CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The 2020-2021 school year is done, and many parents and students are looking forward to summer break after a hectic year. 

One Charlotte mom who decided to homeschool her daughters is looking back on the major change she made this year. 

Katherine Fernandez, a mother of two, says she watched her daughters lose interest in school when they were doing virtual learning. She decided to become their full-time teacher, and started homeschooling the girls. 

“They really can do way more than what they’ve been asked in the past,” she said proudly. 

Fernandez says she isn’t the only parent in Charlotte that made the switch for this school year. 

“I’ve had two friends pull their kids out for this year, and sought me as consult on what curriculum to buy, how to do it, how to navigate the website and get the process done,” said Fernandez.

According to the North Carolina Department of Non-Public Education, in summer 2020, the number of notices of intent to start a homeschool was more than double the number of notices received in 2019.  

Fernandez says the work her family has put in has been worth it. In North Carolina, homeschool students take a required assessment test each year in order to check performance and grade levels. 

“In the 15 months that I’ve been doing this, including the spring section that we did before we knew what we were doing, I’ve advanced them about a grade to a grade and a half,” saidFernandez. 

She says her plan is to continue to homeschool the girls until the reach high school. 

“At this point you’re almost committed, because if I put them back in school, they’ll have to do grade level work, and they’ll be bored,” Fernandez said. 

The North Carolina Department of Non-Public Education releases a report evert summer, so new data will be released in July that will reveal if there was in increase in the number of homeschool students in Mecklenburg County.