Choosing a school? You’ve got options.
Each spring, parents face one of the biggest decisions they can make for their child’s future: what school environment will their child spend about 1,000 hours in next year? Let’s dive into School Choice in New Hampshire.
Making that decision with confidence starts with knowing what options you have; you may have more school choices than you realize! Understanding these options can help you find a school where your child grows and learns to the best of their ability. New Hampshire families can choose from traditional public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, private schools, online learning, homeschooling, and microschooling and mix-and-match learning.
One factor that families consider when choosing a school is transportation. In New Hampshire, transportation is available for students who attend their assigned public school or another public school within their zoned school district, attend a public charter school located within their zoned school district boundaries, attend a private school located in their town or assigned school district, or have transportation services in their Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Transportation may be available for other school types – check out this transportation guide for more information.
Looking for special education options? You can learn what special education services are available in New Hampshire at the Ultimate Guide to Special Education.
Download the School Choice Snapshot for New Hampshire
Explore Types of Schools
New Hampshire Traditional Public Schools
Most New Hampshire families (83.7% of all K-12 students) choose traditional public schools. Districts operate these schools, which are free to attend, open to all students, and funded by taxpayers. New Hampshire spends, on average, $21,731 per public school student each year.
In the spring of 2025, New Hampshire updated its intradistrict (within district) open enrollment policies making it easier for students to choose another public school. After passing this new law, students can now transfer to any public school in their zoned school district as long as the school has open seats.
Each school district sets its own open enrollment policies for accepting transfer students who reside within the boundaries of another school district. New Hampshire parents wanting to transfer their child to a school in a school district other than they one they are assigned to should contact their school of choice to see if this is an option. In 2021, the state made this process more defined for parents if their student is experiencing “manifest educational hardship.”
For a real-world example of the transfer process and timeline in New Hampshire, check out Kearsarge Regional School District’s guidelines for transfer requests. In general, if the public school of choice is within the same district, transportation is provided. If it is in a different school district, parents are responsible for transportation. Open enrollment is a valuable form of public school choice because it widens parents options, ensuring that their zip code isn’t the sole determiner of their education.
Find out more about public schools in your state at the New Hampshire Department of Education. You can also learn more at “Public Schools Without Boundaries: A 50-State Ranking.”
New Hampshire Charter Schools
Families in New Hampshire have another tuition-free option in charter schools. Like traditional public schools, charter schools are public, free, and usually have no requirements for entry. What distinguishes charter schools is that they have extra freedom to innovate with curriculum and learning methods. Public charter schools are accountable to authorizing entities, such as colleges or school districts, for results.
In New Hampshire, there are about 30 public charter schools that parents can choose from across the state. These served 5,530 (3%) students in 2023-2024. Each school has a charter which explains the school’s purpose and what specific community need it serves, whether that be providing a language immersion program or offering a rigorous, literacy-based curriculum. If there are more families seeking admittance to a charter school than there are seats, a lottery system is usually used to determine admittance.
The New Hampshire Department of Education is currently in the process of supporting an expansion of charter schools across the state. One of New Hampshire’s newest charter schools is Benjamin Franklin Academy, a middle-high school that opened in 2023 with a history-centered, liberal arts curriculum.
Free transportation is available to most students who attend charter schools in New Hampshire and live within the district where their charter school is located. The state requires transportation to be provided by the district, upon a parent’s request. Students with special needs who have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) are eligible to receive transportation assistance.
You can learn about these options at the New Hampshire Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
New Hampshire Magnet Schools
Depending on where you live in New Hampshire, you may also be able to consider a magnet school. Magnet schools are free public schools that allow kids to narrow in on a specific learning track, such as engineering or the performing arts. At a magnet school, all the subjects are taught through the lenses of that specific track.
Maple Street Magnet School is currently the only magnet school we are aware of in New Hampshire. This magnet school’s unique focus is on community and sustainability. Students accepted to the Maple Street Magnet School through its blind lottery can choose to attend the magnet school rather than their neighborhood school.
New Hampshire Private Schools
Families in New Hampshire can also consider private schools, nonpublic schools that charge tuition. Private schools may offer a unique curriculum, smaller class sizes, or a faith-based tradition. New Hampshire’s more than 290 private schools come in all shapes and forms, from religious schools to schools designed for children with special needs.
Education Funding Opportunities:
Private school tuition can vary widely, but the state average is $14,501 for elementary schools and $30,469 for high schools. According to New Hampshire’s Town Tuitioning Program, if your town doesn’t have a district school at your grade level, your district will pay for your child to attend a public or private school in or outside of New Hampshire. As of 2025, this may include religious private schools.
In addition, students from a household where family income is less than 300 percent of the federal poverty level ($93,600 for a family of four in 2024–2025) can apply to the state’s tax credit program. Recipients of the program receive scholarships to use for private school tuition, tutoring, or other educational expenses.
Since 2021, New Hampshire has offered the “Education Freedom Account” program allowing students to receive education grants of approximately $4,400 to customize their learning. These funds can be used to choose a private school, pay for tutoring or books, be put toward educational therapy, and more. Initially program eligibility was limited to low and middle-income students, however, a law passed in 2025 created universal eligibility by removing the income cap. This law set a maximum enrollment in the program to 10,000 students, with priority being given to existing students and their siblings, students with disabilities, and students from lower-income households if applications exceed this number. To maximize flexibility for families throughout the year, this law also established a rolling application window for the program.
