Hillsborough has more homeschooled students than any school district in the country

BRANDON, Fla. - Homeschooling is America's fastest growing form of education, and it looks a lot different than it did just a decade ago.

"Homeschooling in the last 20 years has evolved from conservative Christians sitting around the dining room table with mom schooling all the kids. It’s flexible schooling now," explained Teresa Manganello, president and founder of Tampa Bay HEAT.

HEAT stands for home education activities team. It’s a homeschool resource organization in Brandon. More than 850 families send their homeschooled children there for instruction, supplementing their work at home.

"This is homeschooling Disneyland in this area," shared Manganello.

Hillsborough County has 9,921 homeschool students, more than any school district in the country.

File: Student doing classwork. 

Jen and Daniel Holmstrom homeschool both of their daughters at HEAT. 

"It’s become so normal. It used to be not so much, but now it’s mainstream and its popular. He wasn’t on board at first," Jen Holmstrom said pointing at her husband. "But now he loves it and brags about it to his friends and coworkers."

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"I was worried about the social interaction, but that’s why HEAT was awesome," added Daniel Holmstrom. "We can have the social interaction and also have the schooling at home."

Most teachers at HEAT are parents. They offer classes ranging from music and drama to science and Spanish.

Tampa Bay HEAT is a resource for homeschool families. 

Last year, Governor DeSantis expanded the state's school choice programs. Homeschool families can now apply for scholarships of up to $7,800 per student. Priority is given based on household income.

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"A lot of families who maybe didn’t even consider homeschooling previously, now because they have the opportunity and these funds, they have that choice," Manganello stated.

Jazmin Serrano and her brother William homeschool differently. They're two of 240,000 students enrolled in Florida Virtual School. It's a statewide public school district offering 193 different courses online, both in a part-time, flexible format and full-time.

A student participates in a drama class at Tampa Bay HEAT. 

"Very similar to what you’d see in a traditional setting, just in a Zoom or an online setting. A lot of the instruction is in small groups or one on one to really personalize the experience," explained Jason Schultz, senior director of instruction at Florida Virtual School.

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Jazmin says this environment allows her to focus more.  

"In a real class, there might be distractions and stuff like a teacher saying things like ‘don’t talk’ or ‘concentrate on your work’. And that’s actually kind of distracting and maybe you won’t learn as much in that environment," she said.

Hillsborough County Schools also has its own virtual school program with about 800 full-time students.