Kentucky Homeschool Report Card Template and Grading Requirements

Kentucky does not issue a state report card form for homeschoolers. There is no form to download from the KDE website, no standardized grading scale you must use, and no external authority who reviews your grades. What Kentucky does require is a scholarship report — the state's term for a homeschool academic progress record — updated at regular intervals throughout the year. Creating a practical template for this is simpler than most families expect once you understand what the law is actually asking for.

What the Law Requires

Under KRS 159.040, Kentucky homeschools must maintain scholarship reports in the same manner as required of public school officials. For public schools, that means issuing progress reports to parents every grading period — which runs approximately six to nine weeks. The same interval applies to your homeschool scholarship report.

The subjects that must be covered are defined in KRS 159.010 and related statutes: reading, writing, spelling, grammar, history, mathematics, science, and civics. All instruction must be in English. Beyond naming these subjects and the update interval, the statute does not specify:

• A grading scale
• A letter grade system
• Any particular format for the document
• Whether the document must be typed or handwritten
• Any requirement to submit the report to the district

That last point matters. Your scholarship report is your internal record. You keep it — you do not file it with anyone. The Director of Pupil Personnel has the authority to request an inspection of these records under KRS 159.040, but that is distinct from a submission requirement. Most families will never have a DPP request their records. But if it happens, you want to have them.

Grading: What Kentucky Actually Requires

Here is the short answer: Kentucky has no mandatory grading scale for homeschools. You define your own.

For younger children, many families use narrative assessments — written descriptions of what the student learned and how they are progressing — rather than letter grades. This is fully compliant. "Emma completed a unit on the American Revolution, demonstrated strong comprehension of cause and effect in narrations, and is developing her ability to connect events chronologically" is a valid scholarship report entry for history.

For high school students, using a traditional letter grade system (A–F or percentage-based) is strongly advisable, for one specific reason: you will eventually create a high school transcript. Universities, community colleges, and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) want to see a GPA. If you have documented letter grades across all four years, building a credible transcript is straightforward. If you have only narrative records for grades 9-11 and suddenly need a GPA for a college application, you are creating a problem for yourself.

If you plan to use the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship (KEES) program, note that homeschool GPAs are not recognized by KHEAA. KEES awards for homeschoolers are based exclusively on ACT or SAT scores. So the grading scale you use will not affect KEES eligibility — but it will matter for every other post-secondary application.

What a Compliant Template Looks Like

The minimum content for each scholarship report entry (per grading period):

Header information:

• School name (the name you assigned to your homeschool, e.g., "Morrison Family Academy")
• Student full name
• Academic year and grading period dates (e.g., "September 1 – October 15, 2025")

Per-subject entry for each required subject:

• Subject name
• Topics or curriculum covered during the period
• Assessment of student progress (letter grade, percentage, or narrative)

Optional but useful:

• Number of instructional days in the period
• Curriculum or textbook titles used
• Notes on areas needing additional focus

You do not need a signature from a certified teacher. You do not need a notary. You do not need the document stamped by the district. Sign it yourself as the school administrator — the same role you took on when you submitted your Notice of Intent naming yourself as a primary instructor.

Here is a simplified template structure:

[Your Homeschool Name] Scholarship Report — [Grading Period] Student: [Name] | Grade: [Grade Level] | School Year: [Year]

Additional notes: [Optional — anything worth flagging for the period]

Administrator signature: _________________________ Date: _________

That structure covers all required subjects and provides enough specificity to be defensible if your records are ever reviewed. It takes about 15-20 minutes to complete at the end of each grading period while the material is fresh. Trying to reconstruct it in June from memory is significantly harder.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Skipping subjects. It is easy to leave out civics or to lump it in with history. These are listed as separate statutory requirements. Even if your civics instruction happens incidentally — through government unit studies, current events discussions, or Constitution study — document it separately.

Not updating on schedule. A single annual update at the end of May is not the same as quarterly or six-week updates. If a DPP reviews records and sees only one entry covering a full school year, it does not look like an actively operated school. Update on the same schedule your local public schools use for progress reports. Check the district's public school calendar to find those dates.

Over-documenting what the DPP is not entitled to see. Some parents create elaborate portfolios with work samples, lesson plans, and curriculum overviews and label all of it as their scholarship report. The work samples and lesson plans are good to have for your own reference, but they are not part of what the DPP has authority to inspect. Keep your scholarship report — the academic progress record — separate and clean. The other documentation can sit behind it in your files.

Using generic templates not tied to Kentucky law. Many Etsy and TPT templates are designed for states with completely different requirements. Some require evaluator signatures, portfolio submissions, or subject lists that do not match Kentucky's eight required subjects. A template that works in Pennsylvania does not work in Kentucky.

What Happens If Your Records Are Requested

If a DPP contacts you to inspect records, you have two things to show: the attendance log (daily record of school sessions and student presence) and the scholarship report (academic progress record). Produce those and nothing else.

You are not required to let them into your home. The KDE specifically notes that records inspections can take place at a neutral off-site location. You can bring printed copies of your scholarship reports and attendance log to a public location — a library, a district office lobby — without admitting the official to your residence.

If the request goes beyond these two document types — if the DPP asks to review your curriculum, demands test scores, or wants to observe your instruction — cite KRS 159.040 directly. The statute defines exactly what is subject to inspection. Anything not on that list is outside the DPP's statutory authority.

Pulling It All Together

Keeping a solid scholarship report alongside a clean attendance log is the ongoing compliance work that makes Kentucky homeschooling legally airtight. Neither is complicated once you have a working template.

If you are still in the process of withdrawing your child from public school, the compliance picture is broader: you also need a legally compliant Notice of Intent, a dual-notification strategy to prevent truancy flags, and a plan for handling district pushback. The Kentucky Legal Withdrawal Blueprint provides templates for all of it — including the scholarship report and attendance log — in a single download built specifically for Kentucky law.

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