Homeschooling in Colorado: the law and how to start

Yes. Colorado recognizes home-based education as a legitimate alternative to classroom attendance, and children in a home-based program that meets the law's requirements are exempt from compulsory school attendance.

Families typically homeschool through one of three routes:

• Home-based education under § 22-33-104.5 — notice to a school district, required subjects and attendance, and testing or evaluation in certain grades.
• Enrolling in an independent (private) school that supports home-based learning, often called an umbrella school. The school sets its own policies, and you don't file a notice with a district. Make sure the school actually provides the instruction that satisfies compulsory attendance.
• Instruction by a Colorado-licensed teacher, which is a separate exemption from compulsory attendance.

• Write your notice of intent. List each child's name, age, place of residence and number of hours of attendance. Many districts post a form, but a letter with the same details is fine.
• Send it 14 days before you start. The notice can go to any Colorado school district, though most families use the one where they live. Send a new notice each year you continue.
• Withdrawing from school. If your child is enrolled, tell the school in writing that you are withdrawing them to a home-based education program, and make sure your notice is on file so the district doesn't treat your child as truant. Keep copies of everything.
• Plan your year to meet the attendance minimum and required subjects described below.

A home-based program must include, at a minimum, the communication skills of reading, writing and speaking, plus mathematics, history, civics, literature, science, and regular courses of instruction in the U.S. Constitution. You can add anything else you like; you choose the curriculum and materials.

The law also sets an attendance minimum: 172 days a year, averaging four instructional hours a day (688 hours).

In grades 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11, your child must either take a nationally standardized achievement test or be evaluated by a qualified person (for example, a Colorado-licensed teacher). Submit the results to the school district that received your notice, or to an independent or parochial school in Colorado.

• Tests: if your child's composite score is above the 13th percentile, they stay exempt from compulsory attendance. If it is at or below the 13th percentile, you can have your child retested with an alternate version of the same test or a different approved test.
• Qualified-person evaluations: your child stays exempt if the evaluator finds they are making sufficient academic progress for their ability.

If a retest is still at or below the 13th percentile, or an evaluation shows insufficient progress, the district can require you to enroll your child in a public, independent or parochial school until the next testing period.

Keep good records of attendance, test or evaluation results, and immunizations for each child. The district may ask to see them in limited circumstances.

Colorado doesn't set graduation requirements for home-based students. You decide when your teen has finished high school and can issue your own diploma and transcript, so keep a list of courses, grades and credits as you go.

Remember that the grade 11 test or evaluation is still required for teens in a home-based program. Many homeschooled teens also take community college classes; ask your local college about its admission and enrollment rules for home-based students.

Colorado has an equal-access law. A child in a home-based program can take part in extracurricular and interscholastic activities at a public school on an equal basis with enrolled students, subject to the same rules, including the rules of any athletic association the school belongs to. The relevant school district is generally the one that received your notice.

Home-based students can also enroll part time in public school classes and programs, including district- and BOCES-run homeschool enrichment programs (see the funding section). If you think your child has a disability, ask your local school district about an evaluation.

Colorado has no education savings account, voucher or tax credit for homeschool families as of the 2026–27 school year.

What Colorado does have is publicly funded part-time homeschool enrichment programs, run by school districts and boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES), where homeschooled students enroll part time for classes. These programs are free to families because the school receives state funding for each part-time student.

These programs are changing. In 2026 the legislature passed SB26-023, signed into law, which limits where a BOCES can authorize programs, and the State Board of Education adopted new rules on what enrichment programs can fund — for example, publicly funded programs can no longer pay for private activities such as sports camps or martial arts lessons. Ask any program you're considering how the 2026–27 changes affect it.

Colorado has statewide homeschool associations, local support groups and co-ops, and many independent schools that serve homeschool families. Public libraries, museums and parks around the state run programs that work well for homeschoolers.

For questions about notices and testing, contact the school district you notify; CDE's homeschooling page explains the state's options.