Field guide · Read at the government's own source
Homeschooling in Arkansas
Notice of Intent to Home School, by August 15. The full list, with the deadline for starting partway through the year, is below.
Notify, level 2 of 4
What Arkansas actually asks of a family teaching their own children. Written plainly, and honest where the answer is that nobody asks for anything.
You tell
Resident school district superintendent
By
August 15
By August 15 each year. If you withdraw your child from public school during the school year, file at least 5 school days before withdrawing, unless the superintendent or school board waives the wait.
Who reviews it
The superintendent of your resident school district, for filing only. The Department of Education and the district may not add criteria or ask for more information than the law lists.
If you skip it
If you file after August 15 for a child who is currently enrolled in public school, the child will be subject to a waiting period of 5 school days before the school releases the child to be home schooled, unless the superintendent or school board waives it on request. The notice is required by law every school year.
Who is in charge
Resident school district superintendent; DESE Home School Office
Who reviews your child is set out at the top of this page, in the authority's own terms.
The year
What you must file
August 15You file
Notice of Intent to Home School
By August 15 each year. If you withdraw your child from public school during the school year, file at least 5 school days before withdrawing, unless the superintendent or school board waives the wait.
Goes to: Resident school district superintendent
File online at noihs.ade.arkansas.gov (the state's preferred method), or on paper with your resident school district by mail, by hand or electronically. Incomplete forms are not accepted, and the state recommends keeping a copy for your records. The form opens June 1 for the following school year; forms submitted before June 1 are processed for the preceding school year. By signing, you agree that you are responsible for your child's education while you home school. Notarization is not required: the notary block on the form is optional and is there only in case you need a notarized copy for another purpose, such as seeking the GED. If you file after August 15 for a child who is currently enrolled in public school, the child will be subject to a waiting period of 5 school days before the school releases the child to be home schooled, unless the superintendent or school board waives it on request.
No fixed dateYou file
Notice of Intent to the new district after moving
Within 30 calendar days of moving into a different school district during the school year
How often: when it happens
Goes to: Superintendent of the new school district
If you move into a different school district during the school year, give written notice of your intent to home school to the new district's superintendent, including the agreement that you are responsible for your child's education. The state's rules say to file a copy of the current year Notice of Intent with the new district superintendent's office.
No fixed dateYou file
Notice of an address change or of stopping home schooling
When your address changes or you stop home schooling
How often: when it happens
Goes to: Resident school district superintendent
The Department of Education's Notice of Intent instructions say to notify your resident school district's superintendent if your address changes or if you stop home schooling.
No fixed dateYou file
New Notice of Intent before returning to home schooling
Before your child returns to home schooling, if the child enrolled in a public, private or parochial school while you were home schooling
How often: when it happens
Goes to: Resident school district superintendent
A home schooled child who enrolls in a public, private or parochial school cannot go back to home schooling until a new Notice of Intent is completed and submitted to the resident school district, or completed through the Department of Education's online system.
No fixed dateYou file
Transcript and portfolio when enrolling in a public school
When your child enrolls or re-enrolls in a public school
How often: when it happens
Goes to: The public school your child enrolls in
To enroll or re-enroll in a public school, a home schooled student must submit to the public school a transcript listing all courses taken and semester grades from the home school, and a portfolio of indicators of academic progress, including the curricula used and the tests taken and lessons completed. The public school may waive these by mutual agreement with you.
The words a reviewer uses
No academic language is assessed. The NOI is administrative.
The part the paperwork does not cover
Filing on time is the easy half. The harder half is the year in between: showing what your child actually learned, in words the reviewer recognises, without turning your home into a school.
That is what this tool is for. You say what your child did, in a sentence. It maps that to the published standards we hold for Arkansas, which today are English (326 of 383), Mathematics (491 of 574), Science (515 of 604), Social Studies (4 of 1631), Physical Education (8 of 106) and Arts (3 of 115). Those figures count the topics we carry for ages 5 to 12 that cite one of Arkansas's published standards. A further 176 Social Studies topics are matched only to the national C3 Framework, which is guidance, not Arkansas's own standard. Then it builds the record you can hand over the day someone asks. See how it works.
Sources
- Read 28 Aug 2026
- Read 11 Aug 2026
- Read 6 Oct 2026
- Read 6 Oct 2026
- Read 6 Oct 2026
- Read 6 Oct 2026
Last read at the source on 2026-10-06: Act 623 of 2021 (HB1429), home school notice and withdrawal amendments (Arkansas General Assembly). That is the date we read it, not the date the rule last changed.
Check it yourself: the authority's own page.
Guidance, not legal advice. Rules change and districts vary: confirm with the authority named above before you file.