Homeschooling in New Hampshire— no routine notice, no annual evaluation — New Hampshire rewrote its law in 2026.
HB 1268, enacted as Chapter 297 of the 2026 laws and effective July 1, 2026, rewrote RSA 193-A. The old five-business-day notice is gone, and RSA 193-A:6 — the annual evaluation, with its certified-teacher portfolio review, standardized test and two-year portfolio retention — was repealed outright with nothing put in its place. A declaration of home education is now required only in two situations: to withdraw a child who is currently enrolled in a public school, or to access public school programs under RSA 193:1-c. Anything you submit is confidential by statute. The required subject areas remain. Nothing else is owed to the state — which means the only record of the year is the one you keep, and Lightstead keeps it.
What New Hampshire requires, at a glance.
- Notice
Only if triggered
No routine notice. RSA 193-A:3 requires a declaration only to withdraw a currently-enrolled public school student, or to access public school programs under RSA 193:1-c.
- Annual evaluation
None
RSA 193-A:6 was repealed outright by 2026, 297:10, I. No certified-teacher review, no standardized test, no state assessment, no mutually-agreed measure.
- Portfolio
Not required
The mandatory portfolio — reading log plus work samples — went with the evaluation requirement. Keeping one is now a choice, not a duty.
- Record retention
None required
The former two-year portfolio retention rule was repealed. No statutory retention period applies.
- Days / hours
Not specified
RSA 193-A sets no instructional day or hour count, and never did.
- Subjects
11 areas
Science, mathematics, language, government, history, health, reading, writing, spelling, the history of the NH and US Constitutions, and exposure to art and music. These survived the rewrite.
- Confidentiality
Statutory
Information submitted under a declaration is confidential per RSA 193-A:4.VI — new in the 2026 rewrite.
- Teacher qualification
None
No qualification requirement for the parent.
§1
The notice and the evaluation are both gone.
HB 1268 passed in 2026 and was signed on July 10, 2026 as Chapter 297. Its home education sections took effect July 1, 2026 — the act carries a split effective date, and its unrelated later sections (pharmacy benefit managers and managed care) run from January 1, 2027. Two things changed for families. First, routine notice was abolished. RSA 193-A:3 now reads that a declaration of home education "shall not be required, except to obtain access to public school programs pursuant to RSA 193:1-c or upon withdrawal from a public school." A family already home educating, or starting with a child who was never enrolled, owes the state nothing. Second, RSA 193-A:6 — the annual evaluation — was repealed outright by section 297:10, I. There is no certified-teacher portfolio review, no standardized test requirement, no state assessment, no mutually-agreed alternative, and no two-year portfolio retention. Nothing replaced them. What remains is the subject list and, if you do file a declaration, a new statutory confidentiality protection for what you submit.
N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 193-A
The NH notice wizard produces the one-time filing addressed to whichever recipient you choose — commissioner, superintendent, or nonpublic principal — and stores the dated copy so your start date is on the record. If you move districts, it regenerates the notice for the new district.
NH notice wizard
§2
There is nothing to pass, and no one to satisfy.
Until July 2026, RSA 193-A:6 required an annual evaluation by one of four routes — a certified-teacher portfolio review, a national standardized achievement test, the state student assessment, or any valid measure mutually agreed with the participating agency. Section 297:10, I repealed that section outright. None of those routes is required now, and no substitute was enacted. This is a real change, not a relaxation of enforcement. A New Hampshire family in the 2026-27 year owes no evaluation of any kind to the commissioner, a superintendent, or a nonpublic school principal. If you are reading older guidance that describes the four methods, it predates Chapter 297. Many families still test or seek an outside review, because a transcript with an external data point in it is worth more later than one without. That is now a decision about your child's record, not a compliance step.
N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 193-A:6
Lightstead's records packet stages whichever evaluation method you chose — the portfolio for a certified-teacher review, or the score report from a standardized or state assessment. The dashboard surfaces the annual evaluation as a deadline card so the once-a-year review never slips.
Records & evaluation packet
§3
No required reading log, no mandated work samples.
