Home Instruction

For the convenience of our home instruction families, the PWCS Home Instruction notification and Evidence of Progress processes are now online. This online notification system is the most efficient way to submit your home instruction documents, including annual Evidence of Progress. We hope that you will utilize this system to notify us of your intent to home instruct your children, discontinue home instruction, and/or seek partial enrollment in your child's zoned school. As always, we will gladly accept your documentation via our online portal, email, or USPS, whichever is most convenient for you.

If you are choosing to discontinue, please review the process provided under the blue tab "Discontinue Home Instruction" below.

If you are choosing to enroll or reenroll in PWCS from Home Instruction, please refer to the Registration webpage.

All students who have been home instructed for the current school year will be required to provide "Evidence of Progress." For information on these requirements, please select the blue tab "Evidence of Progress Requirement" below. We will begin accepting Evidence of Progress for the current school year and Notice of Intent packets for the upcoming school year on April 15. We encourage you to get your paperwork in as soon as possible to avoid the August rush.

For more information, please review Regulation 722-2 - Home Instruction by Parents.

  • If choosing not to use the online system, we will continue to accept documents via email or mail. Please note that sending documents in this manner may require additional time for us to process and to provide you with a letter of compliance. Visit our webpage for the list of Home Instruction Documents, as well as our email and mailing addresses.
  • For further questions about Home Instruction, please contact the Home Instruction office at PWCSHomeInstruction@pwcs.edu.

Annual Notification Requirement

In accordance with Section 22.1-254.1 of the Code of Virginia, any parent of a child who will have reached the fifth birthday on or before September 30 of any school year and who has not passed the eighteenth birthday may elect to provide home instruction in lieu of school attendance. A parent or guardian is qualified to provide home instruction if one of the following conditions is met:

  • The parent or guardian holds a high school diploma;
  • The parent or guardian is a teacher of qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education;
  • The parent or guardian provides the child with a program of study or curriculum which may be delivered through a correspondence course or distance learning program or in any other manner; or
  • The parent or guardian can provide evidence that an adequate education is provided for the child.

Parents or guardians electing to provide home instruction in lieu of school attendance shall annually notify the school division superintendent no later than August 15 of intention to instruct the child and provide a description of the curriculum.

Certified Tutor Option

Certified Tutor Option:

Section 22.1-254 of the Code of Virginia allows parents to have their children taught by a tutor or a teacher who meets the teacher licensure qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education when that individual has been approved as a tutor by the school division superintendent. To meet the qualifications prescribed by the Board of Education, the tutor must have a valid Virginia teaching license in any area and may be a parent who meets the tutor qualifications.

Tutors are approved for as long as their teaching license is valid. Proof of academic progress is not required.

Parents selecting this option must notify the Home Instruction Office by mail: PWCS Student Services Department, Home Instruction, P.O. Box 389, Manassas, VA 20108 or email: PWCSHomeInstruction@pwcs.edu.

Please include the following in your correspondence:

  • Student's Name
  • Copy of the tutor's valid (current) Virginia teaching license

Evidence of Progress Requirement

The parent is required to submit to the local school division, by the following August 1, evidence of the child's academic progress with either:

  1. Evidence that the child has attained a composite score in or above the fourth stanine on any nationally normed standardized achievement test, or an equivalent score on the ACT, SAT, or PSAT test; or
  2. An evaluation or assessment which the division superintendent determines to indicate that the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress, including but not limited to:
    1. An evaluation letter from a person licensed to teach in any state, or a person with a master's degree or higher in an academic discipline, having knowledge of the child's academic progress, stating that the child is achieving an adequate level of educational growth and progress; or
    2. A report card or transcript from a community college or college, college distance learning program, or home-education correspondence school. (Virginia Department of Education: Private Schools & Home Schooling)

Required Home Instruction Documents

Deadline Dates

Date Action to Be Completed
April 15 First day to submit Notice of Intent for the upcoming school year. You can also choose to send all required Home Instruction documents at this time.
August 1 Due date for Evidence of Progress
August 15 Due date for the Notice of Intent and supporting documents.

College Admissions and Placement Exams

High school-aged home instruction students can participate in Advanced Placement (AP) and Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) examinations and are eligible to receive free AP and PSAT testing opportunities to the same extent as students enrolled in Prince William County Public Schools. If a student wishes to participate in the PSAT or AP Testing, the parents must notify the school no later than:

  • September 1 for the PSAT
  • November 10 for AP Tests
    • A $40 fee will be incurred for any AP test order submitted after November 10.
  • Please contact the student's base school for details.

Driver's Education Information

Students approved for home instruction may complete driver education at home. The student must currently be enrolled in a home instruction program approved by the school division superintendent.

Please refer to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Driver Education Information for Home Schoolers website for details.

Eligibility to Participate in School-Sponsored Activities

Partially-enrolled home instruction and private school students may participate in school-sponsored intramurals, student organizations and clubs, and other extracurricular activities, with the exception of Virginia High School League (VHSL) activities. Partially-enrolled home instruction and private school students shall be required to meet all criteria for participation in the desired organization, club, and extracurricular activities. (Regulation 722-2)

Partial Home Instruction Enrollment

The Prince William County School Board allows partial enrollment of home instruction/private school students for up to two credit-bearing high school courses per semester. For more information, please complete the online Home Instruction registration process provided on the link above. You can contact your zoned high school counseling department if you have further questions.

Discontinue Home Instruction

If you wish to discontinue home instruction, you may notify us one of three ways:

  1. Visit the Online Registration Account & Records Access webpage. After following the directions to log in, you will be directed to options which include withdrawing your student from home instruction.
  2. Complete and submit the Notice of Intent to Discontinue Home Instruction Form (PDF) by email at PWCSHomeInstruction@pwcs.edu; or
  3. Mail:
    PWCS Office of Student Services
    Home Instruction
    P.O. Box 389
    Manassas, VA 20108