Leo Von Muenster (left), 12, helps his brother Gus, 4, color as Gus works on the preschool part of the homeschool curriculum at their home in Anamosa, Iowa, on Friday, December 19, 2025. As Iowa public school enrollment falls, are public school districts investing into homeschooling to attract students? (Photo by Josh Cobb for The Gazette)

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MARION — When Meghan Von Muenster began homeschooling her children about a decade ago, she and her husband set five goals for them:

Be a good and decent person who loves God and loves other people;
Be able to write well;
Be able to read well;
Be able to do math well;
Have a love of learning.

Today, Von Muenster has seven children at home ages one to 16 and is homeschooling through the Marion Homeschool Assistance Program.

“Some people worry homeschoolers aren’t actually being taught, but I find most homeschool kids are extraordinarily smart because they get a lot of one-on-one time most kids don’t … I work with my kids every day. I know their struggles in math or reading,” Von Muenster said.

More students enrolling in homeschool assistance programs

The number of students enrolled in homeschool assistance programs or who are homeschooled and involved with a school district in some capacity is growing.

There are 1,630 more students enrolled in homeschool assistance programs than a decade ago, for a total of about 8,500 students in the programs last year, according to data provided by the Iowa Department of Education.

There also are five more school districts compared to the 2016-17 school year with at least one homeschool teacher for a total of 53 districts with at least one homeschool teacher during the 2024-25 school year.

The Iowa Department of Education only has information about students who participate in home school assistance programs or are involved with a district in some capacity, spokesperson Shaela Meister said in an email to The Gazette.

Per Iowa Code, there is no reporting requirement for students in independent private instruction, Meister said.

For this reason, homeschool enrollment numbers captured by the Iowa Department of Education do not include all homeschool students.

Meghan Von Muenster (right) helps her six-year-old daughter Thea with her reading lesson at their home in Anamosa, Iowa, on Friday, December 19, 2025. The Von Muenster children take turns working on their lessons with Meghan. As Iowa public school enrollment falls, are public school districts investing into homeschooling to attract students? (Photo by Josh Cobb for The Gazette)

The Iowa Department of Education does not maintain graduation records for homeschool students, issue diplomas or affirm graduation for students, Meister said.

Expenditures for district homeschool assistance programs were $21.5 million in fiscal year 2024, the most recent data available, which ended July 1, 2024. This could include costs for their own district’s program or costs they paid to another district for homeschool assistance program students served in programs in other districts.

Why choose homeschooling?

Von Muenster said homeschooling also allows her children the freedom to pursue their passions.

Her oldest daughter Cora, 16, operates her own Etsy shop, and some of the hours she works on that can be counted as academic credit toward business management and art, Von Muenster said.

Her sons “like to tinker and build with Legos” in their free time. “They’ve built amazing things because they have the time to do so.”

Von Muenster’s children also all take enrichment classes in-person — including American Sign Language — and go on field trips through the Marion program. They’ve participated in musicals and mock trial.

“I could never provide all that extra enrichment at home,” Von Muenster said. “That’s invaluable to me.”

The family chose homeschooling after Von Muenster’s oldest daughter Cora, now 16, struggled in kindergarten in a traditional classroom.

“She was overstimulated,” she struggled to finish her classwork in school and had to take a lot of work home, Von Muenster said.

Sixteen-year-old Cora Von Muenster works on her lessons at the dining table at their home in Anamosa, Iowa, on Friday, December 19, 2025. As Iowa public school enrollment falls, are public school districts investing into homeschooling to attract students? (Photo by Josh Cobb for The Gazette)

Cora now has decided to graduate high school this year, a year early, Von Muenster said.

“Looking back what’s surprised me the most is how much stress I put on myself in the beginning. It does feel like a lot of pressure to have your child’s education in your hands. They’re more resilient than you think, and they retain more than you think. It’s building a foundation of learning they can take with them for life,” Von Muenster said.

Majority of enrollment into Marion Homeschool program from other school districts

The Marion Homeschool Assistance Program is one of the largest homeschool programs in the state. There are 1,223 students enrolled in the program this year, and the majority of those students — 1,103 — are open enrolled from 30 school districts.

The Marion Independent School District — which provides the program — has a total enrollment of 2,525, making the homeschool assistance program almost 50 percent of the district’s total enrollment.

During the 2020-21 school year — the first full academic year after the COVID-19 pandemic — there were 1,142 students enrolled, with more than 1,000 of those students from other school districts.

Enrollment dropped slightly during the 2021-22 school year. Since then, it has rebounded by an additional 150 students, with almost all of that growth coming from open enrollment.

Tom Ertz, director of the Marion Homeschool Assistance Program, said he believes the programs success is in part because of the number of staff who have personal experience homeschooling.

“Word gets around that this is an organization that generally wants to support homeschool families,” said Ertz, who has been with the program for 28 years.

Abram Von Muenster, 9, plays with modeling clay with his sister Maeve, 1.5, as he looks after her during their homeschooling session at their home in Anamosa, Iowa, on Friday, December 19, 2025.The older children take turns looking after their younger siblings during the day. (Photo by Josh Cobb for The Gazette)

Ertz and his wife homeschooled their five children.

“I really enjoy supporting families that take such an active role in the education of their kids. I think I have the best job in the district,” Ertz said.

“Our district support has been tremendous over the years, we are immediately adjacent to two of the largest school districts in Iowa, and perhaps most importantly I am fortunate to work with a talented staff who understand the needs of homeschooling families and work hard to meet those needs,” Ertz said.

