How to Homeschool in Virginia

If you are interested in homeschooling in Virginia, you’re in the right place!

Many parents choose to educate their children at home because they can teach how, when, and what they want. The State of Virginia gives homeschool parents that freedom, with only a few requirements. In this article, we’ll go over everything you need to know to start your homeschooling journey confidently!

Homeschooling in Virginia at a Glance

Virginia – The Old Dominion State

Option	Home Instruction Statute	Certified Tutor	Religious Exemption
Required Age	5-18	5-18	None
Standardized Testing	Annual assessment required	None	None
Subjects	None	None	None
Time Requirements	180 days or 990 hours	180 days or 990 hours	None
Graduation Requirements	Determined by parent	Determined by instructor	Determined by parent
Special Requirements	Must meet parental qualifications	None	Must have a religious exemption claim accepted by the school board
Financial Resources Available	Yes	Yes	Yes

VA homeschool laws allow three pathways to successfully educating your child at home. Each option will have its own requirements, and you should consider what will work best for your family.

Option 1: Virginia Home Instruction Statute

To homeschool under the Home Instruction Statute, you must:

Submit your Notice of Intent and proof of qualification to homeschool
Provide a list of subjects your child will be studying each year
Have your child take a standardized test or assessment annually
Provide test scores or assessment results to your superintendent by August 1st

This statute allows for parents to choose their own curriculum, making it a popular choice among Virginia parents.

Option 2: Certified Tutor

If you would like to teach at home with a tutor, they must be certified by the State of Virginia. They must also receive approval from the superintendent of your child’s local school division.

Instruction can take place inside or outside of the home. With this option, students are exempt from testing and submitting annual progress reports.

Option 3: Claiming Religious Exemption

Virginia is the only state with a law allowing a religious exemption from traditional school attendance.

There are a few requirements to claim a religious exemption:

You and your child must have sincere convictions against your child attending school(§ 22.1-254.B.1, Code of Virginia).
Your convictions must not be based on only political, sociological, or philosophical views or a personal moral code.
You must submit your religious exemption request, along with any supporting documents and information, to your local school board.

If your religious exemption is accepted, you are exempt from all requirements, except immunizations. If you wish to be exempt from immunizations, you’ll need to complete an immunization waiver.

Parent Qualifications

If you choose to homeschool under the Home Instruction statute, you must meet at least one of the following (§ 22.1-254.1):

Option I: The parent holds a high school diploma or a higher credential.
Option II: The parent meets the qualifications of a teacher as prescribed by the Virginia Board of Education.
Option III: The parent provides the child with a program of study or curriculum that may be delivered through a correspondence course or distance learning program or in any other manner.
Option IV: The parent provides evidence that the parent can provide an adequate education for the child.

If you have a teaching certificate, you can designate yourself as your child’s certified tutor. You must still receive approval from the superintendent.

Notice of Intent

Under the Home Instruction Statute, you must submit a Notice of Intent to homeschool (NOI) by August 15 of each school year. If you begin homeschooling in the middle of the school year, you may begin teaching as soon as you submit your NOI. You’ll have a grace period of 30 days to submit any other necessary documentation.

Your NOI can be a letter or a form and can be emailed, mailed, or faxed to your local school division’s superintendent. You may use a notice of intent template, or your school division may provide one of their own.

If you are transitioning from traditional schooling to homeschooling in Virginia, letting the division know beforehand can save you any complications with truancy.

Attendance

In Virginia, homeschoolers must learn for the same number of days or hours that public school students do. This is approximately 180 days, or 990 hours. (§ 22.1-254)

Curriculum

There are no legally required teaching subjects, meaning you have full control over your child’s curriculum. To ensure your student is getting a great education, you may be interested in accreditation. Miacademy and MiaPrep are both accredited homeschool programs in Virginia!

In addition, you will need to submit a list of the courses your student is planning to take with your NOI. This is for information purposes only; the school division will not judge your curriculum’s quality, content, or structure.

To get a better understanding of what students learn in Virginia, you can refer to the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL).

Testing

If you choose the homeschool statute route, you will need to have your child complete a standardized test or assessment annually. You must provide these results to your superintendent as proof of academic progress.

If you choose to test, your child must take a nationally normed standardized achievement test and score above the fourth stanine.

You may also use an alternative assessment with superintendent approval. These assessments can take the form of but are not limited to:

A letter from a licensed teacher or an individual with a master’s degree in an educational field. This person must be familiar with the child’s academic progress to confirm satisfactory educational development.
A report card or transcript from a community college, college distance learning program, or home-education correspondence school.

Any test scores or evaluation results are due to your division superintendent no later than August 1.

Families who homeschool with a tutor are exempt from annual assessments and annual reporting to the superintendent.

Record Keeping

When instructing under the Home Education Statute, you must submit evidence of academic progress annually. This means that, at minimum, you’re responsible for keeping any test scores or evaluation results.

In addition, you will also need to have your child immunized, unless you have a vaccine exemption. (§ 32.1-46) While it’s rare that you will have to submit these records, your superintendent can request to see them at any time.

You can keep these records safe by keeping a detailed homeschool portfolio. In addition, you may also want to keep a handful of other items to track your child’s academic progress.

The only required items to keep are:

Test scores or evaluation results
Immunization records

Other items worth keeping track of include:

Copies of your NOI and any correspondence with the school
A list of courses taken or subjects studied
Report cards
Documentation of extracurricular activities

Transcripts

While transcripts aren’t a homeschooling requirement, they are often necessary during college applications. A transcript is a record of all courses, credit hours, and final grades earned from grades 9th-12th. You can make your own transcripts or use an online homeschool curriculum that keeps track of everything for you.

Graduation Requirements

The State of Virginia lets parents decide when their homeschooled children have successfully completed high school.

Some homeschool parents find it helpful to look to their state’s graduation requirements for public and private schools. You can find the requirements for the State of Virginia on the Department of Education’s Graduation Requirements page.

If you’re looking to streamline your child’s grad track, MiaPrep can prepare your child for graduation and beyond! From prealgebra to chemistry and even college prep, our comprehensive high school curriculum has everything your teen needs to graduate confidently.

We also offer an online high school to provide you and your student with guidance from our expert teachers and counselors, all from the comfort of your home.

Financial Resources

The Virginia K-12 Learning Acceleration Grant offers financial assistance to families for educational services, including tutoring and summer programs, to help students catch up on learning lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Virginia Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits Program provides tax credits to individuals and businesses that donate to approved scholarship foundations. These foundations offer scholarships to eligible students, enabling them to attend private schools or obtain special educational services.

Other Tips & Resources

For more information about homeschooling in Virginia, check out:

If you have any questions about homeschooling or how Miacademy and MiaPrep align with the laws in your state, feel free to reach out to our friendly customer service team!

Please keep in mind that the information provided is intended for research purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. To obtain accurate and comprehensive details on Virginia homeschool laws, we recommend consulting the official resources and guidelines provided by your state. Additionally, staying informed about any changes to these laws is important, so be sure to look out for any updates.

Last updated: 05/06/2024. The information provided on this site is intended for research purposes only. Miaplaza is not responsible for any errors, omissions, or outdated information, or for the results yielded through use of this information.