Shelton School District to pilot 'HomeLink' homeschool partnership for K–8 families

The Shelton School District on Monday unveiled HomeLink, a pilot parent-partnership program aimed at families who have filed intent to homeschool. The program will pair parents with a district teacher, provide curriculum and instructional support, and include weekly check-ins to co-create a written student learning plan.

Superintendent Jesse said the program is designed to meet families “where they’re at” and support continuity with district offerings. "Those parents who choose to home school are still the primary instructional leader in the home, but we partner them with a highly qualified teacher," he said, outlining plans to start with a small cohort and expand if successful.

District staff said HomeLink will initially serve K–8 students and be housed at Evergreen. Ms. Gottlieb, a third‑grade teacher at Bordeaux Elementary whom the district introduced as part of the pilot team, will be one of the teachers supporting families. Organizers described the program as an alternative learning experience (ALE) in which students will have written student learning plans and regular progress checks.

Superintendent Jesse and staff said the district will host parent interest nights in June and that the district’s initial outreach is targeted at roughly 270 families who have filed intent to home school. Officials also noted that, if families enroll in the ALE-style program, those students would be counted as 1.0 into ALE enrollment for district budgeting purposes, but the district will start small and is not yet accounting for a specific enrollment increase.

The district asked interested families to watch its website and social media for details about information sessions and the application process.