Leo Von Muenster, 12, built this airplane during free time to pursue personal interests once homeschooling course work is finished at their home in Anamosa, Iowa, on Friday, December 19, 2025. As Iowa public school enrollment falls, are public school districts investing into homeschooling to attract students? (Photo by Josh Cobb for The Gazette)

The Marion Homeschool Assistance Program limits services to homeschooling families within a 45 mile radius of Marion.

Each student in the program generates 30 percent of what a full time regularly enrolled student would generate, Ertz said. A regularly enrolled student generates about $8,000 in tuition from the state. A homeschool student generates about $2,400.

The program’s budget is about $2.94 million, with 80 percent of that allocated for personnel costs, Ertz said.

The remainder of the budget goes toward materials including professional development, enrichment programming, a resource library, technology, equipment and furnishings, utilities and outsourced professional services, Ertz said.

There are 55 staff, including 48 teachers, employed by the Marion Homeschool Assistance Program.

“In addition, many of our students are dual-enrolled into public school classes and activities through Marion. The district receives dual-enrollment funds from the state, which go into the district's general fund and can be used for any expenditures allowed for general funds. Unfortunately, these dual-enrollment funds from the state are insufficient to cover the costs associated with these dual-enrolled activities, in particular college-level coursework taken at the high school level,” Ertz said.

Fourteen-year-old Liv Von Muenster works on her lessons at the dining table at their home in Anamosa, Iowa, on Friday, December 19, 2025. Liv went from learning to read to reading at a third grade level within the first year of homeschooling. As Iowa public school enrollment falls, are public school districts investing into homeschooling to attract students? (Photo by Josh Cobb for The Gazette)

Mid-Prairie program ‘growing and strong’

Rachel Kerns, director of the Mid-Prairie Homeschool Assistance Program, said the program is “growing and strong.”

Kerns said parents may want be their child’s “primary educator” to choose their own curriculum, teach at home and teach at the pace their child learns.

“I don’t have a ton of people here because they don’t like the public school,” Kerns said. “That absolutely happens, but that’s not the main reason people homeschool. A lot of families are here because they want to teach their kids and be part of those ‘ah-ha’ moments.”

There are 667 students enrolled in the Mid-Prairie Homeschool Assistance Program. Only 160 of those students are Mid-Prairie students. Others open enroll from other school districts or are one of the eight districts Mid-Prairie has a 28E sharing agreement with for homeschool assistance.

Kerns said their enrollment always is higher than the year before.

“There’s a misconception that homeschooling is done exclusively at home,” Kerns said. “Homeschoolers are out in the community, working jobs, helping at their churches, volunteering, taking classes at the public school, taking enrichment classes … We see kids thriving.”

Iowa City homeschool primarily serves kids in-district

The Iowa City Community School District has 117 students enrolled in their homeschool assistance program. During the 2020-21 school year during the pandemic, the number of students enrolled in this program grew to an all-time high of 271, Chris Pisarik, administrator of the program, said in an email to The Gazette.

“It helps keep state dollars in our public schools,” Pisarik said.

The program primarily serves students in the Iowa City Community School District, Pisarik said. Their annual budget is between $355,800 and $373,000.

Since 2017, the district has invested more resources into the homeschool program by adding staff and creating a dedicated center located at 1400 Grissel Place, Iowa City.

The center gives the program space for an extensive curriculum library, classrooms and an outdoor learning garden, Pisarik said.

“In an attempt to better serve and meet the needs of our students and parents educators, we've gathered feedback from our (Iowa City Homeschool Assistance Program) community that has allowed us to invest in richer learning materials and experiences,” Pisarik said. “An increased staff and larger space has provided the chance to offer more diverse social opportunities in the classroom and special programming. It has also supported some of our weekly field trips we take throughout the greater community.”

There are six staff members with the program.

‘A rich life’

Leslie Masterson has six children, four of whom she is homeschooling. She started homeschooling about a decade ago when her now 14-year-old, who is adopted was in preschool because she “needed more time with me for bonding,” Masterson said.

The family open enrolls into the Marion Homeschool Assistance Program.

Masterson has 13 years of experience as a special-education teacher in a public school. She loved teaching then, and she loves teaching now.

Masterson said she gets asked if she ever gets “tired of being at home” as a homeschool mom.

“We are never at home,” she said. “We have a really rich life. We do tons of field trips and love being out in the community learning. We do a lot of hands-on, life skills learning, volunteer as a family, there’s so much time to do all of that.”

For the ‘joy of learning’

Andrea Reinert’s two children are enrolled in the Marion Homeschool Assistance Program, but she relies on the support of her church, which has a large homeschooling community, she said.

Her youngest child, who she also plans to homeschool, is three-years-old.

It’s at church that her children access many enrichment opportunities including art, choir, science and geography, she said.

The Marion program is a great resource, Reinert said. “There’s no better place to meet experienced homeschooling educators.”

She values homeschooling because of the strong relationships it’s building between her and her children.

“We value working out conflict together, being patient and giving,” Reinert said.

Reinert also has found that in teaching her children, she has gotten to become a student again and remember the “joy of learning.”

“We’ve hatched eggs at home and watched ducklings. We’ve watched the life cycle of a Monarch butterfly and released them in our own garden. There’s a lot of monotony (in homeschooling), but there are moments that are irreplaceable. It’s a privilege to watch them learn and participate in the learning,” Reinert said.

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com

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