FAQs

We are a K-12 parent-directed, homeschool program within the Anchorage School District. We provide you with an Academic Advisor to help you in your homeschool journey. We give the greatest level of curricular freedom available. You choose your curriculum, whether secular or faith-based (although we cannot buy faith-based). You provide instruction to your students. This means you can teach the course directly, find an online program, or choose a local vendor. Either way, it is your job to ensure your student is keeping up with schoolwork and lessons.

Your further responsibility would be to report grades at the end of the semester, write learning plans to tell us your curriculum choices and goals, and stay in contact with your advisor at least once a month.

Frontier also provides generous funding to use for educational purposes. Funding can cover the cost of curriculum, supplies, books, technology, and course fees

Correspondence programs have their own requirements, which independent homeschooling does not. Families who choose the correspondence/homeschool option must complete annual Individual Learning Plans for each student together with the supervising certificated teacher. Grades are reported to your advisor and they go on your student’s district transcript. You must also have a minimum of monthly contact with your advisor. State-funded correspondence programs offer the family funding for educational classes, curriculum, and supplies.

There are no requirements for families who choose to independently homeschool. You have the freedom to teach as you see fit.

No, as a homeschooling parent, you can set a schedule that works for your family within certain parameters. Allow enough time in the semester for high school students to complete courses before grades are due. Keep to a good routine so students can easily build on their knowledge without sliding backward. Pace lessons so students stay on track to finish by the end of the school year.

Testing is encouraged. It provides valuable feedback on your student’s progress and can help to make educational decisions in the future. It is also a method the State of Alaska uses to grade our school to see if homeschooling actually works. If families cannot participate, there is an option to opt-out of testing. A reason for opting out will be asked.

Talk to your advisor :) Computers and Chromebooks are purchased out of the student’s allotment, but there are a few stipulations you should know about before you make your purchase. Talk to your advisor first.

IEPs are written and maintained by your neighborhood school. Any services the IEP specifies will be provided by this school also. Our IEP support specialist helps to connect the IEP team with homeschool support.

Up to $1000 can be rolled over into the next school year. Any leftover funding beyond that is used to fund students who come in after the October funding deadline. Many times these families are desperate for solutions, regardless of the funds. We use the funding to pay for basic curriculum options for as many students as possible.

Read our weekly newsletter. Events, news, and important dates will always be advertised in them. They are emailed to all enrolled families every Friday afternoon during the school year. Alternatively, you can find them in our 'Frontier News' section on our homepage.

Both parents and legal guardians can homeschool under Alaska law. However, foster parents will need the approval of their child’s caseworker before changing the student’s educational path.

Limited extended leave periods may be pre-approved under special circumstances. Examples of these can be medical reasons, student athletic travel, or the flexibility provided for military-connected students (Military Interstate Children’s Compact).  Students who leave the state for an extended period of time, but less than one school year, are considered traveling students. These students must notify their Academic Advisor of their plans, retain a permanent Alaska address, maintain regular contact, and meet all program requirements.

If a high school student leaves their current classes mid-semester it is a challenge to find a way to complete the credits that she has been working on to this point. It can be done, but usually, it involves a parent-led curriculum (think textbooks and manual grading), to give the most flexibility to start in the middle of the book. We would then average the homeschool grade with the grades-to-date from the neighborhood school. This option would only have to be maintained through the end of the semester. Computer options usually require a student to start over at the beginning.

Alternatively, sometimes a student hasn't been doing well in their current classes and it's not a big deal to have to start over 4 weeks into the semester with a computer-based course. It depends on the situation.

Other times, we leave a student enrolled at their neighborhood school for a couple of classes to finish up the classes that they would prefer to keep the progress in and switch the other classes to homeschool. Take math and PE for instance. For math, we might leave the student enrolled in their neighborhood school to maintain the continuity of instruction and grading and because parents don’t usually love teaching high school math, but for PE we only require a log to be kept for 90 hours of activity. The PE class days and any other activity during this semester would all help add up to 90 hours by the end of the semester. We can do a part-time enrollment for up to half of their classes at the neighborhood school, while Frontier becomes the primary-enrollment school.