FAQs
1. What are the benefits of joining the National Homeschool Honor Society?
This is an organization to recognize the academic achievement of homeschooled students. Members may list their membership on high school transcripts, college applications, and scholarship applications. The Iota Kappa chapter is specifically for homeschooled students in the Western Suburban area.
2. What is involved with joining this chapter of the honor society?
Send in your student’s completed application with all of the required paperwork and membership fee and meet the required deadlines. If your student is accepted into the honor society, the student will receive an acceptance letter within 4-6 weeks of the deadline. After sending in their community service records, members will receive an honor society certificate.
3. Why is an e-mail address required on the application?
E-mail is an inexpensive, quick form of communication, and it is a favored form of communication among today’s students. E-mail enables us to reach most honor society students and their parents quickly and efficiently. This is why e-mail addresses are required on applications.
4. How is the membership fee used?
Iota Kappa chapter requires one-time membership and dues payment. Your membership fee to Iota Kappa goes to pay for national dues, certificates, and postage. It also helps us cover fees for students from families in need for whom payment of dues is a financial hardship. No person receives payment for services from dues money.
5. At what age can I join the honor society?
Eta Sigma Alpha, at the national level, originally accepted only high school students. However, they have allowed us now to accept junior high students for membership in the Iota Kappa chapter. The same standards for membership apply. The only difference between the two chapters will be in the type of certificate issued to students. The junior high version will look different than the high school version.
6. Are there any deadlines?
The deadline to apply is October 31st. Students are accepted into membership for the current school year. The deadline for community service records is the final meeting of the year, typically in May. These are firm deadlines, determined by postmarked date on envelope. Applications and records with later postmarks will be returned to sender. Thus, late applicants will be denied membership for the current school year.
7. Why is there a testing requirement for the National Homeschool Honor Society when the public school National Honor Society does not require such?
Joanne Juren, founder of the Alpha Chapter of the National Homeschool Honor Society, says, “The test scores provide an accepted method of measuring the homeschooled student’s achievement against national and standardized norms.” The non-homeschool community, including colleges and scholarship boards, embraces this high standard as credible evidence of the academic abilities of homeschooled students.
8. What are the testing requirements?
Applicant must provide proof of test scores from one of the following test: Iowa Achievement, (90% composite score), Old SAT – 1800, New SAT (March 2016) – 1200, ACT – 26, PSAT, PSAT 10, PSAT 8/9 – 1200, or 90% on the total battery on the Stanford nationally normed standardized achievement tests is required for ESA membership. The test score must come from one test. Section scores from different tests may not be combined to achieve the required test score for membership. Although some college scholarship applications accept super scoring, we do not. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE FOR ANY ONE! Test scores should not be more than 1 year old. All tests must be administered in a group setting if a parent is helping with the test administration. If a group setting is not possible, a non-family member may administer the test in a one-on-one setting, as long as the parent does not have access to the test. Parent administered tests are not acceptable.
9. Since the new SAT is now in effect, why do the honor society requirements not reflect the 2400 standard of the new SAT?
All colleges do not yet require the writing portion as part of the SAT score of incoming freshmen (it has not been normed yet), so we do not either. (Some colleges are requiring students to take the writing portion of the SAT, but are not actually including the score in the composite when considering SAT entrance scores.) When colleges begin using the 2400 standard for college entrance, we will also.
10. What if my student’s SAT, ACT, or PSAT scores will not be back before the October 31st deadline?
You will still need to send in:
Completed application form
Updated transcript (high school students) or report card (junior high students or rising 9th graders)
Membership fee (check or money order)
Service record, if complete.
Remember: Your application will not be considered without your membership fee.
You will need to include a note with your application stating when your student expects to take the test and that the copy of your student’s test scores will be sent when you receive it (approximately December). It is your responsibility to follow through and send your student’s test scores to our staff. We will hold your membership fee check until after your student’s test scores are received. If your student’s scores do not meet the minimum standards for admission into the Iota Kappa chapter of Eta Sigma Alpha, your check will be returned to you. If your student’s test scores have not been received by our staff by January 1st, your student will no longer be eligible for membership.
