On March 15, a kitchen fire routed 10 children 6 months to 9 years old from the Sacred Heart Home School on Old Harmony Road near Newark. No one was injured. No laws were being broken. The school was registered with the state. It had met all fire codes.
Most people still think it means one set of parents teaching their own children in their own home.
That is still the typical home school, but many have branched out. Now a home school might be like Bill Manning's Community Learning Institute in Hartly, which is a consortium of 19 families who share resources. Or it could be Maggie Hogan's Family Learning Center outside Dover. It has more than 100 families participating in a school without bricks and mortar, but with coordinated teaching, socializing and recreation. Family Learning Center rents space at Smyrna High School for its big events, including commencement ceremonies.