Home Education Services

Start Here: As a Participating Agency, parents can file their letter of intent establishing a home education program with us rather than going through your local superintendent's office or the NH Education Department.

• The letter of intent is a one-time submission that parents make when their child begins a home education program.

• It includes the child's name, address, and date of birth as well as the parents' address(es) and daytime phone numbers.

• The New Hampshire Education department has published this form for parents to use if they choose.

 

Privacy: Under the law, The Harkness House maintains a list of students whose families have filed their home education paperwork with us through completion, transfer, or termination of the home education program. We only report the count of home educated students to the Department of Education each October. We serve solely as record keepers, not the school of record, and we do not maintain any records beyond the minimum requirements of the law.
 

You're Done: Once parents have filed the initial letter of intent, they are only required to notify The Harkness House if they wish to change participating agencies or if their child enrolls in a public or non-public school.

New Hampshire RSA 193-A:6 requires that parents "maintain a portfolio of records and materials relative to the home education program" of their child. Parents can choose to use this portfolio to meet the requirements of an annual educational evaluation by having the portfolio reviewed by a "certified teacher or a teacher currently teaching in a nonpublic school." 

 

The Harkness House offers annual Portfolio Review services for home educated students. This service includes a one-hour consultation with one of our certified portfolio reviewers and a written portfolio evaluation. If you would like additional assistance developing, organizing, and presenting the portfolio, we can assist you with that as well. 

 

We charge the base fee of $50 plus $50/hour (beyond the first hour) up to a total of $150.

Some parents may choose to have their child take the New Hampshire State Assessment in order to meet the annual evaluation criteria under RSA 193-A:6 in lieu of the annual portfolio review. The State has determined that "composite results at or above the fortieth percentile on such state test shall be deemed reasonable academic proficiency."

 

The Harkness House offers annual State Assessment services for home educated students in May each year. This service includes:

• access to the assessment via a secure assessment browser

• use of a device that we provide

• proctoring of the assessment

• delivery of assessment results to the parents