Vermont Notice of Intent Homeschool: AOE Enrollment and the 10-Day Rule

The Notice of Intent is the document that enrolls your child in a Vermont home study program. File it correctly at least 10 business days before the intended start date, and the Vermont Agency of Education can issue an acknowledgment letter. If the notice is incomplete or still processing, keep the student enrolled in and attending the current school and follow the district's attendance procedures.

Here is exactly how the process works.

What the Notice of Intent Is

Under 16 V.S.A. §166b, every Vermont family that wants to operate a home study program must submit a Notice of Intent to the AOE annually. It is not a curriculum approval request. Since Act 66 took effect on July 1, 2023, the AOE no longer reviews what you plan to teach or evaluates your end-of-year assessment. The Notice of Intent is an administrative document: it tells the state that a home study program exists, identifies the student and the responsible adults, and captures a set of legally binding attestations from the parent or guardian.

The AOE reviews the form purely for completeness. When it's satisfied that all required fields are filled and all attestations are signed, it issues an official Home Study Acknowledgment Letter.

What Must Be Included

The Notice of Intent is available through the AOE's online portal or as a printable paper form. Vermont law specifies the following required elements:

Student demographics. The student's full legal name, date of birth, and age.

Guardian information. Names, mailing addresses, email addresses, town of legal residence, and telephone numbers for all parents or guardians with legal custody who are authorized to make educational decisions for the student.

Instructional days attestation. A signed statement affirming that the student will receive the equivalent of at least 175 days of instruction during the academic year.

Assessment attestation. A signed statement affirming that the parent will assess the student's progress at the end of the year using one of the five approved methods, and will maintain the resulting assessment records privately.

MCOS attestation. A signed statement affirming that a Minimum Course of Study has been developed covering all required subjects. If the student has a documented disability, this attestation must also affirm that the curriculum includes necessary adaptations.

Independent Professional Evidence (IPE) for first-time enrollment. A student who has not previously been enrolled in a Vermont public school or Vermont home study program requires independent professional evidence addressing whether the student has a documented disability and how it may affect progress. A Vermont public-school report card or other accepted alternative evidence may substitute where permitted.

The 10-Day Waiting Period

Vermont law requires the Notice of Intent to be submitted at least 10 business days before the home study program begins. This is not a soft guideline — it is a hard legal requirement.

While the notice is being processed, keep the student enrolled in and attending the current school; the district may record any absence and apply its attendance or truancy procedures. The AOE has indicated that evidence of a pending home-study submission may be accepted under its procedures, so keep the submission confirmation and follow the AOE's instructions.

The practical rule: submit the Notice of Intent at least 10 business days before the intended start date, keep the student enrolled and attending while the AOE processes it, and follow the AOE's acknowledgment and district instructions before changing enrollment.

If you're withdrawing mid-year rather than at a natural school year break, the same 10-business-day rule applies; contact the AOE about processing before changing enrollment.

Annual vs. One-Time Filing

Unlike some states where a single notification suffices for the duration of homeschooling, Vermont's Notice of Intent must be filed every year. Each new school year requires a fresh submission. The AOE issues a new acknowledgment letter each year.

This annual cadence matters for record-keeping. Keep every acknowledgment letter you receive. If your child later wants to access a public school course, join a sports team, or re-enroll full-time, the acknowledgment letter is what you present to the building principal or district office. It proves legal compliance.

How the AOE Processes the Form

The AOE Home Study Team reviews submissions for completeness only. They are checking that every field is filled, that signatures are present, that the required first-time-enrollment evidence is included when applicable, and that all attestation boxes are checked.

They are not reading your MCOS. They are not evaluating whether your curriculum is rigorous. They are not approving your assessment method.

Once the form passes the completeness check, an acknowledgment letter goes out. The turnaround is generally faster now than under the pre-Act 66 system, when the same team was also manually reviewing thousands of full MCOS narratives.

What Happens After Enrollment

Once you're enrolled and teaching, the Notice of Intent process largely recedes into the background. Your day-to-day obligations are delivering 175 days of instruction across required subjects and documenting your child's learning well enough to support the year-end assessment.

The documentation you build throughout the year is the foundation of your EOYA. Vermont law requires retaining assessment records for at least two years. For high school students, records should be kept permanently — they are the raw data behind any transcript you generate for college applications or dual enrollment at institutions like the Community College of Vermont or Vermont State University.

The AOE Acknowledgment Letter stays relevant whenever your child interacts with the local school district. Vermont's integration law (16 V.S.A. § 563(24)) requires school boards to adopt policies integrating home-study students through courses, cocurricular and extracurricular activities, and use of facilities, subject to those policies and applicable requirements.

The Vermont Portfolio & Assessment Templates include a Notice of Intent preparation checklist so you can verify every required field before you submit, along with templates for organizing your documentation from the first day of the school year through the final EOYA.

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