Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania · kindergarten through twelfth grade
Hempfield Township Online Homeschool
Hempfield Township is drawn around a city and six boroughs, so families here grow up knowing a boundary tells you where to send a letter and nothing about how a child learns. We are an accredited online school that lets a household homeschool online from kindergarten to a diploma: certified teachers, enrollment in any month, a counselor on the first call. This page is the Hempfield Township online homeschool guide; the K-12 online home school hub and the Pennsylvania online homeschool page carry the rest.
Homeschool in a township drawn around seven places
Look at Westmoreland County on a map and Hempfield is a township with holes in it. The township fully surrounds the city of Greensburg and six boroughs, and each of them governs itself inside the ring while the township runs the ground around them.
Where the Hempfield Township name came from
The line is old. Hempfield was one of the original six townships formed in Bedford County in 1771, and joined Westmoreland County when that county was formed on April 6, 1773. German settlers from southeastern Pennsylvania carried the name west from Hempfield Township in Lancaster County, formed in 1729 and named for the hemp grown there.
What a line settles, and what it never does
What a line like that settles is narrow: which government you answer to, which district your address belongs to, which superintendent receives a letter. It never settles how this child should learn this year. That starts at the house, which is where homeschooling in Hempfield Township starts too. Our K-12 online homeschool programs give it structure: a Hempfield Township PA k12 homeschool program with a certified teacher in each subject and a record kept by an accredited school.
Withdrawing from a Hempfield Township district school
Two districts inside Hempfield Township’s outer edge
- The Hempfield Area School District serves Hempfield Township and the boroughs of Adamsburg, Hunker, Manor, New Stanton and Youngwood.
- The Greensburg Salem School District serves the city of Greensburg, Salem Township, and the boroughs of South Greensburg and Southwest Greensburg.
A family can live near that seam and never think about it until a child leaves a district school. Then it matters, because a withdrawal notice goes to the district that covers the property, whatever name the mailing address carries. The steps to withdraw from a Pennsylvania public school are the same in both districts; only the office changes. Ask the district office to confirm your address before you write anything, and ask for the records packet in the same call.
Switching in the middle of the year
Families who switch to homeschooling mid year in Hempfield Township do not lose the months already finished. Those grades come with the records, and the work behind a mid-year transfer is counted before any new work is assigned.
Legal homeschooling in Pennsylvania: file the affidavit or enroll
Is homeschooling legal in Hempfield Township? Yes, under state law that reads the same on both sides of every line here. Homeschool laws by state set the rules for legal homeschooling near Hempfield Township PA, and the paperwork belongs to the road a family picks:
Two legal roads, one state law
- The Home Education Program. A parent teaches independently, files a notarized affidavit, and keeps a portfolio for an evaluator.
- Enrollment in an accredited private or online school. The family follows that school’s own process instead.
| Requirement | What Pennsylvania asks for |
|---|---|
| Affidavit | Notarized affidavit (or sworn declaration) filed with the local superintendent, due August 1 each year |
| Standardized testing | Required in grades 3, 5, and 8, reading/language arts and math. Cannot be administered by the parent |
| Portfolio | Work samples and a reading log, kept through the year |
| Evaluator review | A qualified evaluator reviews the portfolio and certifies it, due to the district by June 30 |
| Instructional time | 180 days, or 900 hours (elementary) / 990 hours (secondary) |
That is what Pennsylvania’s Home Education Program under 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1 asks of a family teaching independently. It is not the only path: Pennsylvania separately recognizes Private Tutoring and enrollment in a licensed private or online school, a different legal category with its own, lighter requirements. Both pathways are described on the Department of Education’s Home Education and Private Tutoring page; a counselor can confirm which one applies once enrollment specifics are worked out.
The affidavit, for a Hempfield Township family teaching independently
The supervising parent or guardian’s name, and confirmation of a high school diploma or equivalent.
Each child’s name and age.
