont you can request a special education evaluation without enrolling your child; it is free, and if the district decides an evaluation is not warranted, it must tell you so in writing.

Home study students are not entitled to special education services at school. A school may, at its discretion, offer a services plan with consultation, special education, or related services; ask the principal or special education director. A student taking a class at the public school may receive a services plan or an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for that class.

At home, you provide adaptations: methods or materials that let your child progress as closely to age and ability as can reasonably be expected. The Agency advises building them for the home setting rather than copying them from an IEP or 504 plan.

Every core subject is required in each home study year, including the final one. A student who has already met the local high school's science requirement still takes science in the home study year.

The Agency of Education issues no diplomas. A family that wants a local high school diploma works with that school's guidance department to assess credits or proficiencies, and the Verification letter documents enrollment for everyone else.

Home study students may enroll at the local school for up to two of the five core courses, plus electives, on the same terms as full-time students, including enrollment procedures, deadlines, and capacity limits. At least three core subjects must be taught at home. A student accepted by a regional career and technical education center can enroll at no cost.

Vermont's Dual Enrollment Program is open to home study students who are Vermont residents and have completed grade 10. Dual enrollment must be part of the student's personalized learning plan, and the college must find the student ready, often through its placement test. Two college courses are tuition-free before finishing high school, taken during the school year or in summer.

The Early College Program lets an eligible student spend the last year of high school at college, tuition-free, with a learning plan built on the minimum course of study. Colleges set their own admission rules for home study graduates.

Homeschool dual enrollment in Vermont

Every Vermont school board must adopt a policy, under State Board of Education rules, for bringing home study students into its schools through courses, cocurricular and extracurricular activities, and use of facilities. Athletics are included, as space permits.

Home study students follow the same enrollment procedures, deadlines, and capacity limits as full-time students; if a team or activity has a waiting list, the same criteria apply. Your district's student handbook carries its home study policy.

Homeschool sports eligibility in Vermont

The Agency of Education says families who choose home study choose not to use a publicly funded education, and no state or local money pays for a home study program. The free dual enrollment courses, early college, and career and technical education described above are the exceptions.

Homeschool tax breaks and funding in Vermont

Your child can go back to school at any point in the year. The school decides grade level, credits, and academic standing. Your child may take a placement test, and high school courses taken at home may not earn credit, so some may need to be repeated.

The principal may ask for your minimum course of study and end-of-year assessments to decide placement and credit. Close the home study enrollment by emailing the Home Study Office with your child's name, the withdrawal date, and the new school's name and start date.

The Agency of Education, not the school district, enrolls home study students, and it shares weekly lists with districts so they can enforce truancy laws. The Agency's hearing procedures for home study were removed in 2023.

If a program cannot meet a specific requirement because of a deep religious conviction shared by an organized group, the Secretary of Education may waive it after the notice is filed, if the program is substantially meeting the law's educational purposes.