Homeschool requirements · North Dakota
Homeschooling in North Dakota
Paperwork state · Several filings a year with real deadlines.
File a statement of intent 14 days before starting each year, teach 175 days of four hours, and give standardized tests in grades 4, 6, 8, and 10.
What North Dakota asks
| Notice | Annual statement of intent to the local superintendent 14 days before starting. |
|---|---|
| Days and hours | 175 days, 700 hours a year, 4 hours a day |
| Subjects | English Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Physical Education, Health |
| Assessment | Standardized test in grades 4, 6, 8, and 10 (some exemptions apply); results filed with the district. |
| Records to keep | Annual records of courses, academic progress, and test results. |
| Parent qualification | High school diploma or GED (additional monitoring may apply without one). |
Deadlines
These are the dates the app tracks for North Dakota. Districts vary; the app lets you edit any of them.
| What | When | To whom | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statement of intent to supervise home education Notice · Mail it | Within -5 days of starting | Superintendent of your school district of residence, or the county superintendent if the district employs none | North Dakota Century Code 15.1-23-02 sets this at least five days before home education begins, and once each year after that. The five days run from the day you actually start, so a family beginning mid-year files five days before that date rather than waiting for the next school year. A separate clock applies after a move: within fourteen days of establishing residence in a new district. Compulsory attendance covers ages seven through sixteen (15.1-20-01), and the Department of Public Instruction asks for the statement each year for each child age seven or older. The statement gives the child's name, address, date of birth and grade level; the supervising parent's name, address and qualifications; any public school courses and extracurricular activities the child plans to join; and it comes with the child's immunization record and proof of the child's identity. Form SFN 16909 covers all of it, one form per child per year, or a written statement with the same items: https://www.nd.gov/dpi/sites/www/files/documents/SFN%20Forms/SFN16909.pdf. Two things ride along on that same form. If you are claiming the grade 4, 6, 8 and 10 testing exemption, the notice and its documentation are filed at the same time as this statement, not later in the year (15.1-23-09(2)(b)). And a parent without a high school diploma or GED is monitored for the first two years by a teacher licensed or approved by the Education Standards and Practices Board, who reports the child's progress to the superintendent twice each school year (15.1-23-06, 15.1-23-07); a basic composite test score below the fiftieth percentile nationally extends that monitoring. Those twice-yearly monitor reports are not on this reminder list. |
| Standardized achievement test (grades 4, 6, 8, 10) Assessment · Bring to a meeting | Within -30 days of the end of the school year (grades 4, 6, 8, 10) | Arranged through your school district of residence | Your district sets this date, not the state. HomeSchool Scribe has deliberately left the reminder off, because any date it picked would be invented. Confirm the date with your district or in your approved plan, then add your own reminder. Applies while a child is in grade 4, 6, 8 or 10 (NDCC 15.1-23-09). The child takes the achievement test the resident district uses, or a nationally normed test if the parent asks for one. Either way a teacher licensed or approved by the Education Standards and Practices Board administers it, in the child's learning environment or, at the parent's request, in a public school. The district's own test and its administration cost the family nothing; a different test is at the parent's expense, and so is administration unless the district agrees to administer it (15.1-23-10). An exemption is available where the parent has a philosophical, moral or religious objection to standardized achievement tests, or is licensed or approved to teach, holds a baccalaureate degree, or has met the cutoff score on a national teacher examination - and that notice is filed with the statement of intent, not here. The statute sets no date for the test itself, so this reminder is placed a month before your school year ends to leave room for filing the results. It is a planning date, not a state deadline. |
| File test results with the superintendent Report · Mail it | By the end of the school year (grades 4, 6, 8, 10) | Superintendent of your school district of residence, or the county superintendent if the district employs none | NDCC 15.1-23-11 has the supervising parent file the child's standardized achievement test results with the superintendent. The statute names no date, so this reminder sits at the end of your school year; it is a planning date, not a state deadline. Separately, whoever administers the test notifies the district themselves (15.1-23-08). Keep a copy, because the results also belong in the annual academic record. If the basic composite score comes in below the thirtieth percentile nationally, a multidisciplinary assessment team assesses the child for a potential learning problem; if that team finds no disability and the family continues home education, a remediation plan prepared with a licensed or approved teacher is filed with the superintendent and stays in effect until the child scores at or above the thirtieth percentile or shows a year of academic progress (15.1-23-11, 15.1-23-12). |
| Annual academic record Records · Keep in your files | By the end of the school year | Keep in your files | NDCC 15.1-23-05 describes an annual record of the courses the child took and the child's academic progress assessments, including any standardized achievement test results. If the child later transfers to a public school district, the record goes to the superintendent or other administrator on request. The statute sets no retention period, so this file keeps three years by default; high school records matter longer, for transcripts, diplomas under 15.1-23-17, and the North Dakota Scholarship. The Department of Public Instruction's supervision guidance also suggests keeping daily lesson plans, a copy of the statement of intent, a work sample from each subject, and a yearly summary per child. One narrow case is not covered by these reminders: a parent supervising home education for a child with a developmental disability under 15.1-23-14 files progress reports with the superintendent on or before November 1, February 1 and May 1 (15.1-23-15). |
| Days and hours log Records · Keep in your files | By the end of the school year | Keep in your files | North Dakota asks for instruction of at least four hours each day for a minimum of 175 days each year, in the subjects required by law to be taught to public school students (NDCC 15.1-23-04). Nothing is filed with anyone. The log is the family's own evidence of those counts and feeds the annual academic record. The statute gives a per-day figure and a per-year day count, not a yearly hours total. |
What HomeSchool Scribe does in North Dakota
- Statement of intent to supervise home education: Prepares the notice letter; reminds you 14 days and 2 days before; lets you mark it filed with the date.
- Standardized achievement test (grades 4, 6, 8, 10): Prepares the transcript.
- File test results with the superintendent: Prepares the transcript; reminds you 14 days and 2 days before; lets you mark it filed with the date.
- Annual academic record: Prepares the course of study, the report card and the transcript; keeps it in records.
- Days and hours log: Prepares the attendance and hours report and the hours log; keeps it in records.
Attendance and hours fill in from the lessons you check off, so the documents above come from records you already have.
Read the law yourself
North Dakota Department of Public Instruction · HSLDA’s North Dakota summary
Not legal advicePlanning summaries in plain language, reviewed 2026-09-29. Deadlines and recipients vary by district; confirm with North Dakota’s current law or a homeschool legal organization before you file anything. If something here is out of date, tell us and we’ll fix it for every family in North Dakota.