Homeschool requirements · Rhode Island
Homeschooling in Rhode Island
Moderate paperwork · A notice and a yearly assessment or records check.
Obtain approval from the local school committee, keep an attendance register, and teach for a period substantially equal to public schools.
What Rhode Island asks
| Notice | Notice of intent submitted to the local school committee for approval each year. |
|---|---|
| Days and hours | 180 days |
| Subjects | Reading, Writing, Geography, Arithmetic, U.S. & R.I. History, Government, Physical Education, Health |
| Assessment | Set by the local district (varies). |
| Records to keep | Attendance register available to the district. |
| Parent qualification | None. |
Deadlines
These are the dates the app tracks for Rhode Island. Districts vary; the app lets you edit any of them.
| What | When | To whom | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| At-home instruction plan approval Notice · Mail it | Within -30 days of starting | Local school committee, through your district superintendent's office | 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. Rhode Island approves homeschooling before it starts. RIDE's guidance says R.I. Gen. Laws 16-19-1(a) requires the local school committee to approve an at-home instruction plan before you begin, and that a child taken out of school without that approval may face the compulsory attendance statute. Approval in hand before the first day is the safe order. Rhode Island sets no statewide date, no statewide form, and no portal, and RIDE does not run this process; approval happens only at the district level, so this reminder lands 30 days before the school year start you set in the app. Move it to your district's own lead time, and start early, because a school committee may meet only once a month. A plan generally shows a period of attendance substantially equal to public school (180 days or 1,080 hours), the required subjects taught in English, attendance records kept as the public schools keep them, and how your child's progress will be evaluated. A family moving into a district registers and enrolls the child there first, then seeks approval. A denial can be appealed; RIDE's guidance says to the Commissioner, and its legal office is Legal@ride.ri.gov, 401-222-8979. RIDE's guidance does not describe a yearly renewal, but HSLDA says approval is sought before each year and many districts do ask again, so this reminder repeats every year until you turn it off. Check the renewal with your district. HomeSchool Scribe prepares a notice letter and the course of study; sending them to the district is yours to do. |
| Attendance register returned to the district Report · Mail it | By the end of the school year | Local school committee and district superintendent | 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. R.I. Gen. Laws 16-19-2 has registers kept and returned to the school committee, the superintendent of schools, truant officers, and the state education department, and made the same as the registers the public schools keep. Neither the statute nor RIDE names a month. HSLDA describes it as making the register available to the school committee at the end of the school year, which is where this date sits, so treat it as a planning default. Your approved plan may name a different time or a different person; move it to match. The register shows the days taught against the 180-day or 1,080-hour public school standard in R.I. Gen. Laws 16-2-2; HomeSchool Scribe builds it from the lessons you check off. |
| Progress report to the superintendent Report · Mail it | Four times a year, on the dates in your plan | District superintendent, or the contact named in your approved plan | 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. RIDE's guidance says regular reports must be submitted to your local superintendent, or to whoever else your district designates as the point person for your at-home instruction. Rhode Island does not say how often, and there is no statewide form. These four dates are a placeholder spread across your school year, not a Rhode Island rule; change them to the schedule in your approved plan, or turn them off if your plan asks for one report instead. Settling the schedule in writing while the plan is being approved saves an argument later. |
| Progress evaluation agreed with your district Assessment · Mail it | By the end of the school year | Local school committee, through your district superintendent's office | Rhode Island names no statewide test. RIDE's guidance has the parent and the school committee agree, while the plan is being approved, on how your child's progress in the required subjects will be evaluated; testing at regular intervals is one option, and the site of testing, your home or the public school, is part of that agreement. RIDE lists the required subjects as reading, writing, geography, arithmetic, the history of the United States, the history of Rhode Island, the principles of American government, civics, health, and physical education. This date starts at the end of your school year and is a planning default; move it to whatever the approved plan says, and if your plan uses interval testing instead, use the progress report reminders for those. How the result reaches the district, by mail or at a meeting, is also set in the plan. |
| Keep the attendance register and progress records Records · Keep in your files | By the end of the school year | Keep in your files | Keep the attendance register, the approved plan and course of study, and any test scores or progress reports, together with the school committee's written approval letter. RIDE's guidance says attendance records are required of every family, and progress reports and test scores as well when you and the committee agree you will test at home. Rhode Island names no retention period, so HomeSchool Scribe keeps three years, which covers the usual questions from a district, a college, or a later move. |
What HomeSchool Scribe does in Rhode Island
- At-home instruction plan approval: Prepares the notice letter and the course of study; lets you mark it filed with the date.
- Attendance register returned to the district: Prepares the attendance and hours report and the hours log; lets you mark it filed with the date.
- Progress report to the superintendent: Prepares the report card and the attendance and hours report; lets you mark it filed with the date.
- Progress evaluation agreed with your district: Prepares the report card and the portfolio; reminds you 14 days and 2 days before; lets you mark it filed with the date.
- Keep the attendance register and progress records: Prepares the attendance and hours report, the hours log, the course of study and the report card; 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
Rhode Island Department of Education · HSLDA’s Rhode Island summary
Not legal advicePlanning summaries in plain language, reviewed 2026-09-29. Deadlines and recipients vary by district; confirm with Rhode Island’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 Rhode Island.