When can I Enroll?

Registration for NEW families opens in mid-May (with our Early Bird Discount until mid-June) and closes in March. RETURNING families can enroll as early as March of the year prior. For families who intend to attend the full year, we recommend enrolling by late August to make sure you are on our report to the counties.

 

When can I enroll my Kindergartener?

A student must be at least 5 by August 15th of the school year they wish to enter and enrolled no later than the school year following their 6th birthday.  If you are waiting until 6, enroll at the beginning of the year you intend to enter, regardless of the child’s birthday.

 

How do I Enroll?

Start at thefarmschool.community, our Satellite menu is in the middle with our Policies, Fees, and the Enrollment link.

 

What do I need for Enrollment?

• Fax and Email for the previous school’s registrar.

• Vaccinations/Exemptions can be uploaded during registration, or submitted later via records@thefarmschool.community, or our fax, 921.229.1113

• Pay online with a PayPal account or Stripe, or we can accept a Money Order. As soon as your payment clears, you’re enrolled!

 

How much does it Cost?

Each family starts with the $30 Annual Family Registration fee and then adds the price for each student.

 

Do I have to fill out an Intent to Homeschool form?

No, we take care of it! Intents only apply if you are an Independent Homeschooler through your county. When you enroll with our Umbrella, we immediately send an Enrollment Confirmation to your previous school, and send reports to each county multiple times a year to let them know who is enrolled with us.

 

Do you require State Testing?

No! When you enroll with our Umbrella, you will not have to take any standardized testing.

 

What is the Attendance requirement?

Per state law, each student is required to log a minimum of 180 days per school year (total, including any previous school’s attendance) with 4 hrs. of instruction/learning a day. The parent, as the facilitator, determines what constitutes learning.

• Please note: As a Tennessee non-public school enrollment in our program meets the compulsory attendance laws for the state of Tennessee. We do not assert that enrollment in our program meets the compulsory attendance and/or homeschool requirements in other states. It is the parent/guardian’s responsibility to meet the requirements of the state in which the student resides if they do not reside in Tennessee.

 

Do homeschoolers use excused absences, etc.?

Although we suggest using reporting online offers additional options for attendance logging – “E” for excused absence, an “N” for non-attended days, an “H” for holidays, an “S” for sick days and a “V” for vacation days. For our records, we recommend logging sick days only IF illness prohibits your child from accruing 180 days of attendance within your planned/ scheduled school year or by June 30. You may use E, H, S, V on the Parent Dashboard if doing so assists you in chronicling your records. However, we only need to know days of attendance

 

Do I need to submit Vaccinations?

Per state law, we are required to have Vaccinations or an Exemption on file for each student.

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Are you Accredited?

Accreditation has to do with the learning materials, which we do not provide. Thus, it is your chosen Curriculum that would or would not be accredited.

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How do I choose a Curriculum?

Because every student and learning situation is unique, our families are allowed to choose the curriculum that best suits their needs. No one is locked in, so if what you chose isn’t working, you are free to experiment and try something else! If Google doesn’t provide enough guidance, we have a page of Learning Resources, and a Facebook group full of friendly, helpful folks.

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How do I know I’m meeting the appropriate Standards?

We have organized the TN State Standards for K8 students into convenient spreadsheets for your reference so you know what to check off.

 

Will my student’s Credits transfer? *most applicable to HS

While public schools have the right to deny ANY homeschool credits, including those earned while registered with the county, it is not the norm. Some schools accept homeschool credits outright, and some schools prefer to test for placement, which assures the student ends up in the most appropriate course they offer. Some schools like to see the term "Accredited" before considering credits, which has to do with the curriculum you choose. If you think you will transfer in the near future, it might be best to ask the potential school how they handle homeschool credits.

 

Do you have my student’s Records?

Once records are processed, we add a note that you will find using the Documents button at the bottom of your Parent Dashboard. If it’s not there, please email our Records Dept via records@thefarmschool.community and they will look into it!

Why doesn’t my student have any Credits? *usually a K8 student

Credits only apply to High Schoolers, as it is used to figure their GPA.

 

How do I Report Grades and Attendance?

Start with our Pictorials for entering Grades and Attendance, and email records@thefarmschool.community with any further questions.

 

When do I Submit Grades online?

We ask that all families submit grades at least each semester. If you ever need your grades transferred, make sure to have reporting up to date. We suggest entering attendance and grades for the first semester by December 30 and the second semester by June 30. All grades and attendance are due by June 30.

 

My high schooler was previously independently homeschooled. Do we need a transcript for high school courses they've previously taken?

Yes, we will need a parent generated transcript, which should be broken down by school year.

 

How many hours are required for instruction per day?

Four hours of instruction* is the state’s minimum to qualify as a day in attendance. (Sorry, but the state does not recognize 8 hours a day as equal to two days of attendance).

• "Instruction" has not been defined by the state. Therefore, as the parent, you decided what counts - from unschooling, to traditional teacher lecture with seat work.

 

How do I create our Student and Teacher IDs?

You will find the ID Cards button at the bottom of your Parent Dashboard. The Parent link is at the top, and the Student links are in the chart.

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Where can I use a Teacher ID or Student ID?

As a teacher, you can get discounts at all kinds of retailers or extra services like at some libraries. Click here for a list we have put together. Let us know if there are some we are missing.

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I’m not getting your Emails!

Sometimes our .community extension gets misfiled to spam, or blocked by firewalls. Make sure you whitelist our addresses!

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How do I Withdraw?

While viewing your School Year in the Parent Dashboard, you will find the Withdraw link towards the middle, under the ‘mark your school year as complete’ link.  We will also mark you as withdrawn if we get a record request from a transferring school. If asked to provide the new school with our records department email so they can request records: records@thefarmschool.community.