New Hampshire
Opening the Private School Track
Since New Hampshire adopted a home school statute back in 1991, it has always been theoretically possible to operate a home school as an “approved for attendance” private school, although no Home School Legal Defense Association member family has made the effort to do so. Now one creative family in Wolfeboro has decided to blaze a trail into uncharted territory by starting a private “umbrella school”—in which a group of families work together for shared educational purposes while still each educating their own children in their own homes.
The New Hampshire Department of Education received an application beginning, “We propose to establish a non-public school, Our Lady of Good Counsel Academy, to begin operating January 2, 1999.” It followed with a proposal that addressed each of the points listed in Education Regulation 403.01, which governs private schools.
State department of education official Gerry Bourgeois contacted HSLDA to resolve issues in this case. At this time, department of education representatives are uncomfortable with the idea of “umbrella schools.” The department expressed no problems with approving, for attendance purposes only, a private family that elected to operate a private school for their own children in their own home. Such a school would be eligible to supervise families under RSA 193A, but these families would be legally aeparate from the “school.”
HSLDA believes that “umbrella schools” (where each family teaches their own children in their own homes, but are legally a single “school”) are a good option for New Hampshire families, and we will continue to press forward in establishing such programs. In the meantime, however, Our Lady of Good Counsel Academy is well on its way to recognition by the department of education as a bona fide private school. We encourage interested families to contact HSLDA for information on this option.
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New Hampshire
Admitted to statehood:
June 21, 1788
Origin of name:
Named in 1629 by Captain James Mason of Plymouth Council for his home county in England.
Motto:
Live free or die.
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