New Mexico Statutes Annotated 22-1-2.1
A. Parents/Legal Guardians must send written notification to the Secretary of Education within thirty days of the home school's establishment and by April 1 of each subsequent year of operation for renewal.
B. Maintain records of student disease immunization or a waiver of that requirement; and
C. Provide instruction by a person possessing at least a high school diploma or its equivalent.
For more information on how to get started in home schooling, click here.
Two ways to notify
Through a series of meetings with the PED, we have confirmed that the department will accept both online and hard copy notification forms. If you would like to submit your notification electronically, click here. We recommend that you print the confirmation page. If you would prefer to notify using our hardcopy form click here to open an Adobe Acrobat version of a Notification of the Establishment of a Home School form. You will find specific mailing instructions at the bottom of the form.Background Summary
Between the advent of compulsory attendance laws and before 1985, families who chose to home school were outside the law. They chose to face the possibility of prosecution.
The first home school law was passed after intense lobbying by brave families who risked identification and potential prosecution in order to establish home education as a legal option. Parents were required to have at least a bachelor's degree or request a waiver, to notify the State Superintendent of Public Instruction of their intent to home school, to provide a calendar of 180 school days annually, to submit their children to the public school system for testing, and to submit a record of immunizations or a waiver.
In 1993, home school testing requirements were changed to allow supervised administration by home school operators, at sites other than public schools.
The baccalaureate requirement was dropped in 1993 as well, allowing parents with high school diplomas or GEDs to school their children at home without applying for a waiver.
In 1996, instead of submitting children for testing, home school families could submit test scores instead, using alternate testing options.
The year 2001 marked a new home school law, with no mandatory testing, and no required submission of a calendar of days or records of vaccination. It is recommended that such records be kept and available.
