2020-21 Home Instruction Requirements
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.
The Home Instruction notification process for the 2020-21 school year will be online. The notification process was originally scheduled to be posted on this web page beginning on July 1, 2020; however, due to technical upgrades with our system, the date has been delayed. Please check back next week; and thank you for your patience.
For further questions, please contact the home instruction office at the following email: homeinstruction@pwcs.edu.
Home Instruction Partial 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 contact your zoned high school to schedule a registration appointment.
Testing Opportunities
High school-aged home instruction students may 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 PSAT or AP Testing for the 2020-21 school year, the parents must notify the school no later than:
- September 15 — PSAT
- October 15 — AP Tests
- A $40 fee will be incurred for any AP test order submitted after October 30, 2020.
"Parents electing to provide home instruction during the 2019-2020 school year shall be relieved of the requirement to provide evidence of student progress to the local school division superintendent (§ 22.1-254.1)"