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🚀 How to Start Homeschooling in Arkansas

The first steps for a Arkansas family starting to homeschool: what to file, how to leave a public school, and where to find co-ops, classes and help — drawn from our Arkansas guide and articles.

Before you buy

If an expense isn't on the list, ask the Office of School Choice and Parent Empowerment before you spend.
Keep itemized receipts — reimbursement requests need the date, vendor and a line-item description with costs.
The program has testing requirements for participating students; read them on School Choice Arkansas.
Amounts and rules are set each year. Confirm anything important on the official pages.

Read the full section in our Arkansas guide

Homeschooling in Arkansas: the basics

What a home school is: a school a parent or legal guardian provides for their own child (6 CAR § 33-102). Parents need no particular education. The state doesn't regulate your books, curriculum, online or correspondence programs, and you set your own schedule. DESE, school districts and education service cooperatives don't supply materials. You buy your own (6 CAR § 33-103(g)).
Notice of intent: every year, file a notice of intent (NOI) with the superintendent of your resident school district. In it you agree that you are responsible for your child's education while you homeschool (Ark. Code § 6-15-503; 6 CAR § 33-103, § 33-104). The deadline is August 15. DESE's online system at noihs.ade.arkansas.gov is the preferred way to file, and for 2026–27 it opened June 1, 2026. You can also turn in a paper form at your district office, or send it by email, mail or fax. File one form per family. The form doesn't need to be notarized. You don't have to meet with the superintendent or give a reason for homeschooling.
What the NOI asks: each child's name, sex, date of birth, grade and last school attended; your mailing address and phone; the parent's name; whether your child plans to join public school interscholastic activities or seek a high school equivalency (GED) diploma; and your signature. The 2026–27 form also has a Social Security number line for EFA participants only. Districts can't require anything beyond what the law requires. The NOI is confidential and not open to the public under the Freedom of Information Act (6 CAR § 33-104(f)–(h)).
Leaving public school: filing the NOI doesn't withdraw your child, so contact the school to withdraw. If you file after August 15, the school may require a five-school-day wait before your child is released. The superintendent or school board can waive it, and the online form has a box to request a waiver (6 CAR § 33-103(a)). A student under school discipline can't switch to homeschool until the superintendent or board allows it, the discipline is finished or the semester ends (whichever comes first), or the student is expelled. A student holding school-issued items must return or pay for them, or wait until the semester ends (6 CAR § 33-103(b)–(e)).
Moving or stopping: if you move to a new district during the year, give the new superintendent a copy of your current NOI within 30 calendar days (6 CAR § 33-104(e)). Tell your district if your address changes or you stop homeschooling. DESE also asks you to email the Home School Office at ADE.HomeSchool@ade.arkansas.gov if your family moves or your child goes back to public school. A child who enrolls in a public, private or parochial school can't return to homeschooling until you file a new NOI (6 CAR § 33-103(f)).
Umbrella schools and online schools: a curriculum supplier may call itself a private or umbrella school and say you won't need to file an NOI. DESE calls that false. The duty to file depends on whether your child is educated in Arkansas, not on where your materials come from. Arkansas Connections Academy and Arkansas Virtual Academy are online public charter schools, and their students don't file an NOI. You must be an Arkansas resident to homeschool in the state.
Testing: Act 832 of 2015 repealed homeschool testing. Homeschooled students who don't take EFA money don't have to take standardized tests. Students in the Education Freedom Account program must take a standardized test. On the NOI you can also sign up for a one-time state-funded PSAT (10th grade only) or ACT (11th grade only), AP exams (a fee may apply) or the ATLAS test. All are optional.
Records and graduation: the law doesn't let DESE or your district review or monitor your child's work. DESE suggests keeping attendance records, a portfolio for each grade, grades for each subject and a transcript. The state gives homeschooled students no diploma or transcript and sets no graduation requirements, so you decide them. If you filed your NOI, the Home School Office can use it to write an official letter confirming your child's homeschool years and grade levels.
Returning to public school: the school must give your child the same rights as other students. It can't deny course credits, grade placement, a diploma, activities, clubs or scholarships just because your child was homeschooled (Ark. Code § 6-15-504; 6 CAR § 33-105). Bring a transcript of courses and semester grades, plus a portfolio of curricula, tests and lessons completed. The school places your child at or above the home school level if you also have a score of at least the 30th percentile on a nationally recognized norm-referenced test from the past year. If you have no score, the school tests your child or waives the test. Otherwise the school decides placement and credits as it does for other transfer students, or you and the school can agree on them. A returning student must attend at least nine months right before graduation to get that school's diploma.
The LEARNS Act and EFA: the LEARNS Act (Act 237 of 2023) created the Education Freedom Account program, and DESE says homeschool families can take part. LEARNS isn't on DESE's list of laws that changed home school rules. The laws listed since 2023 are Act 630 of 2023 and Acts 475 and 728 of 2025, all about sports and activities. The official pages we read don't say whether an EFA student counts as a home school student under the home school law. Ask the EFA office (501-683-1876, ade.efa@ade.arkansas.gov).
Questions: call the DESE Home School Office at 501-683-3162 or email ADE.HomeSchool@ade.arkansas.gov.

Read the full section in our Arkansas guide

Articles for Arkansas families

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Leadership isn't reserved for student council presidents, team captains, or the loudest voice in the room. Every student has the ability to lead through their actions, choices, and character. In…
One Plant a Week: A Simple Science Rhythm for Your K-5 Homeschool
You do not need a lab, a microscope or a stack of textbooks to teach real science in the early grades. You need one plant, a few minutes each day and a reason to look closely. That is the idea behind…

Official sources

Summarized from our Arkansas guide (as of September 2026) and articles. Rules change — confirm on the official pages before you act.

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