Arkansas asks twice a year: a notice in August, receipts all year.

An Arkansas homeschool family refiles a written notice of intent with the district superintendent every year by August 15 — and a family on the Education Freedom Account adds a second, continuous job: an itemized receipt in ClassWallet for every purchase, showing the vendor, the items with prices, and the purchase date. The notice takes minutes; the receipt trail is a year-long habit. Both are easiest for the family whose record already exists when the form asks for it.

The notice of intent, in calendar voice

Arkansas families give written notice of intent to home school to their local school district superintendent at the beginning of each school year but no later than August 15, or — when withdrawing a student who is already enrolled — five school days before the withdrawal, and the notice is refiled each year (Ark. Code Ann. §6-15-503). Worth saying twice, because stale summaries still circulate: the mid-year withdrawal rule is five school days, not the older 14-day figure.

The Notice of Intent can be filed online through the state portal (noihs.ade.arkansas.gov) or on paper with the district; in recent years the form for the coming school year has opened for submission in early June. So the filing season runs, roughly, early June through August 15 — a wall-calendar fact a family plans around, the same season as New York's August 15 IHIP date.

Two tracks, honestly distinguished

Independent homeschooling. Arkansas repealed mandatory standardized testing for home-schooled students with Act 832 of 2015, and independent home schools have no state-imposed testing, minimum-hours, portfolio, or records-submission requirements — though keeping the notice, attendance notes, course lists, work samples, and high school transcripts on file is widely recommended. The annual notice is the whole of the state's ask.

Homeschooling with the EFA. The Education Freedom Account became open to all Arkansas K-12 students beginning with the 2025-26 school year. Home-schooling families who accept EFA funds still file the annual notice of intent, and their students take an ADE-approved nationally norm-referenced test in at least math and reading each year and share the results with the department, with exemptions available for students with an IEP or professional documentation plus evidence of progress. Taking the funds means taking the testing calendar — a real difference between the tracks, stated plainly so families can weigh it.

The EFA year: quarterly deposits, itemized receipts

Moment	What happens
March 9 – June 1	The EFA application and renewal period for the 2026-27 school year; families reapply each year to continue in the program.
Early June – August 15	Notice of intent season — the annual refiling with the district superintendent (Ark. Code Ann. §6-15-503).
Quarterly	EFA funds are deposited quarterly; for 2026-27 the award is $7,208 per student ($1,802 per quarter).
Year-round	Purchases through ClassWallet: pay approved vendors directly, or upload receipts for reimbursement.

Arkansas families file a notice of intent to home school by August 15 each year (Ark. Code Ann. §6-15-503); Education Freedom Account receipts uploaded to ClassWallet show the vendor, the items with prices, and the purchase date. The program's handbook adds that receipts also carry the vendor's contact information and a description of each item or service with dates — and advises families to keep copies of every EFA receipt and invoice. That kept copy is the family-side record this page is about.

One record, kept as the year happens

On Eformogi the record is a timeline the family owns. An EFA purchase is one entry, captured at the moment it happens: date, vendor, items and prices, the receipt photographed and attached — about thirty seconds, free. The work the purchase served is the same motion: the curriculum unit finished, the tutoring session logged, the project photographed. Attendance notes, course lists, and work samples — the things Arkansas doesn't demand but everyone recommends — accumulate as a side effect.

Then August is a formality and spring testing season has context. And the years add up to the document that outlasts every program: a family-issued verifiable transcript a college, employer, or scholarship program can check directly at a public link (see how receivers verify), no account on their end.

Generate the documents from the record

The record is free forever — capture, transcript, verification, export. Generating filled-in artifacts from it (an itemized expense record, a year-end evidence package) is the one optional paid family service, part of Family Pro, $99 per year. Every document previews filled-in, free, before any decision to pay. The district superintendent, the NOI portal, and ClassWallet remain the authoritative channels — what Eformogi produces is your organized, itemized record, ready to file or to keep.

Why a family-owned record

The district holds the notice. ClassWallet holds the platform's view of your transactions. Neither holds the record of your child's education — that belongs with your family, in a record you own, portable across the independent track, the EFA track, and any state you move to next. The notice, the receipts, and the transcript are documents that record produces, not the place the record lives. Read the sovereignty contract.

Frequently asked questions

When is the Arkansas notice of intent to homeschool due?

Arkansas families give written notice of intent to home school to their local school district superintendent at the beginning of each school year but no later than August 15, or — when withdrawing a student who is already enrolled — five school days before the withdrawal, and the notice is refiled each year (Ark. Code Ann. §6-15-503). Note the withdrawal figure: it is five school days, not the 14-day figure that still circulates from older versions of the law.

Can I file the Arkansas notice of intent online?

The Notice of Intent can be filed online through the state portal (noihs.ade.arkansas.gov) or on paper with the district. In recent years the form for the coming school year has opened for submission in early June — the state's published memos are the source of truth for each year's opening.

Does Arkansas require homeschool testing or portfolios?

Not for independent homeschoolers. Arkansas repealed mandatory standardized testing for home-schooled students with Act 832 of 2015, and independent home schools have no state-imposed testing, minimum-hours, portfolio, or records-submission requirements. Keeping the notice, attendance notes, course lists, work samples, and high school transcripts on file is widely recommended anyway — those records are for colleges, moves, and the family itself, not the state. EFA-participating homeschoolers are a different track, with an annual testing requirement.

When is the Arkansas EFA application and renewal window?

The Education Freedom Account application and renewal period for the 2026-27 school year runs March 9 through June 1, and families reapply each year to continue in the program. The program became open to all Arkansas K-12 students beginning with the 2025-26 school year.

What do EFA receipts uploaded to ClassWallet have to show?

EFA reimbursement receipts uploaded to ClassWallet must show the vendor's name and contact information, a description of each item or service with dates, itemized prices, and the purchase date — and families are advised to keep copies of all EFA receipts and invoices. The EFA uses ClassWallet to disburse and track funds, with families paying approved vendors directly through the platform or uploading receipts for reimbursement.

Do homeschoolers on the EFA have to test?

Yes — this is the difference between the two Arkansas tracks. Home-schooling families who accept EFA funds still file the annual notice of intent, and their students take an ADE-approved nationally norm-referenced test in at least math and reading each year and share the results with the department, with exemptions available for students with an IEP or professional documentation plus evidence of progress. Independent homeschoolers who do not take EFA funds have no testing requirement.

How much is the Arkansas EFA, and how is it paid?

EFA funds are deposited quarterly, and for the 2026-27 school year the award is $7,208 per student ($1,802 per quarter).

What does this cost?

The record — capture, the evidence vault, the verifiable transcript, verification, export — is free forever. Generating filled-in artifacts from it, like an itemized expense record or a year-end evidence package, is the one optional paid family service, part of Family Pro at $99 per year, and every document previews filled-in, free, first.