Field guide · Confirm with the authority before you file
Homeschooling in District of Columbia
Notification of Intent to Homeschool, at least 15 BUSINESS DAYS before the first date of home instruction. The full list is below. Also kept, and shown only if asked: portfolio of educational materials.
Notify, level 2 of 4
What District of Columbia actually asks of a family teaching their own children. Written plainly, and honest where the answer is that nobody asks for anything.
You tell
OSSE, online
By
At least 15 BUSINESS DAYS before the first date of home instruction
Who reviews it
OSSE
which may ask in writing, at any time and with at least 30 days' notice, to review the portfolio.
If you skip it
If OSSE reviews your portfolio and finds your child is not receiving thorough, regular education, it sends you a written Notification of Deficiencies, and you must answer in writing within 30 days (not counting Saturdays, Sundays or District holidays) with a Corrective Action Plan. If the plan does not correct the deficiencies, OSSE issues a Letter of Non-Compliance. You can appeal it in writing to the State Superintendent of Education, filed with OSSE within 15 calendar days of the date of the letter, and the Superintendent's final decision can be appealed to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. A final decision can require you to enroll your child in a public or non-public school within 45 days, unless a court order stays it. If your child is leaving a public or public charter school, the child stays registered there, accrues unexcused absences and is subject to the school's truancy reporting until officially withdrawn.
Who is in charge
Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE)
Who reviews your child is set out at the top of this page, in the authority's own terms.
The year
What you must file
No fixed dateYou file
Notification of Intent to Homeschool
At least 15 BUSINESS DAYS before the first date of home instruction
How often: first year
Goes to: OSSE, online
DCMR Title 5, section 5202.1: the notice is made on OSSE's official form and indicates your consent to the requirements of the District of Columbia home schooling regulations.
August 15You file
Notification of Homeschool Continuation
By 15 AUGUST each continuing year
Goes to: OSSE
DCMR Title 5, section 5203.1: for each year home schooling continues, file a Home Schooling Notification Form identifying each child being home schooled, no later than August 15.
No fixed dateYou file
Notification to Discontinue Homeschooling
At least 15 BUSINESS DAYS before home schooling ends
How often: when home schooling ends
Goes to: OSSE, by email to OSSE.Homeschool@dc.gov
DCMR Title 5, section 5203.2: written notice to OSSE of any discontinuation, for any reason, 15 days (not counting Saturdays, Sundays or District holidays) before it ends. If your child later applies to enroll in a District of Columbia public school, placement and any credits toward high school graduation are decided by evaluation, which may include standardized tests, other examinations and interviews with the child.
No fixed dateYou keep
Portfolio of educational materials
n/a
How often: continuous
Goes to: Maintained at least one year; produced for OSSE review on written request with at least 30 days' notice
Evidence of current work across subjects: writing, completed mathematics, assessments.
No fixed dateYou file
Petition to OSSE for a waiver of the high school diploma requirement
Only if the parent or guardian who will teach has no high school diploma or its equivalent; the regulation sets no date
How often: once, if needed
Goes to: OSSE (request the waiver form at OSSE.Homeschool@dc.gov)
DCMR Title 5, sections 5207.1 and 5207.2: a parent or guardian who wishes to be the child's instructor must have a high school diploma or its equivalent. One who does not may petition OSSE for a waiver, and the petition must provide evidence of the ability to provide thorough, regular education. OSSE's family guide says to email OSSE.Homeschool@dc.gov for more information or to request the waiver form.
No fixed dateYou file
Notice to your child's current school that you are withdrawing the child
When moving a child from a public or public charter school to homeschooling; give the school OSSE's verification letter once OSSE approves your Notification of Intent
How often: when leaving a public school
Goes to: The child's current public or public charter school
OSSE's Apply to Homeschool page: parents must notify the student's school of their intention to withdraw the student. OSSE gives you a verification letter after approving your Notification of Intent to Homeschool; give it to the school to begin the official withdrawal, and follow the school's exit process. A child may not be registered to homeschool while attending a public or public charter school, and until officially withdrawn the child stays registered, accrues unexcused absences and is subject to the school's truancy reporting. If you cannot find the letter, ask for a copy at OSSE.Homeschool@dc.gov.
No fixed dateYou file
Written response and Corrective Action Plan
Within 30 days (not counting Saturdays, Sundays or District holidays) after the date of a written Notification of Deficiencies from OSSE; only if OSSE sends one
How often: only if OSSE finds deficiencies
Goes to: OSSE
DCMR Title 5, sections 5208.1 to 5208.3: if a portfolio review finds your child is not receiving thorough, regular education, OSSE sends a written Notification of Deficiencies. You must respond in writing and give OSSE a Corrective Action Plan with evidence that each deficiency has been or is being corrected. You may ask for a meeting with OSSE before the plan is due. OSSE answers within 15 days (not counting Saturdays, Sundays or District holidays), you may ask for a meeting about its answer, and you must carry out the plan as OSSE approves it.
The words a reviewer uses
'Regular, thorough instruction', and the portfolio must show CURRENT work.
The part the paperwork does not cover
Filing on time is the easy half. The harder half is the year in between: showing what your child actually learned, in words the reviewer recognises, without turning your home into a school.
That is what this tool is for. You say what your child did, in a sentence. It maps that to the published standards we hold for District of Columbia, which today are English (326 of 383), Mathematics (490 of 574), Science (511 of 604), Social Studies (3 of 1631) and Physical Education (5 of 106). Those figures count the topics we carry for ages 5 to 12 that cite one of District of Columbia's published standards. A further 177 Social Studies topics are matched only to the national C3 Framework, which is guidance, not District of Columbia's own standard. Arts is not in the app for District of Columbia yet. A moment in any of those subjects is kept on the general map for your child's age and named that way in the record, so the record never cites District of Columbia's curriculum where we hold none of it. Then it builds the record you can hand over the day someone asks. See how it works.
Sources
- Checked 5 Oct 2026
- Checked 11 Aug 2026
- Checked 11 Aug 2026
- Checked 5 Oct 2026
- Checked 5 Oct 2026
Sources last checked on 2026-10-05: osse.dc.gov. That is the date we checked, not the date the rule last changed.
Check it yourself: the source we used.
Guidance, not legal advice. Rules change and districts vary: confirm with the authority named above before you file.
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