An actual copy of test scores needs to be sent with this application. Please do not send any originals of anything; please send copies only. Contents of your student’s admission packet will not be returned to you.
11. What about community service? Can volunteer work at church count?
Members must document on the sheet provided at least 20 hours of community service. Community service is defined as any service performed by the student for which he does not receive monetary/financial remuneration. For our state honor society’s purposes, members may begin counting service hours from May 2 of this year through May 1 of next year.
Suggestions for community service projects: working in a community soup kitchen; ringing bells for the Salvation Army; helping with a community project to provide toys for needy children at Christmas; helping build a house as part of Habitat for Humanity; delivering Meals on Wheels; volunteering in a hospital or nursing center; visiting with and reading to the elderly residents of an assisted living center; adopting an elderly or disabled neighbor and doing things for him or her throughout the year; offering babysitting services for moms in your support group. Because we hope that students will be active in their respective churches, we consider service in the church to be a valid service that meets the purposes of this community service requirement. Therefore, volunteer service in church nursery, children’s church, construction projects, or other church ministry can be counted toward this requirement.
If your student is part of a Key Club, Teen Council, or other service club as part of your homeschool group, your student can use his or her service hours from that club to fulfill the requirement for this honor society, but your student still must complete the honor society community service record sheet and turn it in by April 1st.
Your student has the option of turning in a completed service sheet with his or her application in the fall to avoid having to remember to mail it in later in the school year. You may make up your own documentation sheet. Please specify the type of project, short description of what was done, contact person for the project, and hours per project. Please total the hours at the bottom—they must equal or exceed twenty hours. E-mailed service records are acceptable, as long as they include all of the necessary information.
12. Are there any required meetings?
Fifty percent attendance is required to maintain membership in the honor society.
13. Can honor society members wear special regalia at their high school graduations?
Yes. The National Home School Honor Society offers several items for its members to buy, and encourages members to wear these at their graduations or other applicable events: member pin; graduation stole; t-shirts; etc. Items may be purchased by visiting the National Home School Honor Society’s website at http://www.etasigmaalpha.com/. The Iota Kappa chapter does not offer these items, however, we do have t-shirts available.
14. What if I mailed in my student’s application and then didn’t hear from you?
You should receive e-mailed confirmation upon the receipt of your student’s application, but please do not expect to receive any written confirmation in the mail before mid-November. The deadline for application submission is October 31st, and all of the applications are processed at one time in mid-November. Your student should receive a written acceptance letter and membership card by postal service by the beginning of December. Those students who have submitted their community service records also will receive their certificates at this time. Those students who choose to wait until April 1st to submit their service records will receive their certificates after we receive their service records.
15. What if my student qualifies for membership in this honor society, but we cannot afford the membership fee?
Please send us your student’s completed application by the deadline, along with a note stating financial need.
16. What if, for some reason, my student’s application for membership in Honor Society is declined?
As a general rule, students are only refused membership if they lack one or more of the stated requirements. Please do not submit applications if your student does not meet the stated requirements. If your student is refused membership for any reason, you will receive a written letter stating so, and the reason for the refusal, along with your application/membership fee. You should receive this by the beginning of December. Applications and other copies are not returned.
17. What are the standards for home school eligibility?
Only those students who meet the HSLDA definition of a home schooler are eligible for ESA membership. This rule states that a student must complete 50% of his/her studies at home under the direct supervision of the parent. Co-op programs, group classes, and even community college courses are acceptable as long as the 50% rule is followed. Students enrolled in public school programs, charter school programs, full-time college programs, or other programs where more than 50% of the school time is spent in the supervision of a school setting or where the public school receives 50% funding for the student's attendance or where the public school system, umbrella school, on-line school assigns the grades without parent participation, are not eligible for ESA membership. (See HSLDA's webpage at www.hslda.org for more information.)
