Virginia Resource Page
Welcome! Homeschooling is an exciting journey and we will be with you every step of the way. These resources will help you navigate the state requirements, access local support groups, and plan for fun educational outings.
Regulatory Information
The link and contact information below will provide you with answers to any legal question you may have about homeschooling in your state.
Virginia Department of Education
Virgina Department of Education (800) 292-3820
Networking With Calvert Families in Your State!
The Calvert Networking Program allows us to connect families interested in homeschooling with Calvert families in their area currently using our courses. Networking is a great way for families considering the use of Calvert materials to discuss with a family how the program works and to possibly inspect course materials.
To learn more or to help prospective families learn more about Calvert, visit the Family Networking page.
Homeschool Support Groups
Homeschool support groups in your state are an excellent way to gain more assistance and guidance in your homeschooling endeavors. A regional support group fosters a wonderful sense on community among homeschooling families and allows for more opportunities to exchange ideas, plan group outings, and share in the overall experience of homeschooling! While Calvert supports the development of community between homeschool families, this listing does not constitute affiliation between Calvert School and the groups represented above.
Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV)
Home Educators Association of Virginia is your member-supported, statewide, non-profit homeschool association. Since 1983 we have successfully worked to promote and protect home education in Virginia through information, legislation, and resources. HEAV, coming from a biblical worldview, serves all homeschoolers-regardless of religious or philosophical beliefs. Membership is, and always has been, open to all. With a full-time office staff and hundreds of dedicated volunteers, we're ready to answer your questions, offer support, and serve your needs.
Address: P.O. Box 6745, 2248-G Dabney Rd, Richmond, VA 23230
Phone: (804) 278-9200
Fax: (804) 278-9202
Email: office@heav.org
Web: http://www.heav.org/
The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers
The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers is your fully inclusive, volunteer driven, and member directed state homeschool association. Since 1993, VaHomeschoolers has worked to protect and promote homeschooling through action in legislative work, assisting homeschoolers on an individual level, and providing information, speakers, events and resources.
Address: P.O. Box 5131, Charlottesville, VA 22905
Phone: (866) 513-6173
Email: info@vahomeschoolers.org
Web: www.vahomeschoolers.org/
Home Organization of Parent Educators
HOPE is a non-profit Christian organization committed to equipping and encouraging parents of all faiths to better serve their homeschools and families. There is no denominational requirement to join HOPE, since our goal is to be a support group for all courageous parents who are taking the bold step of educating their children at home.
Phone: (703) 791-HOPE
Email: hopehs@afo.net
Web: http://www.hopehs.org/
Richmond Regional Home Educators (RRHE)
RRHE is a regional support group for the Richmond area. Our mission is to equip and support families interested in beginning, or already educating their children at home. We also seek to aid in the establishment of local support groups in the Richmond area and assist in coordinating the efforts of those groups in providing educational opportunities for their members.
Address: P.O. Box 299, Amelia, VA 23002
Email: RRHEducators@aol.com
Web: http://www.richmondhomeschool.org/
Educational Excursions
Afford your child the best chance to learn by taking field trips to different locations that encourage learning and curiosity. The locations listed below are wonderful tools in reinforcing the ideas taught in the classroom while having fun!
Children's Museum of Richmond
Experience one of the East Coast's most exciting, innovative children's museums. It's a museum where you can touch everything! Kids learn through interactive play - they can chase butterflies with Shadow Play, tinker in an inventor's lab, be a star at the CMOR Playhouse, build sand castles in our new Backyard and more! GREAT FAMILY FUN for ages toddler to eight. CMOR is also the home of the one and only Legendary Santa and the Genworth Holiday Village during the holiday season.
Address: 2626 West Broad St, Richmond, VA 23220
Phone: (804) 474-7000
Fax: (804) 474-7099
Web: http://www.c-more.org/
Science Museum of Virginia
Enjoy hundreds of permanent and visiting exhibits. See rats play basketball. Ride on a Segway®. Find out how it feels to walk on the moon. Play laser pool. Watch the Foucault pendulum as it proves the Earth's rotation. Visit Bioscape - an inter-active life sciences exhibition. Watch a giant-screen film in the museum's Ethyl Corporation IMAX®DOME & Planetarium. The five-story theater with its tilted-dome screen and digital sound system puts you in the middle of the action. Look for live theater presentations by the Carpenter Science Theatre Company.
Address: 2500 West Broad St, Richmond, VA 23220
Phone: (804) 864-1400
Email: smvfeedback@smv.org
Web: http://www.smv.org/
Virginia Discovery Museum
Located on the east end of the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, Virginia, the Virginia Discovery Museum is a hands-on children's museum, with exhibits on the arts, sciences, humanities, history and nature. Families are encouraged to explore the Museum together -- visitors of all ages are free to touch, play and explore. Learning and fun are the goal. Creative play is the way! One of the top 50 children's museums in the United States!
Address: 524 East main St, Charlottesville, VA 22902
Phone: (434) 977-1025
Fax: (434) 977-9681
Email: vdm@ntelos.net
Web: http://www.vadm.org/
Virginia Holocaust Museum
The Virginia Holocaust Museum was established in May of 1997 to teach tolerance through education to middle and high school students, to combat racism and anti-semitism. It was soon discovered that persons of all ages experience a historic awakening.
