Abundant Life Christian Academy

We do not require:

*Annual membership to HSLDA but we highly recommend it

*Progress reports or grades for students until they are in high school,  however, we do provide a way for you to generate reports and grades for all students using the homeschoolreporting.com website membership.

*A statement of faith

*Annual meetings

* Curriculum approval, however if you are looking for help in purchasing the right curriculum for your individual student and are not sure we would be glad to help you.

* Immunization or physical records

We require:

 * That you accept all responsibility for the education of your child whether that be through traditional school methods or  non-traditional methods.  You as the parent are responsible for your child’s educational needs such as curriculum,materials and supplies, along with their spiritual, physical, and social needs.

 * We ask that you become familiar with our policies and procedures and ask that you communicate with us and keep us informed of any changes in your contact information that occur through out the year or in the event you  need to withdraw for any reason.

* We ask that if you are homeschooling your children you have at least a high school diploma.

 * We require you to complete annually an enrollment form, and family information form which can be downloaded from our site and to have these forms mailed to ALCA by Sept 1st of the current school year along with your tuition fees.

 * Attendance is required by Alabama Law and is to be completed and input onto the online reporting website by December 31st for the first semester and May 31st for the second semester. If you are not following a traditional school year calendar please input your summer attendance by July 31st.

·  

Legal Options for homeschooling in the State of Alabama

Alabama Home Schooling Laws

The legal options for home schooling in Alabama are as follows:

Option # 1

Establish and/or enroll in a church school

Attendance: None Specified (175 days required by public school)

Subjects: None

Qualifications: None

Notice: must file a notice of enrollment and attendance with the local school superintendent on a provided form (not required annually)

Record Keeping: Maintain a daily attendance register to be kept by the principal teacher of the church school (yourself)

Testing: None

Option # 2

Use a private tutor

Attendance: 140 days per calendar year, 3 hrs per day between the hours of 8:00am-3:00pm

Subjects: Reading, Spelling, Writing, Arithmetic, English, Geography, History of U.S., Science, Health, Phys. Ed., Alabama State History

Qualifications: Teacher Certificate

Notice: File a statement showing children to be instructed, the subjects taught and the period of instruction with the local superintendent.

Record Keeping:  Maintain a register of the child’s work showing daily attendance and name such reports as the State Board may require

Testing: None

Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)

The Homeschool Legal Defense Association is a national organization which provides legal advice for homeschool families.  HSLDA membership is not required for joining Abundant Life but is highly recommended.  HSLDA provides legal services and pays all fees in the event you are ever taken to court for educational related issues. A discounted annual membership can be obtained through many organizations

Attendance and Record Keeping

Attendance reports are required by law in the state of Alabama.  ALCA has set the required number of days to be completed during the year as 165 days.  Your school year can follow the traditional school year or your school year can run all year and take breaks as you need them.

Keeping the record of attendance for the school year has been made easy with our membership to a website known as homeschoolreporting.com.  $10.00 of your enrollment fee goes to support this membership and all you have to do is go onto the site and sign up under our school name and you can input your attendance records. You should plan on registering on this site as soon as your enrollment has been completed and begin to familiarize yourself with how it operates.  It’s a great site to not only keep track of attendance but the curriculum you are using along with grades.  We recommend you input attendance each semester with the first semester ending Dec. 31st and the second ending May 31st.  We do check our records after the first and second semester to determine if the students attendance has been completed.

Progress Reports and Transcripts

Progress reports and numerical grades are not required by Alabama law but we recommend parents to keep some form of performance review for their own records. Homeschoolreporting.com is a great opportunity to do this.  One thing to keep in mind is that if you ever decide to return to the public school system they will ask for a progress report and transcripts for all students but especially for middle school students, so if you have already reported their curriculum and grade onto the website you will be prepared ahead of time if the need should arise. 

High School Students

If you are planning on receiving a highschool diploma through ALCA you will be required to input attendance, courses, grades, and credits each  semester with the online reporting service.  This helps us to determine that you are successfully completing the course necessary for the type of diploma you are in the process of attaining.