Home School Education

Parents of students in regular private schools often pay for most of their students’ tuition, and so do homeschooling families. A small amount of financial assistance is available through the Aids to Nonpublic Students program. You must meet the following deadlines if you want aid:

By October 1: Return Aids to Nonpublic Students Forms to Rochester Public Schools.

By October 15: Rochester Public Schools submits information to MDE, allowing you to access up to:

• $81.31 per eligible pupil for textbooks, standardized tests and individual instructional materials. 
• $73.71 per eligible student for Pupil Health Services.
• $298.05 for Secondary Pupil Guidance and Counseling Services.

Students must be age 5 by September 1 to be eligible for any aid. Unless kindergarteners are in full-day programs, they receive prorated half-time funding.

Homeschools and other very small nonpublic schools (five or fewer students) may participate in their resident school district’s extracurricular activities, as defined by law. See Minnesota Statutes, section 123B.49. For more information about this provision and related policies, contact the Minnesota High School League at (763) 560-2262.

Homeschooled students must take a nationally normed achievement test every year, unless the homeschool is accredited by a state-recognized accrediting agency. You and the superintendent must agree on which test your child will take, and how and where they will take it.

If you are filing a Full Report in fall 2014, your student must take the test until age 17. If you are filing a Letter of Intent in fall 2014, your student must take the test until age 16.

We recommend the Iowa Test of Basic Skills or the Stanford Achievement Test. Both tests are available from the University of Minnesota. The ACT(www.actstudents.org) is an option for high school students.

Supplemental testing is required to the extent that the nationally normed test does not encompass all required subject areas. (See Curriculum)

There are exceptions to the testing requirement based on the instructor’s qualifications. See Minnesota Statutes 120A.22, subd. 11(b).

Low scores on nationally normed achievement test: If your student scores at or below the 30th percentile on the test, you must evaluate their abilities to determine whether they have learning problems.