Address: 2000 E. Cary St, Richmond, VA 23223
Phone: (804) 257-4314
Email: info@va-holocaust.com
Web: http://www.va-holocaust.com/
Island Aquarium
Island Aquarium is a nature oriented activity for the whole family. Adults and children alike will enjoy seeing the local fish, shellfish and other displays. Among our most popular features is our touch tank for a hands on experience
Address: 8162 Landmark Place, Chincoteague Island, VA 23336
Phone: (757) 336-2212
Email: islandaquarium@verizon.net
Children's Colonial Garden
The Loudoun Museum's Children's Colonial Garden recreates those garden varieties maintained by American Colonists for a variety of domestic uses. Whether native to Virginia or imported from Europe each plant in the garden of the first settlers served some distinct purpose. The Museum uses the garden as an educational tool for school children and adults.
Address: 16 Loudoun St, Leesburg, VA 21075
Phone: (703) 777-7427
Email: info@loudounmuseum.org
Web: http://www.loudounmuseum.org/
Civil War Life - The Soldier's Museum
Civil War Life - The Soldier's Museum tells the story of the soldiers who served on both sides of the War Between the States. This impressive collection of relics speaks of the soldier's life from enlistment and training camps to combat on all the famous battlefields of the war. The exhibits and life size dioramas provide a wonderful opportunity for adults and children alike to learn about this turbulent time.
Address: 4712 Southpoint Pkwy, Fredericksburg, VA 22408
Phone: (540) 834-1859
Email: mail@civilwar-life.com
Web: http://www.civilwar-life.com/
Children's Museum of Virginia, Portsmoth
The largest children's museum in Virginia. Over 64,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space, featuring dozens of interactive exhibits and a planetarium. Young and old will be fascinated by the antique toy and model train collection, one of the largest on the East Coast. The train collection includes examples from the early 1900s through the present day.
Address: 221 High Street, Portsmouth, VA 23704
Phone: (757) 393-5258
Email: schweize@portsmouthva.gov
Web: http://www.childrensmuseumva.com/
Virginia Aquarium & marine Science Center
Take a watery journey through Virginia's marine environment. As the state's largest aquarium, its two buildings host 700,000 gallons of aquariums and live animal habitats, three touch tanks, more than 300 hands-on exhibits, an outdoor aviary, 10 acres of marsh habitat, and a three-mile nature trail. Highlights include sharks, sea turtles, harbor seals, river otters, stingrays, and more! See "larger-than-life" movies on a screen six stories high in the Virginia Aquarium 3D IMAX® Theater. Take an adventure on a dolphin watching or cruise the creek boat trip in the late spring, summer or early fall, and go whale watching in the winter. To get totally immersed in the Virginia Aquarium experience, sign up for a Harbor Seal Splash or a Behind The Scenes Sea Turtle Tour.
Address: 717 General Booth Boulevard, Virginia Beach. VA 23451
Phone: (757) 385-FISH
Email: fish@VirginiaAquarium.com
Web: http://www.virginiaaquarium.com/
Virginia Living Museum
Explore Virginia's natural heritage from the mountains to the sea with live exhibits that look back at you. Transport yourself to the steamy world of a cypress swamp, complete with alligators and snapping turtles. Find songbirds nestled in the trees around a cascading waterfall and view trout in a cool mountain stream. Explore the underwater world of the Chesapeake Bay and the underground realm of a limestone cave, plus enjoy hands-on activities. See spectacular views of the sun from the observatory. Outdoors, stroll the 3/4- mile elevated boardwalk to view coastal birds, red wolves, otters and other native animals in naturalized habitats and explore native plant gardens.
Address: 524 J. Clyde Morris Blvd, Newport News, VA 23601
Phone: (757) 595-1900
Fax: (757) 599-4897
Email: webmaster@thevlm.org
Web: http://www.thevlm.org/
Harrisonburg Children's Museum
Hands-on museum where children ages 2-12 and their families can explore and learn together. The museum offers a wide range of activities including drama, creative arts, science, technology and more.
Address: 30 North Main St, Harrisonburg, VA 22802
Phone: (540) 442-8900
Web: http://www.hcmuseum.org/
Science Museum of Western Virginia
The Science Museum is a fun place for adults and children to explore the wonders of science through hands-on experiences. Permanent exhibits include a state-of-the-art weather gallery; The Science Arcade, with more than 45 interactive exhibits, explore light, sound and color; Hardbottom Reef Tank, 750-gallon marine aquarium featuring fish native to the Atlantic Coast; Geology Gallery; Body Tech, a state-of-the-art exhibit designed to explore the machinery of the body, and the Illusions Gallery where things aren't always as they appear. Explore the reaches of the universe in Hopkins Planetarium and then back down to earth to experience giant screen films in the MegaDome Theater, an exciting new way to learn about the world around you.
Address: 1 Market Square, Roanoke, VA 24011
Phone: (540) 342-5710
Web: http://www.smwv.org/
Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg consists of 301 acres encompassing 88 original buildings and hundreds of other homes, shops and public buildings. Colonial Williamsburg operates the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum and Bassett Hall. Visitors can enjoy 18th-century style dining Colonial Williamsburg's four dining taverns -- Chowning's, Christiana Campbell's, Shields and King's Arms Tavern.
Address: 1 Visitor Center Drive, Williamsburg, VA 23185
Phone: (800) HIS-TORY
Email: cwres@cwf.org
Web: http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/
Are we missing something? Calvert is always excited to hear of groups and establishments that may benefit the educational experience of our homeschool families. Calvert is also open to suggestions on added topics to provide our families with the most useful information possible. Please e-mail mwilmeth@calvertservices.org if you have information or ideas to add to the content of this site, or if you have a criticism or concern regarding the information featured above.