The family address and phone number.
Educational objectives by subject area for the coming year.
Notarized, and filed with the superintendent of the district covering Hempfield Township, no later than August 1. Keep a copy; it is the record you will need when the year’s portfolio and evaluator certification come due the following June.
This is the independent Home Education Program path. A family enrolling through an accredited private or online school follows that school’s own enrollment process instead, a distinct category under Pennsylvania law with different requirements. A counselor can walk through which applies before anything is filed.
Rules like these move, and how homeschool regulation is argued in court is worth a read. A counselor will say plainly which road your enrollment puts you on.
Enroll in homeschool from anywhere in Westmoreland County
Enrollment does not ask which side of a line you live on, and it opens in any month. Before you enroll in homeschool for Hempfield Township Pennsylvania students, read the school choice eligibility traps to check before you apply, then look over the short list of admissions requirements. When the timing is a worry, whether it is too late to enroll for fall has a plain answer: it is not.
What to bring to the first Hempfield Township call
From whichever school the child is in now, so finished work is counted first.
What the plan covered, so the conversation about accommodations starts from facts.
Confirmed with the district office, since that is where a withdrawal notice goes.
Enrollment opens in any month, so this is the family’s call.
What happens to what you bring
| What you bring | What happens to it |
|---|---|
| Report cards and credits | Counted first, and a counselor maps any credit transfer before a course opens |
| The name of the school being left | A verification of enrollment letter goes there |
| An IEP or 504 plan | Talked through before enrolling; what federal funding cuts could mean for an IEP or 504 helps frame the questions |
Pro tip
Ask for the records packet before the last day, not after
Call the district office while your child is still enrolled and ask for report cards, attendance and any IEP or 504 documents in one request. With the packet in hand, a counselor can count the finished work in the first conversation.
When the papers are gathered, start enrollment or book a call first. Both begin at the same place.
Kindergarten and the elementary grades, paced by the child
A five-year-old does not need a building to start reading. The online curriculum for kindergarten sets letters, counting and short lessons in a day a parent can see the edges of. It sits at the bottom of the full course catalog, so a homeschooling curriculum for kindergarten in Hempfield Township never has to be swapped out later.
Through online elementary homeschool programs, each subject moves at the child’s pace, so a strong reader is not held back while fractions take another week.
Where Hempfield Township parents of young children start
| If the question is | Start here |
|---|---|
| What a young child’s science looks like | Kindergarten science, built on things a child can hold |
| 4th grade math in Hempfield Township | Fourth grade online, course by course |
| Reading that stalls early | The dyslexia screening checklist, to bring to a counselor |
Middle school in Westmoreland County, sixth through eighth grade
These are the years a student starts wanting a say in the week, and online middle school gives them one. A certified teacher sees the work in each subject, and by eighth grade courses online the pace a student has built carries into high school credit.
The lessons are set. The order inside the day is the student’s to arrange with a parent.
Watch these grades closely: reading gains that fade in middle school fade quietly, and a teacher reading one student’s work at a time sees the slide early.
High school credit and a diploma for homeschoolers
From ninth grade the record counts in credits. Our accredited online high school issues its own diploma on its own requirements, and the credits you need come to 24. That is the plain answer on a diploma for homeschoolers in Hempfield Township, Pennsylvania: courses graded by certified teachers, kept on a transcript an accredited school issues.
What the diploma lawsuit worry is really about
Most worries filed under homeschool diploma lawsuit Hempfield Township PA start where a diploma has no accredited school behind it, and an accredited home education program is the difference. What accreditation means for an online high school is set out in one page, and accredited online K12 schools are worth checking that way before anything is paid.
Transcripts, and the campus inside Hempfield Township
A transcript is read by people who never meet your child, so it has to read clearly on its own.
| On the record | Where it is explained |
|---|---|
| Letter grades | The high school grading scale, explained |
| Percentages | What percentage each letter grade equals |
| The document itself | How high school transcripts are issued |
| The courses on it | From World History to Algebra 2 and on through twelfth grade online |
College is not an abstract idea here: the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg has its campus inside the township.
