NOAH Eligibility - Message from NOAH President

NOAH Families,

On behalf of the NOAH Board, I'd like to thank you for your prayers and active voices over the past couple of months as the Board has worked its way through trying to define and clarify the Eligibility Requirements for participation in NOAH.

As the successes of home based education continue to grow and spread in the midst of a public school culture that continues to remove itself from any form of biblical underpinning, the options and number of families opting to educate from home will only grow. Currently, being educated from home can be accomplished traditionally by mom and dad or through the use of tutors, coops, online enrollment, distance learning and correspondence classes. Being educated from home can be part time, full time, diploma based tracks or non-diploma based. Home education can be achieved by completely private funding of the parents, completely public funding through public school systems, public school systems partnering with charter schools or multiple combinations of all. As you can see, the model has morphed to such an extent that there will never be a universally agreed upon definition of “Home Schooling”. The best that can be accomplished is to develop a NOAH definition that aligns most consistently with the mission and vision of the organization, then clearly and consistently communicate it.

The NOAH Board has prayerfully chosen to not broaden its current definition for NOAH eligibility. The amendment (highlighted below) was made to clarify that only student athletes that meet the three criteria as defined as "parent directed" AND are being home educated through privately funded means are allowed to participate in NOAH.

Thank you again for your prayers and voices.

Please see current Board approved NOAH Eligibility Guidelines below.

NOAH ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES

Home schooled is defined to mean that a student’s education is parent‐directed.

As such, the parents shall be involved in their child’s education by assuming the role of principal or
headmaster, thereby:

(1) Setting the date and requirements for high school graduation.
(2) Selecting and approving course materials and study schedules.
(3) Selecting tutors, correspondence courses, videos, computer courses and similar resources for their child’s education.

∙Students enrolled in a publically/government funded education program are NOT eligible for participation in NOAH athletics with the exception of concurrent/post secondary enrollment as stated *below.

∙ There are a number of home school tutorial institutions in Northeastern Oklahoma.

Based on information provided, the NOAH Board has reviewed and approved students attending the following institutions as eligible for participation in NOAH Athletics:

1. Cornerstone Tutorial Center
2. Faith Central Christian Academy
3. One Hope Tutorial Center
4. Augustine Christian Academy (if enrolled part time)
5. Regent Prepatory (if enrolled in the 9th grade or above, part time)
6. C.E.A. Christian Education Alliance

The NOAH Board will review requests from additional institutions on an as
needed basis.

∙ Clearly, full time enrollment in a traditional public or private school is not homeschooling because the child’s education in such schools is not parent directed.

∙ *It is understood that students may have the opportunity to take dual‐credit
college courses, (Concurrent Enrollment), particularly in their junior or senior years. NOAH encourages such enrollment by homeschooled students and the definition above shall not be construed to mean that such students are not homeschooled if the participating college admitted the homeschooled student as
a high school student.

Students are limited to no more than 6 credit hours of concurrent enrollment
per semester.

∙ There may be additional and/or different sport specific eligibility guidelines for
end‐of‐the‐season, regional or national tournaments. Please be sure to see the
sport specific addendum to this handbook for further information concerning
eligibility in those tournaments.

∙ As of September 1st, 2009 all NOAH private school athletes on a Fall 2009 or prior
season (Fall 08 / Spring 09) roster are eligible to continue participation in NOAH
up to their High School graduation date, i.e., "grandfathered" into the NOAH
program.

*Participation must be continuous, without interruption.

Where there is a question of eligibility due to the definition of homeschooling,
the NOAH Board shall review the matter and render a decision in writing in a timely manner to the affected party. The Board reserves the right to modify this policy/definition if needed, as the homeschooling movement continues to grow and change.


God Bless,

Fred Sabatini
NOAH President