Homeschooling in New Hampshire— file once, evaluate every year — the one-time notice plus annual review.
New Hampshire is a one-time-notice state with an annual evaluation. You file a single notice within 5 business days of starting your home education program, sent to the commissioner of education, your district superintendent, or a nonpublic school principal — your choice of which. After that the recurring obligation is the annual evaluation under RSA 193-A:6: a certified-teacher portfolio review, a national standardized test, the state assessment, or another mutually agreed measure. The results stay with you — they are not submitted to the agency you filed with — but the portfolio and assessment records must exist and be kept. Lightstead files the notice, builds the year's portfolio, and tracks the evaluation so the records hold up.
What New Hampshire requires, at a glance.
- Notice
Once · at start
One-time notice filed within 5 business days of commencing the program (or moving districts). No annual refiling.
- Where to file
3 options
Parent chooses: the commissioner of education, the district superintendent, or a nonpublic school principal.
- Days / hours
Not specified
RSA 193-A sets no instructional day or hour count. The annual evaluation is the proof artifact, not a clock.
- Annual evaluation
4 methods
Certified-teacher portfolio review · national standardized achievement test · state student assessment · any valid mutually agreed measure.
- Portfolio
Reading log + samples
A reading log by title plus samples of writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials.
- Results filing
Kept by parent
Assessment results are retained by the parent — not submitted to the commissioner, superintendent, or principal.
- Record retention
2 years
The portfolio must be retained for 2 years.
- Teacher qualification
None for parent
No qualification requirement for the parent. The portfolio-review evaluator must be a certified or nonpublic school teacher.
§1
File once, within 5 business days of starting.
New Hampshire requires a single notice to begin a home education program — there is no annual refiling. The notice is filed within 5 business days of commencing the program, and again if you move to a new district. The parent chooses where to send it: the commissioner of education, the resident district superintendent, or the principal of a nonpublic school. Because the obligation is one-time, the filing itself is light — the recurring work in New Hampshire is the annual evaluation, not the notice. Keep proof of when and where you filed; if you move districts, file again with the new district.
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
Pick one of four ways to show the year worked.
RSA 193-A:6 requires an annual evaluation of each child's educational progress. Four accepted methods: (a) a portfolio review by a certified teacher or a teacher at a nonpublic school; (b) a national standardized achievement test; (c) the state student assessment; or (d) any other valid measurement tool the parent and the participating agency mutually agree upon. The method is the parent's choice. The portfolio option keeps the evaluation in-house with a qualified reviewer; the standardized-test option produces a normed score. Whichever you pick, the result is your record — see how results are handled below.
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
A reading log plus a year of work samples.
When the portfolio method is used, the portfolio must include a log of reading materials by title, together with samples of the child's work — writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials. The portfolio is the basis the certified or nonpublic-school evaluator reviews. New Hampshire requires the portfolio to be retained for 2 years. Building it through the year — rather than assembling it the week before the review — keeps the reading log honest and the work samples representative of the actual year.
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
Your records to keep — not the state's to collect.
New Hampshire keeps the recurring oversight light: the annual assessment results are retained by the parent and are not submitted to the participating agency — the commissioner, superintendent, or nonpublic principal you filed the notice with. The agency does not collect the scores. That makes the records your responsibility rather than the state's. The portfolio is retained for 2 years, and the assessment results stay in your files. Keeping them organized matters less for the agency and more for your future self — a move to a stricter state, a college application, or a return to school all lean on the record you kept.
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?
You file a one-time notice, not an annual registration. It goes out within 5 business days of commencing your home education program to the commissioner of education, your district superintendent, or a nonpublic school principal — your choice of which. There is no yearly refiling unless you move to a new district.
Who do I send the New Hampshire notice to?
The parent chooses one of three recipients: the commissioner of education, the superintendent of the resident district, or the principal of a nonpublic school. You only need to notify one. That recipient is your "participating agency" for the annual evaluation.
Does New Hampshire require homeschool testing?
Testing is one of four ways to satisfy the annual evaluation under RSA 193-A:6 — but it is not the only way. You can instead use a certified-teacher portfolio review, the state student assessment, or any other valid measurement you and your participating agency mutually agree on. A national standardized achievement test is the testing option.
How many hours or days does New Hampshire require?
RSA 193-A does not set a required number of instructional days or hours. There is no annual hour count to log for the state. The recurring obligation is the annual evaluation of the child's progress, not a clock.
What is the New Hampshire annual evaluation?
An assessment of each child's educational progress, done once a year under RSA 193-A:6. Four accepted methods: (a) a portfolio review by a certified or nonpublic-school teacher; (b) a national standardized achievement test; (c) the state student assessment; or (d) any other valid measurement tool you and your participating agency mutually agree upon.
Do I have to submit my child's test scores in New Hampshire?
No. The assessment results are kept by the parent and are not submitted to the participating agency — the commissioner, superintendent, or principal you filed your notice with does not collect them. The records are yours to retain, not the state's to collect.
What goes in a New Hampshire homeschool portfolio?
A log of reading materials by title, plus samples of the child's work — writings, worksheets, workbooks, or creative materials. If you use the portfolio method, this is what the certified or nonpublic-school evaluator reviews.
How long do I keep New Hampshire homeschool records?
The portfolio must be retained for 2 years. Since the assessment results stay with you rather than the agency, keeping the portfolio and the evaluation results organized is the parent's responsibility — and useful well beyond the 2-year window for a move, a college application, or a return to school.
Do New Hampshire homeschool parents need to be certified teachers?
No. There is no teacher-qualification requirement for the parent providing the instruction. The only certification requirement is for the evaluator under the portfolio option, who must be a certified teacher or a teacher at a nonpublic school.
Do I need to refile my New Hampshire notice each year?
No. The notice is one-time. You refile only if you move to a new school district, in which case you notify the new district within 5 business days. The annual recurring step is the evaluation under RSA 193-A:6, not the notice.
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