Tuition, and whether K12 costs money in Hempfield Township
Does K12 cost money near Hempfield Township? It does, and the number is not hidden: tuition is published per grade level, so the answer is there before anyone calls, and a counselor walks through it before any commitment.
The cost pages, in one place
- Hidden fees and full cost transparency: the cost of K12 online education, line by line
- Payment options, listed in one place
- High school books and materials included with courses
- The technology a student needs at home
A homeschool week that crosses the township’s lines
A self-paced week does not stop at a boundary. Lessons can happen before a shift, after practice, or on the far side of a snow day, which is why homeschooling for working parents in Hempfield Township tends to fit around the job instead of the other way round. How an online high school day works is simple to follow, and families with a student athlete may want what parents miss about athletes and virtual school.
A Hempfield Township year in three seasons
- Mornings can hold the lessons that need the freshest head.
- Afternoons can go to practice, a shift, or a snow day spent outside.
- People stay in the week too: how online students socialize usually runs through the teams, churches and jobs a family already has.
What Westmoreland County parents ask about homeschool law
These are the questions that come up once a family starts looking at k12 online school in Hempfield Township. For the state’s full framework, the homeschool regulations compliance guide goes further.
What does it cost?
Tuition is per grade level and published on the tuition page. The first conversation with a counselor carries no charge, and nothing about it commits you to enrolling.
What happens to my child’s IEP or 504 plan?
An IEP or 504 plan does not automatically travel with a child who leaves a district roll; it belongs to the school that wrote it. What does travel is the federal right under IDEA to request a no-cost evaluation from your local public school district, which applies whether or not your child is enrolled there. Put the request in writing to the district serving Hempfield Township and keep the copy. Tell a counselor what the plan covered before you enroll, because the accommodations we can make are a real conversation and not a form.
Does my child need to test at grades 3, 5, and 8?
That requirement applies to Pennsylvania’s independent Home Education Program under § 1327.1. Enrollment through an accredited private or online school like HSOA is a separate legal category with its own requirements, not that one. A counselor can confirm exactly what applies to your enrollment before you file anything.
Will a diploma from an online school be taken seriously?
It is an accredited diploma issued by High School of America, and admissions offices and employers treat it as one. Worth knowing the distinction Pennsylvania draws: a family who files a Home Education Program affidavit and completes the portfolio process satisfies compulsory attendance, but the state does not itself issue a diploma to a child educated that way. Ours is not that, and it is not a GED.
Our mailing address says Greensburg. Which district do we tell when our child leaves?
Tell the district that covers the property, which is not always the town on the envelope. The Hempfield Area School District serves Hempfield Township and several boroughs, and the Greensburg Salem School District serves the city of Greensburg and the boroughs of South Greensburg and Southwest Greensburg. Confirm your address with the district office, then a counselor sends a verification of enrollment letter to the school your child is leaving.
We have a kindergartner and a high schooler. Can both be enrolled at the same time?
Yes. Enrollment covers kindergarten through twelfth grade, and each child’s grade is set from their own records. The younger one works toward completing each grade and the older one earns credits toward a diploma, and one first call with a counselor can cover both.
Can a student leave a district school in January and still finish the year?
Yes. Enrollment opens in any month. Bring the first semester’s report card or transcript, and the finished work is counted before anything new is assigned, so the second half of the year picks up where the first half stopped.
Start the homeschool record from your own house
The ring will still be there, and so will the city and the six boroughs inside it. None of them decide the grade your child starts in, the pace of the week, or who keeps the record. Bring the report card, talk to a counselor, and leave the call knowing where your paperwork goes and what the year looks like from the front door.
Other Pennsylvania towns on the same footing:
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