Learning
Services & Support
In Virginia, a child must attend school in compliance with the state compulsory attendance law. This means they must begin attending school when the child has reached their fifth birthday on or before Sept. 30 and has not passed their eighteenth birthday.
Home instruction (also referred to as homeschooling) is one alternative to school attendance.
Parents may provide home instruction following requirements in the Code of Virginia.
Read the Virginia Department of Education’s Home Instruction Handbook and the Chesterfield County Public Schools Home Instruction Guidelines for more details about guidelines and requirements. A CCPS home instruction specialist is available to help with the necessary steps to legally provide home instruction.
A child may receive home instruction from a tutor who holds a valid Virginia teaching license and has been approved as a tutor by the superintendent. An approved tutor remains approved as long as they hold a valid teaching license. The tutor may be a parent if they meet the tutor qualifications.
Parents who select this option must notify the division home instruction office in writing and include their child’s name.
A copy of the tutor’s valid Virginia teaching license must be provided.
Instruction may take place in or outside of the home.
Completion of a notice of intent is not required.
Proof of academic progress is not required.
To enhance the educational experience, students who live in Chesterfield County and receive home instruction may enroll in Chesterfield County Public Schools on a part-time basis. This is defined as taking not more than one 3-credit career and technical course at CTC@Hull or CTC@Courthouse or two 1-credit courses taken at the school or via CCPSOnline, according to the following criteria:
All middle and high school courses in the subject areas identified in the Appropriation Act are available to such students.
The school division may administer a diagnostic test to determine appropriate placement in selected courses.
Students must attend the school in the attendance zone for their residence.
To enroll in an in-person course, the parent/guardian must complete the part-time enrollment form and submit it to the principal of the appropriate school no later than March 1 of the preceding school year. A student who relocates to Chesterfield County after March 1 of the preceding school year may register for part-time enrollment by Aug. 15.