Enrollment is open July 1st through April 30th each year.

PRS Tuition & Fees are listed below. Note that tuition is charged annually based on the PRS school year, which is July 1st through June 30th, and is not pro-rated regardless of when you enroll or withdraw your student(s). New families also pay a non-refundable, one-time registration fee.

Yes, all homeschoolers are welcome to enroll in PRS regardless of where they live. .

Homeschoolers outside of Colorado enjoy record-keeping, official transcripts, and eligibility for a PRS diploma. Enrollment satisfies reporting requirements for Colorado residents only, so those outside of Colorado are responsible for following their local laws. Review your state’s homeschool laws on the HSLDA legal page.

Yes, you may transfer your student at any time that PRS enrollment is open (through April 30th).

Follow these steps to transfer from public school to PRS:

1. Enroll in Poudre River School.
The student registration form asks if you need to withdraw from a public school. Select “yes” and then enter the public school’s information. 

2. Withdraw from the public school.
Tell the current school that you are transferring your student to a private school and need to withdraw. They will usually have a withdrawal form for you to fill out and you’ll list Poudre River School as the new school.

3. Verify that the withdrawal has been completed.
The public school is required to verify that the student has enrolled in another school (or has an NOI on file) before completing the withdrawal. PRS will use the information you enter on the student registration form to send confirmation of enrollment to the school. Please contact the public school to verify that your child’s withdrawal has been completed.

Yes, that is true. PRS does not require any testing or evaluation.

Children enrolled in an umbrella school are not considered homeschooled students under the law. Instead, they are private school students and are subject to private school law. Although some umbrella schools do require testing, private schools are not required to test or evaluate students. If you choose to test your child, you are welcome to upload the results in your child’s files.

No, PRS is a basic records-only program

PRS does not offer any enrichment programs or classes. However, children enrolled with PRS may also enroll in private or publicly funded homeschool enrichment programs.

Total monthly attendance & semester reporting, consisting of grades or a semester summary, are required to protect the school and all enrolled students legally. See Required Reporting for more information.

Note: Fall semester reporting is optional for students enrolled with a start date after November 31st.

Attendance reporting is required to protect the school and all enrolled students legally.

Colorado law requires that private school students receive 172 days of instruction each year. This number is pro-rated for those who enroll in PRS mid-year. To comply with the law, PRS requires that planned attendance is in the system for all students to complete enrollment. If you are an unschooler, it is up to you to determine which days you wish to report as “attendance” days.

The online attendance form is set up to make reporting quick and easy. Simply enter the number of days you plan to complete each month. Once you’ve entered planned attendance for the year during enrollment, you are all set for the year. You will not need to return to the attendance page unless you wish to make changes.

No, you do not.

The law requires that your child receives a minimum of 172 days of instruction per year while enrolled in an umbrella school. You are responsible for providing the required instruction for the number of days reported as planned attendance during enrollment. You do not need to track or report hours.

Homeschooling law requires 172 days of instruction with an average of 4 hours per day. This applies to homeschooling under an NOI and does not apply to umbrella schools.

No, only report attendance from your child’s PRS start date forward.

If your child has accumulated any attendance days for the current year prior to enrolling with PRS, those days will be subtracted from the minimum required attendance days that you must report. Simply enter the number of completed days in the box at the top of the attendance form.

An IEP only applies to services provided by public schools. A 504 is backed by federal law and only applies to federally funded programs, including public schools.

Neither of these has any relevance if you are homeschooling or enrolled in a private school, such as an umbrella school. The GREAT news is that you also don’t need them when you teach your children at home because you can give them whatever adjustments in curriculum and accommodations they need without the red tape!

PRS recommends that you keep a copy of all 504 or IEP records for reference if your child ever returns to public school.

No, PRS does not provide any curriculum.

Enrolled families are free to choose whatever curriculum or other resources that work for their individual children. Cathy Duffy Reviews is a great resource to find curricula based on age, subject, format, and worldview.

Yes, you can.

Because PRS is a private school and does not receive any public funding, there is nothing to prevent enrolling in both. Many children enroll in a homeschool enrichment program while enrolled in PRS with no problem using their statement of enrollment in place of an NOI. You can print or download a copy of your statement of enrollment from your account page. Keep in mind that many public schools and districts may not understand what an umbrella school is. You are welcome to contact PRS if you need assistance.

Yes, the law requires that public schools allow students in private school to participate in extracurricular activities, including sports.

The law regarding participation in extracurricular activities at a public school is the same for homeschoolers and private school students. In either case, there is no specific restriction on which school where they participate, but it does state that it must be in “the student’s school district of attendance or in the student’s school district of residence.” It also allows for participation at a school in a contiguous district if the activity is not offered within their district.

In general, you must choose a single school for all sports that your child participates in, although there may be exceptions. For example, if your child wants to join a swim team, and there is only one school in the district with a pool, they may be able to swim for that school even if they are playing football for their neighborhood school. Be sure to ask your local district about how they handle this kind of situation.

You can read the whole section of the law about this under “Extracurricular Activities” on the Colorado Law page.

Poudre River School opened in July 2016.

Some of the things that make PRS unique are convenient online reporting and records access, no required testing, and quick, personal response by the school owner, a veteran homeschool mom. We also offer an informative monthly newsletter, discounts for enrolled families, and active social media groups where we provide information and resources for homeschooling. We are a small, family-owned business committed to supporting your family by minimizing stress and offering simple legal enrollment with maximum freedom.

Our average enrollment is 750 families and 1300 students.

PRS takes privacy and security very seriously. We only request the minimum information needed to provide enrollment or other services to our families.

We use our own internal database for all family and school information. The database server itself is not accessible from the Internet. Access is strictly via the WordPress platform, which we update as new versions are posted to ensure that we have the latest security features. We have a staff member monitoring security bulletins related to WordPress. This person holds an advanced degree in computer science and is well-versed in website security. 

Our host provider scans the site daily for malware and other issues that may compromise the site and provides alerts if there is any problem. Finally, all files uploaded to student records are protected so that they are hidden from search engines and can only be accessed from links on the website by logged-in users with the proper credentials.

See also:
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions

Yes, please click to view our privacy policy.

Please click to read our terms and conditions.