How to Migrate Your Co-op from Homeschool-Life to HomeschoolGo

Switching platforms mid-season is the last thing any co-op coordinator wants to do. But migrating between semesters — or before a new one starts — is more manageable than it sounds. Most co-ops complete the transition in an evening.

Here's a practical walkthrough.

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Before you start: what to export from Homeschool-Life

The most important thing to grab before you do anything else is your member list. In Homeschool-Life, navigate to your member directory and export it as a CSV. You'll want:

• Family names and contact info
• Student names, grades, and birthdates
• Email addresses for all parent accounts

If you've been tracking class history or payment records, export those too — not because HomeschoolGo needs them to function, but because you'll want the records for your own files.

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Step 1: Set up your HomeschoolGo group

Start the free trial at homeschoolgo.app. You'll be asked to name your co-op and set a few basics — meeting location, session dates, contact info.

This takes about five minutes. You don't need to have everything figured out before you start.

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Step 2: Import your member list

HomeschoolGo accepts CSV imports directly from Homeschool-Life exports. From your admin dashboard:

1. Go to Members → Import
2. Upload the CSV you exported
3. Map the columns (the importer will suggest matches automatically)
4. Review and confirm

Families will receive an invitation email to create their own login. They don't need to do anything until you're ready to go live.

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Step 3: Recreate your class structure

This is usually the most time-intensive step, but it's also a good forcing function to clean up anything that's accumulated over the years.

For each class or session your co-op runs:

• Set the title, description, instructor, and capacity
• Configure registration open/close dates
• Set the fee (if applicable) — this connects directly to family billing

If you have returning families who were already enrolled, you can pre-enroll them manually or let them re-register through the family portal.

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Step 4: Set up billing

If your co-op collects tuition or fees, connect Stripe from Settings → Payments. This takes about ten minutes and requires a bank account number and routing number.

Once connected, any fees you've attached to classes or events will automatically generate invoices for enrolled families. You can also create manual charges for dues, materials, or anything else.

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Step 5: Communicate the switch to families

Keep it simple. Most families don't care which platform you use — they care that they can find the schedule, pay their balance, and know when co-op is canceled.

A short email works:

"We're moving to a new platform this semester called HomeschoolGo. You'll get an invitation to create your login in the next day or two. Everything — the calendar, class sign-ups, and payments — will be in one place. Let me know if you have any questions."

That's it. Most families are set up within 24 hours of receiving the invite.

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What stays the same

Your co-op's community, culture, and relationships don't live in any software. Those come with you automatically.

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How long does it actually take?

For a co-op of 15–30 families with 8–12 classes per semester, most coordinators complete the setup in 2–4 hours spread over an evening. The import handles the tedious part; the rest is decisions you'd have to make anyway at the start of a new semester.

The free trial gives you 60 days to get everything set up before you need to decide anything. There's no pressure to go live before you're ready.

Start your free trial →

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Have questions about migrating a specific setup? Email us at [email protected] — we're a small team and we actually respond.