This is an organization to recognize the academic achievement of homeschooled students. Members may list their membership on high school transcripts, college applications, and scholarship applications. The Iota Kappa chapter is specifically for homeschooled students in the Western Suburban area.
2. What is involved with joining this chapter of the honor society?
Send in your student’s completed application with all of the required paperwork and membership fee and meet the required deadlines. If your student is accepted into the honor society, the student will receive an acceptance letter within 4-6 weeks of the deadline. After sending in their community service records, members will receive an honor society certificate.
3. Why is an e-mail address required on the application?
E-mail is an inexpensive, quick form of communication, and it is a favored form of communication among today’s students. E-mail enables us to reach most honor society students and their parents quickly and efficiently. This is why e-mail addresses are required on applications.
4. How is the membership fee used?
Iota Kappa chapter requires one-time membership and dues payment. Your membership fee to Iota Kappa goes to pay for national dues, certificates, and postage. It also helps us cover fees for students from families in need for whom payment of dues is a financial hardship. No person receives payment for services from dues money.
5. At what age can I join the honor society?
Eta Sigma Alpha, at the national level, originally accepted only high school students. However, they have allowed us now to accept junior high students for membership in the Iota Kappa chapter. The same standards for membership apply. The only difference between the two chapters will be in the type of certificate issued to students. The junior high version will look different than the high school version.
6. Are there any deadlines?
The deadline to apply is October 31st. Students are accepted into membership for the current school year. The deadline for community service records is the final meeting of the year, typically in May. These are firm deadlines, determined by postmarked date on envelope. Applications and records with later postmarks will be returned to sender. Thus, late applicants will be denied membership for the current school year.
7. Why is there a testing requirement for the National Homeschool Honor Society when the public school National Honor Society does not require such?
Joanne Juren, founder of the Alpha Chapter of the National Homeschool Honor Society, says, “The test scores provide an accepted method of measuring the homeschooled student’s achievement against national and standardized norms.” The non-homeschool community, including colleges and scholarship boards, embraces this high standard as credible evidence of the academic abilities of homeschooled students.
8. What are the testing requirements?
Applicant must provide proof of test scores from one of the following test: Iowa Achievement, (90% composite score), Old SAT – 1800, New SAT (March 2016) – 1200, ACT – 26, PSAT, PSAT 10, PSAT 8/9 – 1200, or 90% on the total battery on the Stanford nationally normed standardized achievement tests is required for ESA membership. The test score must come from one test. Section scores from different tests may not be combined to achieve the required test score for membership. Although some college scholarship applications accept super scoring, we do not. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE FOR ANY ONE! Test scores should not be more than 1 year old. All tests must be administered in a group setting if a parent is helping with the test administration. If a group setting is not possible, a non-family member may administer the test in a one-on-one setting, as long as the parent does not have access to the test. Parent administered tests are not acceptable.
9. Since the new SAT is now in effect, why do the honor society requirements not reflect the 2400 standard of the new SAT?
All colleges do not yet require the writing portion as part of the SAT score of incoming freshmen (it has not been normed yet), so we do not either. (Some colleges are requiring students to take the writing portion of the SAT, but are not actually including the score in the composite when considering SAT entrance scores.) When colleges begin using the 2400 standard for college entrance, we will also.
10. What if my student’s SAT, ACT, or PSAT scores will not be back before the October 31st deadline?
You will still need to send in:
Completed application form
Updated transcript (high school students) or report card (junior high students or rising 9th graders)
Membership fee (check or money order)
Service record, if complete.
Remember: Your application will not be considered without your membership fee.
You will need to include a note with your application stating when your student expects to take the test and that the copy of your student’s test scores will be sent when you receive it (approximately December). It is your responsibility to follow through and send your student’s test scores to our staff. We will hold your membership fee check until after your student’s test scores are received. If your student’s scores do not meet the minimum standards for admission into the Iota Kappa chapter of Eta Sigma Alpha, your check will be returned to you. If your student’s test scores have not been received by our staff by January 1st, your student will no longer be eligible for membership.
