We had our homeschool portfolio review and have the signed paperwork to send to the school district. The assessor also started a file for us with notes on what I showed her. Can I put my workbooks and other paperwork into the recycling bin now? I don't have room to store very much and I just want to keep the portfolio and some of the artwork. I shouldn't have to worry about the homeschool police coming and demanding to see all my son's finished workbook pages, should I?
I keep our portfolio, that is it. Now I do hang on to more until I hear that the school isn't begging for more, but yeah I don't even think they look at our ports (we have to turn them in along with our evaluation report, for the school district to judge on top of someone else).
For the last 3 years, I have given the Evaluator and the District my Portfolio for review. I keep EVERYTHING. LOL Well, everything I can. And I give it all to them. I figure if the district really wants to go through a 6" binder of work, they are more than welcome to do that! LOL THIS YEAR, I'm giving the district a slimmer portfolio on the advice of my evaluator. BUT, I still make the 6" one and will put the stuff from the submitted portfolio into the 6" binder when I get the stuff back from the district. My major concern is we are planning to take advantage of one of the diploma programs of PA, and that will mean we might have to quantify previously approved years. Hubby doesn't like it, and really, i don't either, but I have it all - all the way back to preschool!!! EEEEK!!!!
Krista, do not tell me that! I don't want to keep all these papers! We don't have to show our district our portfolio at all. Only the assessor, who can be ANY certified teacher and is often a homeschooling parent, sees the portfolio and then signs a paper saying the child is working to his ability. The district only gets the piece of paper.
Everything goes after the state test is given. I only keep results and all paperwork goes. Nothing is saved. I get a little sad but hubby says toss it. If we didn't toss it I'd have a very large bin or two with five years of homeschooling in it. Test results is all that is needed if we need to show anyone at our current location.
We are only required by law to retain standardized test scores every 3 years after the third grade, and by GA law, we don't have to show them to officials. But we are also required to write an annual report card. Because we are enrolled in an umbrella school, they send us quarterly progress reports and the annual report card. I plan on testing my kids EVERY year, not every three years for my benefit....just to see where my kids stand academically. Aside from these reports and test scores, I plan on keeping NOTHING else. I guess you could call that our portfolio, lol.
My thoughts are what if you move someday, and the state where you move to needs to see something. I worked in Customer Service for too long to lose my CYA attitude. LOL
That's a very good point. I know umbrella schools are not for everyone, but they do help in cases like these. We are required to turn in graded work every 2 weeks, and some things they must grade. They keep student records and some paperwork for us. I don't feel that I have to hold on to every single paper, which is great for me and my small home! It's also added insurance knowing that even if we were to ever have a crisis like a house fire or flood, my kids records would be safe and sound across the country!! If we didn't have OLVS, I would probably keep at least 3 years worth of paperwork, JIC!
