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Home School Packet

 




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Holbrook Public Schools Home School Policy (File:  IHBG)
 

The Holbrook School Committee recognizes and respects the rights of parents or guardians to educate their child(ren) at home. The School Committee will act in a responsible, cooperative manner to ensure that all students in the HPS District receive competent, adequate instruction.  Massachusetts General Law requires School Committees to determine that a Home School program meets a minimum of 900-990 hours of instruction.  Also, under Massachusetts law, home-schooled students have a right to special education services. School districts are required to evaluate students suspected of having a disability and re-evaluate students eligible for special education services consistent with federal and state requirements.

Requirements for approval of a home school program include:

  1. Parent(s) or guardian(s) planning to undertake a home education program for their child(ren) between their sixth and sixteenth birthday shall inform the Superintendent by completing and submitting the Notice of Intent to Pursue a Home School Program form prior to commencing a home school program.
    1. The Home School Notice of Intent should include the following:
      1. Student information
      2. Home Educator Information
      3. The proposed curriculum (i.e. textbooks, materials, websites)
      4. The number of hours per day/week of each subject/content area
        1. English and Language Arts
        2. Mathematics
        3. History and Social Studies
        4. Science (i.e. General Science, Biology, Earth & Space, Chemistry, Physics)
      5. Ongoing assessment or use of other indicators of students progress such as standardized achievement tests. Approved mentors of assessment include but are not limited to:
        1. Daily logs, journals, progress reports, portfolios, or dated work samples
        2. Standardized Test Results
          1. At the request of the home educator, the HPS District will make provision for inclusion of home taught children in the annual achievement test battery, which is usually administered in the Spring of each school year.
  2. A parent/guardian meeting with the Superintendent and Director of Curriculum.
  3. Following completion of each school year, parent(s) or guardian(s) shall submit a HomeSchool Evaluation form  to the Superintendent’s designee, Stefanie DeRosa, Curriculum Director,  by June 30th of the academic year.
    1. Parents or Guardians must also notify the District and submit an updated Notice of Intent to Pursue a Home School Program if the home school program is to continue the next year.
  4. A student being educated in a home school program within the District shall be allowed to participate in activities of an extracurricular nature with the approval of the school principal. Arrangements for such participation are to be in accordance with accepted local and state policies governing such programs i.e., athletics, M.I.A.A. regulations)
  5. The School Committee at any time may request a review by the Superintendent of the records of assessment scores or other achievement indicators in each required subject for any student in a home school program.
  6. The School Committee may request at any time that the Superintendent review the instructional materials and methods used by the home educator.
  7. The Superintendent or designee, by request, will prepare for the School Committee an annual summary of the students included in home instruction.
  8. If the School Committee determines that the home school program is inadequate, a conference between the parent or guardian and the Superintendent will be scheduled to find mutually acceptable ways to correct the deficiencies.
  9. If deficiencies in a home school program are not corrected or the proper annual forms are not completed by the parent or guardian, an appropriate referral will be made.

Homeschooling your child is an extensive and comprehensive undertaking that requires curriculum and assessment research to best educate your child. As you develop your child’s curriculum, please reference the guides for Massachusetts learning standards that were created by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). They can be found on the DESE website at https://www.doe.mass.edu/highstandards/.

 

SOURCE: MASC

LEGAL REFS.:          M.G.L. 69:1D; 76:1, Care and Protection of Charles, Care and Protections of Charles - MASS. Supreme Judicial Court 399 Mass. 324 (1987)

 

Adopted:                     October 3, 2007
Amended:                   November 15, 2023