Home Schooling

Do I need to report to the district or state that my child is home schooling?

The parent or guardian of the intended home schooler will need to submit a letter (called an NOI) to a school district in Colorado 14 days before they begin their homeschool program. This letter does not need to be submitted to the district that the student lives within. Students who are enrolled at Thrive Home School Academy do not need to submit an NOI, because they are enrolled in our publicly funded program. 

 

How many days/hours must I school my student in an academic year?

Students must attend a minimum of 172 school days, with an average of four hours of instruction per school day.

 

What subjects do I have to teach?

Subjects to be included in your homeschool curriculum must include but are not limited to: reading, writing, speaking, literature, mathematics, history, civics, science and the Constitution of the United States (after grade 7). This is over the course of their education, not necessarily all in one year. 

 

Do students need to be tested?

Students can either opt to be tested by a nationally standardized test or evaluated by a qualified evaluator at the completion of 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 11th grades.

 

Where do I get the curriculum to use for Home Schooling?

Parents use a variety of resources for their curricula: dedicated purchased homeschool curriculum, online resources, library books, local home-school bookstores, and enrichment program offerings.

Thrive HSA offers a large curriculum lending library, available to all enrolled students/families. The library is constantly updated with new materials, but if there is something you are not finding in our library, we offer an allowance to all of our enrolled families to order curriculum through us. 

 

What is Thrive HSA in relation to Home Schooling?

Thrive HSA is a one-day a week publicly funded enrichment program for students who are home schooled (receiving their primary education at home). Our goal is to provide an environment where students can experience opportunities that may be unavailable at home, ie. dissection, cooperative group work, ceramics, band, and staged presentations, among other options. 

 

Online Schooling

While students at online schools, like Colorado Calvert Academy, appear to be home schooling, in actuality, online schools are state-sanctioned, home-based learning options. The distinction must be made between home-based education, where the public school/charter school is in control of the curriculum, and homeschooling, where parents are in charge and control of their student's educational program and curriculum. Thrive is not able to support students in publicly funded, online programs. 

 

Does Thrive HSA offer credits or transcripts?

As an enrichment program, Thrive HSA does not record grades, offer credits or transcripts. Higher education credits are available through our dual enrollment programs at Arizona State University and Pikes Peak State College Concurrent Enrollment Program. 

 

If my high school student attends Thrive HSA, will they graduate?

Our program does not offer a diploma or credits towards graduation, in the traditional sense. Colorado home school parents determine graduation requirements and can issue their own diplomas. Students may also test for their Graduation Equivalency Diploma (GED) or attend PPSC courses, which will allow for transfer credits to most universities.