An actual copy of test scores needs to be sent with this application. Please do not send any originals of anything; please send copies only. Contents of your student’s admission packet will not be returned to you.
11. What about community service? Can volunteer work at church count?
Members must document on the sheet provided at least 20 hours of community service. Community service is defined as any service performed by the student for which he does not receive monetary/financial remuneration. For our state honor society’s purposes, members may begin counting service hours from May 2 of this year through May 1 of next year.
Suggestions for community service projects: working in a community soup kitchen; ringing bells for the Salvation Army; helping with a community project to provide toys for needy children at Christmas; helping build a house as part of Habitat for Humanity; delivering Meals on Wheels; volunteering in a hospital or nursing center; visiting with and reading to the elderly residents of an assisted living center; adopting an elderly or disabled neighbor and doing things for him or her throughout the year; offering babysitting services for moms in your support group. Because we hope that students will be active in their respective churches, we consider service in the church to be a valid service that meets the purposes of this community service requirement. Therefore, volunteer service in church nursery, children’s church, construction projects, or other church ministry can be counted toward this requirement.
If your student is part of a Key Club, Teen Council, or other service club as part of your homeschool group, your student can use his or her service hours from that club to fulfill the requirement for this honor society, but your student still must complete the honor society community service record sheet and turn it in by April 1st.
Your student has the option of turning in a completed service sheet with his or her application in the fall to avoid having to remember to mail it in later in the school year. You may make up your own documentation sheet. Please specify the type of project, short description of what was done, contact person for the project, and hours per project. Please total the hours at the bottom—they must equal or exceed twenty hours. E-mailed service records are acceptable, as long as they include all of the necessary information.
12. Are there any required meetings?
Fifty percent attendance is required to maintain membership in the honor society.
13. Can honor society members wear special regalia at their high school graduations?
Yes. The National Home School Honor Society offers several items for its members to buy, and encourages members to wear these at their graduations or other applicable events: member pin; graduation stole; t-shirts; etc. Items may be purchased by visiting the National Home School Honor Society’s website at http://www.etasigmaalpha.com/. The Iota Kappa chapter does not offer these items, however, we do have t-shirts available.
14. What if I mailed in my student’s application and then didn’t hear from you?
You should receive e-mailed confirmation upon the receipt of your student’s application, but please do not expect to receive any written confirmation in the mail before mid-November. The deadline for application submission is October 31st, and all of the applications are processed at one time in mid-November. Your student should receive a written acceptance letter and membership card by postal service by the beginning of December. Those students who have submitted their community service records also will receive their certificates at this time. Those students who choose to wait until April 1st to submit their service records will receive their certificates after we receive their service records.
15. What if my student qualifies for membership in this honor society, but we cannot afford the membership fee?
Please send us your student’s completed application by the deadline, along with a note stating financial need.
16. What if, for some reason, my student’s application for membership in Honor Society is declined?
As a general rule, students are only refused membership if they lack one or more of the stated requirements. Please do not submit applications if your student does not meet the stated requirements. If your student is refused membership for any reason, you will receive a written letter stating so, and the reason for the refusal, along with your application/membership fee. You should receive this by the beginning of December. Applications and other copies are not returned.
17. What are the standards for home school eligibility?
Only those students who meet the HSLDA definition of a home schooler are eligible for ESA membership. This rule states that a student must complete 50% of his/her studies at home under the direct supervision of the parent. Co-op programs, group classes, and even community college courses are acceptable as long as the 50% rule is followed. Students enrolled in public school programs, charter school programs, full-time college programs, or other programs where more than 50% of the school time is spent in the supervision of a school setting or where the public school receives 50% funding for the student's attendance or where the public school system, umbrella school, on-line school assigns the grades without parent participation, are not eligible for ESA membership. (See HSLDA's webpage at www.hslda.org for more information.)