Homeschool requirements · Tennessee
Homeschooling in Tennessee
Moderate paperwork · A notice and a yearly assessment or records check.
Homeschool independently (annual notice, 180 days of 4 hours, attendance, testing in grades 5, 7, and 9) or through a church-related umbrella school with its own requirements.
What Tennessee asks
| Notice | Annual notice of intent to the local director of schools (independent option) or enrollment in a church-related school. |
|---|---|
| Days and hours | 180 days, 720 hours a year, 4 hours a day |
| Subjects | Not specified |
| Assessment | Independent option: standardized tests in grades 5, 7, and 9 administered through the district. |
| Records to keep | Attendance records submitted at year end (independent option). |
| Parent qualification | High school diploma or GED (independent option). |
| Worth knowing | Most Tennessee families use the church-related school option, which sets its own reporting rules. |
Deadlines
These are the dates the app tracks for Tennessee. Districts vary; the app lets you edit any of them.
| What | When | To whom | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notice of intent (independent option) Notice · Mail it | When you start the school year | Local director of schools | Church-related school families follow their school's process instead. |
| Year-end attendance report Report · Mail it | By the end of the school year | Local director of schools | 180 days of at least 4 hours. |
| Standardized test (grades 5, 7, 9) Assessment · Bring to a meeting | By the end of the school year (grades 5, 7, 9) | Administered through the district |
What HomeSchool Scribe does in Tennessee
- Notice of intent (independent option): Prepares the notice letter; reminds you 14 days and 2 days before; lets you mark it filed with the date.
- Year-end attendance report: Prepares the attendance and hours report; reminds you 14 days and 2 days before; lets you mark it filed with the date.
- Standardized test (grades 5, 7, 9): Prepares the transcript; reminds you 14 days and 2 days before.
Attendance, hours, and grades fill in from the lessons you check off, so the documents above come from records you already have. Records are kept for 1 years, the period Tennessee asks for.
Read the law yourself
Not legal advicePlanning summaries in plain language, reviewed 2026-09-02. Deadlines and recipients vary by district; confirm with Tennessee’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 If something here is out of date, tell us and we’ll fix it for every family in Tennessee.