Current Enrollment Status

An online pre-enrollment form for the next school year (2009-2010) will become available in January. If you have questions about enrolling a student in IDEA to finish out the current school year (2008-2009), call your local Field Rep (see list below).

If you have general questionsabout IDEA, feel free to contact any IDEA staff at one of the local IDEA offices statewide or the local Field Rep (homeschooling parent on staff with IDEA):

• Anchorage: 562-4332 ~ Field Rep: Sally Javier, 907-333-2255, email Sally
• Fairbanks: 374-2200 ~ Field Rep: Sandy Blewett, 907-456-1368, email Sandy
• Kenai: 260-7555 ~ Field Rep: Debbie Mackie, 907-260-3158, email Debbie
• Wasilla: 357-4850 ~ Field Rep: Betty Bair, 907-373-4938, email Betty
• Juneau: 789-6106 ~ Field Rep: Carol Habeger, 907-790-4755, email Carol

IDEA Admissions Department
2157 Van Horn Road
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
E-mail: Enrollment Department
Fax: 907-374-2278
Voice: 907-374-2200

Enrollment Procedures:

Step 1: Complete the online enrollment form. (January-October)

Step 2: A Field Rep or Contact Teacher calls you to introduce herself or himself, ask you a few short additional questions, and tell you a little more about the IDEA program and how it works. This is a good opportunity to ask any questions that you may have and get to know us better. This conversation helps both you and us to know if IDEA is a good fit for your family.

Step 3: You receive enrollment paperwork in the mail to review, sign, and mail back to our Fairbanks office.

Step 4: See "First Steps" for details on how to get started homeschooling in IDEA once your enrollment is complete. Depending on the time of year that you enroll, the following things occur in various orders, all around the same time, shortly after enrollment: (1) your family is assigned a Contact Teacher, (2) your Field Rep invites you to an Orientation, (3) your computer tech creates an ideafamilies email address for you, (4) your Field Rep adds you to our listservs so that you will receive notices about IDEA activities, (5) an allotment is made available beginning July 1, and (6) equipment is ordered for you.

Who may enroll in IDEA:

1. You must be physically residing within the state.
2. The student must be between the ages of 5 and 19 on September 1st.
3. At least 50% of the coursework that the student takes through IDEA must be in core subject areas of English, math, social studies, science, technology, or world languages. (Or courses required by an IEP for students who are receiving special education services.) Exceptions can be made to this only for seniors who do not need core courses in order to fulfill graduation requirements.
4. Families who have at least one older child enrolled full-time in the IDEA Program may enroll pre-school siblings if they will be 4 years old by September 1 of the enrolling year.

When may you enroll?

Returning IDEA families are given the opportunity to re-enroll and/or add siblings in March of each year. We begin the enrollment process for new families in January for the following school year (beginning July 1). Although family enrollment for the new year does not begin July 1, these new families will be included in our listservs and may begin to enjoy IDEA resources and activities. We scale back our enrollment efforts at the end of October so that we can turn our attention to serving the enrolled families' specific needs While we are allowed to enroll families throughout the school year, we strongly recommend not displacing a student mid-year.

Enrollment Options:

IDEA has several options to meet students' needs. There is no cost to students who qualify.

• Full-time Enrollment - In order to receive a full allotment, a student must be enrolled full-time in IDEA, which is defined by the state as four or more classes using non-sectarian materials, at least two of which must be in the core subject areas of math, language arts, science, social studies, foreign language, and technology.
• IDEA students taking classes at a local public school - Funding from the state is awarded first to the district in which the student lives, and is awarded at a rate of 25% per class. For example, if your child takes one class at the local school, the local district receives 25% funding, and IDEA receives 75% funding for that student, regardless of the number of classes taken through IDEA. Since the money that IDEA receives from the state is reduced by ¼ for each of these classes, this student’s allotment is also reduced by ¼ for each class taken elsewhere.
• IDEA students taking classes at a local private school - Since private schools receive no funding from the state, allotment is not affected when an IDEA student takes classes at a private school. We are prohibited by law from "counting" such classes toward enrollment in IDEA. No money nor materials purchased with IDEA funds may go into the private school.
• Part Time Enrollment - Students may be enrolled on a part-time basis in IDEA, taking 1, 2, or 3 courses through IDEA. The allotment available to them would depend on what other enrollment they may have elsewhere, so questions should be handled on an individual basis. Because all enrollment criteria apply to part-time students as well as full-time students, if only one course is taken through IDEA, it must be a core class as defined above.

Special Education

Both state and federal laws guarantee the right of special needs children to a free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment within their district of residence. Before IDEA enrolls a student who is eligible to receive special education services, the student must meet IDEA's enrollment criteria and the student's IEP team (parent, child-when appropriate, and representatives from IDEA and the district of residence) must determine that if placement with IDEA is appropriate. Enrollment can only proceed if the IEP team feels homeschooling is appropriate for your child and services can be met through a consult model or services will be provided by the district of residence. If the district of residence will be providing services IDEA must enter into a cooperative agreement with your local school district to determine the delivery of those special education services specified in your child's IEP (State regulation 4 AAC 33.432). Please read the Special Education section of this handbook for further information. If you have questions, feel free to call Tracy Culbert, GCSD Director of Special Education, at 907-374-2200.