Learn more at the Children’s Scholarship Fund-New Hampshire, Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Manchester, and Private School Review: New Hampshire.
New Hampshire Online Learning
Online learning is sometimes overlooked, but it offers a uniquely flexible learning environment that meets a variety of family needs. Whether your child wants to accelerate his or her learning or needs a quieter environment in which to focus, you may be interested in giving virtual school a try.
New Hampshire elementary, middle, and high school students can take courses free of charge, full- or part-time, at Virtual Learning Academy Charter. If there will be a gap between attendance at a student’s previous school and their start at the virtual school, the student must file a notice of intent at their local public school. Homeschoolers can take up to six credits per year through the Virtual Learning Academy Charter.
One feature that makes the Virtual Learning Academy Charter unique is that it is mastery-based: students progress based on mastery of learning content, rather than a fixed schedule.
To read more about online learning in New Hampshire, check out the Digital Learning Collaborative’s state profile.Opens PDF in new tab
New Hampshire Homeschooling
You can also choose homeschooling, the process of parents educating students at home. Homeschooling is permitted in all 50 states and allows for a highly personal and customizable learning experience. In New Hampshire, 1.9% of all K-12 students are homeschooled.
Homeschooling Requirements:
It is required that you provide notice of your intent to homeschool within 5 days of starting and/or if you move to a new school district. It is recommended that you formally withdraw so your student is not marked truant. If you decide to stop homeschooling, you must file a written notice of termination. In the case that you decide to return to public school, your student’s placement will be determined based on the documentation you provide. It’s also good to note that New Hampshire law states that home education must be “provided, coordinated, and directed by the parents of his or her own child.”
The state requires homeschooling parents to teach specific subjects (including science, math, reading, and government) and also requires some level of assessment of homeschooled students. In New Hampshire, parents are asked to keep a portfolio of student work, such as a record of reading materials used and samples of worksheets and writings. In New Hampshire, your homeschooled student might still be eligible to participate in sports or activities at the local public school for free – contact your district if you are interested in this option.
Homeschoolers may be eligible to apply for New Hampshire’s “Education Freedom Account” program*, which allows low and middle-income students to receive about $4,700 of funds to customize their education. The funds can be used for tutoring or books, educational therapy, and more. In 2023, eligibility for the program was expanded – now students from families earning up to 350% of the federal poverty line can apply.
*Families currently participating in home education must terminate their home education status before applying for the EFA. Participation in the EFA program requires participants to be enrolled in a non-public school that complies with state regulations. In practice, this can still include educating children at home, but comes with a different legal status and relationship with a scholarship organization, that true “homeschooling” does not. For more information, check out Children’s Scholarship Fund’s FAQ’sOpens PDF in new tab.
For more, check out a how-to about homeschooling in New Hampshire.
New Hampshire Microschools and Mix-and-Match Learning
Today, some New Hampshire families are mixing and matching school options to come up with new ways to personalize education. Microschools are one of these ways. A microschool refers to students gathering together in a small group – with adult supervision – to learn, explore, and socialize. Microschools can take a variety of shapes and legal forms, from homeschoolers coming together at an enrichment center to a private school committed to small classrooms. What microschools share in common is a commitment to small-group learning and close-knit relationships, along with an emphasis on children as individual learners.
Examples of microschools and related resources in New Hampshire:
- Latitude Learning Resources offers enrichment programs — from Lego clubs to language classes — for homeschoolers in Derry.
- New Hampshire’s Learn Everywhere initiative aims to allow high school students to gain high school credits outside of schools, through community activities and extracurriculars.
- nLighten Learning provides small learning pods for both homeschoolers and students enrolled in accredited virtual schools, focusing on individualized, mastery-based education in a nurturing environment.
- In New Hampshire, some school districts have partnered with Prenda to offer district-run Learning Support Groups. Prenda microschools supports hundreds of microschools all over the United States with the mission of empowering learners. These groups served about 100 students in the 2021-2022 school year and are approved expenses for the Education Freedom Account program.
- For homeschool students and virtual school students in New Hampshire, KaiPod Learning offers free Learning Support Groups. Students attending “KaiPods” receive opportunities to socialize, collaborate, and receive educational support while completing their chosen curriculum.
- The Harkness House caps classes at 12 students and offers a student-led curriculum that aims to foster discovery and life-long learning.
New Hampshire’s state commissioner of education has said that learning pods are permitted by New Hampshire law and families may have family members or friends supervise children in the parent’s absence.
Remember, microschooling is more a mentality than a specific legal distinction in most cases. Often, a family participates in a microschool while legally homeschooling, or being enrolled in a private or online school.
Share This Page On:
Ready to explore your local school options? Use our free “Schools Near Me” tool to search through more than 131,000 public, charter, magnet, and private schools.
Our tool enhances the information we offer on school choice options in your state. With this tool, you can access information on more than 132,000 public, charter, magnet, and private schools across the United States. You’ll be able to view essential information about each school, such as its address, phone number, and website.
Sign Up To Learn More About School Choice in Your State