The former portfolio duty — a reading log by title plus samples of writings, worksheets, workbooks or creative materials, retained for two years — existed only to support the annual evaluation under RSA 193-A:6. When that section was repealed, the portfolio requirement and its two-year retention went with it. New Hampshire now sets no retention period at all. Keeping a portfolio remains a good idea for reasons that have nothing to do with the state: a transfer back into school, a move to a state that does require records, a college application, or simply remembering what a year contained. The difference is that it is now yours to shape rather than a form to satisfy.
N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 193-A:6
The portfolio packet builds as you go: the daily lesson log feeds a reading log by title, and you attach writing samples, worksheets, and creative work to each child's record. When the review comes, the 2-year retention window and the year's samples are already organized for the evaluator.
Portfolio & lesson log§4
Subjects, and a declaration only if you are withdrawing.
Two obligations survived the rewrite. The subject areas remain: science, mathematics, language, government, history, health, reading, writing, spelling, the history of the New Hampshire and United States Constitutions, and exposure to art and music. There is no hour count attached to any of them and nothing is submitted. The second is conditional. Under RSA 193-A:3 a declaration of home education is required only to withdraw a child currently enrolled in public school, or to obtain access to public school programs under RSA 193:1-c. A family whose child was never enrolled, or who was already home educating before July 2026, files nothing. When a declaration is filed, RSA 193-A:4.VI now makes the information in it confidential — a protection that did not exist before.
N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 193-A:6
Because nothing goes to the agency, Lightstead is where the record lives. The records vault retains each year's portfolio and assessment results, and the transcript builder turns the kept work into a credible high-school record for college admissions or a transfer — the documents New Hampshire never asks for but your future self will need.
Records vault & transcript
What people search for when they look up New Hampshire homeschooling.
Do I have to register my homeschool in New Hampshire?
No. As of July 1, 2026 New Hampshire requires no routine notice or registration. RSA 193-A:3 requires a declaration of home education only in two situations: to withdraw a child who is currently enrolled in a public school, or to obtain access to public school programs under RSA 193:1-c. The former five-business-day notice was abolished by HB 1268 (2026 Laws ch. 297).
Who do I send the New Hampshire notice to?
Only if a declaration is actually triggered — a withdrawal from public school or RSA 193:1-c program access. In those cases it goes to the commissioner of education, your resident district superintendent, or a nonpublic school principal, at your choice. Absent one of those triggers there is nothing to send.
Does New Hampshire require homeschool testing?
No. Standardized testing was one of four routes to satisfy the annual evaluation under RSA 193-A:6, and that section was repealed outright effective July 1, 2026. There is no testing requirement in New Hampshire law today. Families who test now do so for their own records.
How many hours or days does New Hampshire require?
None. RSA 193-A sets no instructional day or hour count, and did not before the 2026 rewrite either. The subject areas are specified; the clock is not.
What is the New Hampshire annual evaluation?
There no longer is one. RSA 193-A:6 — which required an annual certified-teacher portfolio review, standardized test, state assessment, or mutually-agreed measure — was repealed by 2026, 297:10, I, effective July 1, 2026, with no replacement. Guidance describing the four methods predates Chapter 297.
Do I have to submit my child's test scores in New Hampshire?
No. There is no testing requirement to produce scores from, and nothing is submitted. Separately, if you do file a declaration for a withdrawal or program access, RSA 193-A:4.VI makes that information confidential.
What goes in a New Hampshire homeschool portfolio?
Nothing is required. The former reading-log-plus-work-samples portfolio supported the repealed annual evaluation and went with it. A portfolio is now entirely optional — useful for a transfer, a move to a stricter state, or a college application, but not a compliance artifact.
How long do I keep New Hampshire homeschool records?
New Hampshire sets no retention period. The old two-year portfolio rule was repealed along with RSA 193-A:6. Keeping records is a practical decision — a transcript and an attendance record are hard to reconstruct years later — not a legal duty.
Do New Hampshire homeschool parents need to be certified teachers?
No. There has never been a qualification requirement for the parent, and the certified-teacher evaluator role disappeared when the annual evaluation was repealed.
Do I need to refile my New Hampshire notice each year?
There is nothing to refile. Routine notice no longer exists. A declaration is filed only when a specific trigger applies — withdrawing an enrolled child, or accessing public school programs under RSA 193:1-c.
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