Montgomery County Homeschool Portfolio Review: What MCPS Actually Requires

The MCPS portfolio review is the moment Option 1 homeschool families in Montgomery County have been building toward all semester. For many parents, it is also the most anxiety-producing part of the entire school year — partly because MCPS is one of Maryland's largest and most administratively complex school systems, and partly because the county's procedures add a layer of formality on top of the baseline COMAR requirements that can feel confusing to navigate without a clear roadmap.

This post covers exactly what Montgomery County requires for the portfolio review, what MCPS Form 270-34 is and how it fits in, what reviewers are assessing, and how to organize your materials so the review goes smoothly.

How Option 1 Works in Montgomery County

Under COMAR 13A.10.01, Maryland families who choose direct county supervision — Option 1 — have their home instruction programs reviewed by a representative of the local school superintendent. In Montgomery County, that oversight is administered through MCPS's Pupil Personnel Services office.

Like most Maryland counties, MCPS typically conducts two portfolio reviews per school year, one at the end of each semester. COMAR permits a maximum of three reviews annually, but the standard practice in Montgomery County aligns with the statewide pattern of twice-yearly reviews. Reviews are scheduled at a "mutually agreeable time and place" — in practice, many MCPS families complete their reviews at a county office location or arrange to submit materials digitally.

Montgomery County has a substantial homeschool population. As of the 2024-2025 school year, Maryland's total homeschool enrollment sits at approximately 42,151 students, and MCPS — as the state's most populous school district — represents a significant share of that count. The district's size means the review process is handled by trained pupil personnel workers (PPWs) who are experienced with the COMAR standard and generally professional in their approach, though individual experiences vary.

MCPS Form 270-34: What It Is and When You Need It

MCPS Form 270-34 is the county's internal documentation form for home instruction programs. Parents frequently search for it when they are initiating a home instruction program in Montgomery County or updating their program details.

The form serves as MCPS's administrative record of your home instruction program. It captures basic information about your program — the subjects you are teaching, your curriculum materials, and your student's grade level — and becomes part of the school system's file for your family. When you submit your initial Home Instruction Notification (as required 15 days before beginning instruction under COMAR), MCPS may use Form 270-34 or its equivalent as the intake document.

For the portfolio review itself, Form 270-34 is a background document — it records what you said you would teach, which means your portfolio should reflect the same subjects listed on the form. If you indicated you would use a specific math curriculum and later switched, it is worth noting that change in your portfolio's curriculum summary so there is no apparent discrepancy between your filed form and your actual instruction.

If you need the current version of Form 270-34, contact MCPS Pupil Personnel Services directly or access it through the MCPS website. The form is periodically updated, and versions circulating in older homeschool community posts may be outdated.

What Goes in an MCPS Portfolio Review

The legal standard for the portfolio review is the same statewide: the reviewer assesses whether the portfolio demonstrates "regular, thorough instruction" in the eight subjects mandated by COMAR 13A.10.01. Those subjects are English, mathematics, science, social studies, art, music, health, and physical education.

MCPS reviewers do not evaluate curriculum quality, compare your instruction to MCPS grade-level standards, or assess whether your child is performing at grade level. The review is a documentation check, not an academic evaluation.

An effective MCPS portfolio for one semester contains:

A brief curriculum summary for each subject. This does not need to be lengthy — a sentence or two explaining what materials you used and what topics you covered is sufficient. Something like "Saxon Math 5/4, chapters 1-50" or "Sonlight Core B read-aloud schedule plus independent reading log" tells the reviewer immediately what your program looked like.

Three to five dated work samples per subject. These samples should be distributed across the semester, not clustered in a single week. A reviewer looking at five math worksheets all dated in September will note that no evidence of October, November, or December instruction was provided. One sample from each month of the review period is a practical target.

Activity documentation for non-paper subjects. Art, music, health, and physical education do not always produce worksheet evidence. For these subjects, dated logs, photographs of projects, enrollment receipts for lessons or classes, or coach letters serve as documentation. MCPS reviewers are accustomed to seeing a range of formats for non-core subjects — the important thing is that there are dates and some record of what occurred.

The Non-Core Subject Problem

For most MCPS families, math and English documentation is straightforward — workbooks generate paper evidence automatically. The four non-core subjects cause the most stress because parents underestimate how easy it is to document them and then realize two weeks before the review that they have nothing concrete to show.

Physical education is the easiest to fix quickly. A youth soccer registration form, a swimming lesson schedule with attendance dates, or a simple activity log showing dates and activities (a 30-minute bike ride, a hike, a PE class at a co-op) satisfies the requirement. If your child is enrolled in any organized sport or fitness program, that program's schedule serves as your PE documentation.

Music is similar. If your child takes instrument lessons, the lesson invoices or a teacher's attendance log are your documentation. If you use a structured music appreciation curriculum at home, print the completion report or keep a dated listening log.

Art requires some minimal record-keeping during the semester. A photograph of each completed art project with the date noted is enough. You do not need a formal art curriculum; informal studio time, craft projects connected to history units, or classes at a local arts center all count.

Health is often the most overlooked. If you use a health textbook or curriculum, completed pages work as samples. If you cover health topics informally — discussions about nutrition, first aid practice, internet safety — a dated log of topics covered is acceptable.

What Reviewers Cannot Require in Montgomery County

COMAR 13A.10.01.01.F prohibits local school systems from imposing requirements that exceed the state regulations. This applies to MCPS just as it applies to every other Maryland county. An MCPS reviewer cannot:

• Require your portfolio to follow a specific formatting template
• Demand that your curriculum align with MCPS or Maryland state academic standards
• Ask for standardized test scores (unless you opted into testing on your original notification form)
• Require daily lesson plans or hourly time logs
• Challenge your choice of curriculum on pedagogical or religious grounds

If you encounter an MCPS reviewer who requests something that exceeds COMAR's requirements, you can politely note that you are operating in compliance with COMAR 13A.10.01 and request that any formal requirements be provided in writing. Keeping a copy of the COMAR regulation during your review is entirely appropriate and signals that you are informed.

If the reviewer determines that your portfolio is deficient in one or more subjects, you receive written notice and 30 days to provide corrective evidence. A first-time deficiency for a well-intentioned family — typically a missing subject section or thin documentation for PE or art — is usually resolved without issue.

Organizing Your Portfolio for the MCPS Review

The most common mistake Montgomery County families make is arriving at the review with unorganized materials. An MCPS reviewer who has to sift through a box of loose papers to find your science documentation is more likely to note gaps than a reviewer who can flip directly to a clearly labeled science tab.

A practical MCPS portfolio structure:

• Cover page with your family information, the review period dates, and your student's name and grade
• Table of contents listing the eight subjects with page or section references
• Eight tabbed sections, one per subject, each containing a brief curriculum summary followed by dated work samples
• A separate section at the back for supplementary materials (receipts, photos, outside class enrollment records)

If you are submitting digitally, organize your PDF the same way — one clearly labeled PDF with bookmarks or a clear file-naming convention for each subject section.

Preparing your portfolio in this structure from the start of each semester — rather than assembling it the week before the review — dramatically reduces the stress of the review process.

Templates Built for Maryland's Eight-Subject Requirement

The Maryland Portfolio and Assessment Templates provide fillable PDF logs and documentation sheets mapped specifically to COMAR's eight required subjects, including dedicated tracking pages for art, music, health, and physical education — the sections that trip up most MCPS families. Everything is designed to work as a digital-first system that you can submit directly to MCPS by email or print for an in-person review.

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