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Home School (Competent Private Instruction)

Competent Private Instruction (CPI) is the official name for Home Schooling.  In Iowa there are several ways families can engage in Competent Private Instruction:

  1. Non Accredited School: Parents have the option to send their children to a non-accredited school.

  2. Independent Competent Private Instruction: ( offers two choices)
    Parents teach children at home on their own without the assistance of a licensed teacher. Annual assessment is required. The resident school district must receive results of annual assessment by mid-June each year or the district can test students with the Home School Assistance group.

    Parents teach children at home with a licensed teacher of family’s choice. The teacher’s name and Iowa license folder number are required on the CPI Form A. Annual assessment is not required when using a licensed teacher.

  3. Home School Assistance Program (HSAP):  This option provides families with a district-provided licensed instructor to supervise home instruction at least four times per quarter in which half of the contacts must be face-to-face with the child. Children enrolled in HSAP are not required to be assessed annually, but must show adequate progress.

  4. Dual Enrollment:  By choosing this option, home schooled students may enroll in academic programs or extracurricular activities. If fees are charged to public school students, a fee may be charged for the class or activity for which the home schooled students enrolls. Dual enrolled students do not have to pay the cost of the annual assessment.

Annual assessment for CPI students (ITBS/ITED) by the school district is generally administered the first week of March by the Home School Assistant Program teachers (HSAP) at local public libraries or an area church education center. Families who request this courtesy testing will receive this information in October/November.

Any of the above (1 – 4) requires Competent Private Instruction Form A to be submitted to the resident school district’s office of Curriculum and Instruction annually. This report is required if the student is  six years old on or before September 15 and not yet 16 years old and does not attend an Iowa public or accredited non- public school.

Immunization forms or exemption forms must be submitted with Form A for all new students registering for home school.  The forms will be kept on file each year until the student completes homeschooling with our district, transfers to a school within our district, moves or open enrolls out of the Southeast Polk school district.  To obtain the exemption form, call 888-398-9696 or 515-281-4938.