Field guide · Read at the government's own source
Homeschooling in Pennsylvania
Notarized affidavit or unsworn declaration, before you start, then every year by August 1. The full list is below.
Show progress, level 4 of 4
What Pennsylvania actually asks of a family teaching their own children. Written plainly, and honest where the answer is that nobody asks for anything.
You tell
District superintendent
By
August 1
Before the program commences and annually thereafter by no later than 1 AUGUST
Who reviews it
A QUALIFIED HOME EDUCATION EVALUATOR, a licensed clinical psychologist, a school psychologist, a Pennsylvania certified teacher with two years of grading experience at the relevant level, a nonpublic school teacher or administrator with two years of PA teaching experience in the last ten at that level, or a person with other qualifications approved in advance by the superintendent. The supervisor and the supervisor's spouse are BARRED from evaluating their own program.
If you skip it
No instruction time counts toward the required days or hours until the affidavit is submitted, because the affidavit begins the program. If the evaluator's certification is not given to the superintendent by June 30, the superintendent must send a certified letter, and the certification must then be submitted within 10 days of receiving it. If the superintendent reasonably believes that appropriate education may not be occurring, or that the program is not following another part of the law, the superintendent may send a certified letter giving the reason and requiring an evaluation and evaluator's certification, or a certification that the program is in compliance, within 30 days. If a required certification is not submitted in time, the school board must hold a hearing before an impartial hearing examiner within 30 days; the examiner may instead require a remedial education plan agreed between the superintendent and you, which keeps the program going. If the examiner finds that appropriate education is not taking place, the child must be promptly enrolled in the public school district, a nonpublic school or a licensed private academic school, and the supervisor or the supervisor's spouse may not supervise a home education program for that child for 12 months. The program may continue during any appeal.
Who is in charge
Superintendent of the district of residence; a qualified home education evaluator performs the review
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
August 1You file
Notarized affidavit OR unsworn declaration
Before the program commences and annually thereafter by no later than 1 AUGUST
Goes to: District superintendent
Covers the school year, July 1 to June 30. The affidavit must be notarized; the unsworn declaration has the same contents and is signed under penalty of perjury instead. The Department of Education publishes samples of both. It must give the supervisor's name, the name and age of each child, the address and telephone number of the program site, a statement that the required subjects are taught in English, and an assurance that the program will follow the law. A child who has never been enrolled in school or another legal education option needs an affidavit by the sixth birthday; the Department of Education's guide says a district may allow it at the start of the next school year if the birthday is after September 1.
August 1You file
Outline of proposed educational objectives by subject area
Attached to the affidavit: before the program begins, then by August 1 each year
Goes to: District superintendent
No fixed dateYou file
Evidence of immunization AND of required medical services
Attached to the affidavit
Goes to: District superintendent
Records or a letter from the physician showing the child has been immunized and has received the health and medical services required for the child's age or grade, such as screenings, physicals and dental exams. The first time a child starts home education, the actual immunization record must be submitted to and reviewed by the school district's nurse; a physician's letter is accepted only after that first review. A medical exemption, or a written objection on religious grounds or strong moral or ethical convictions, can take the place of immunization records, and a religious exemption can take the place of the health services evidence. Physicals and dental exams done by your own provider must be no more than four months before the school year they are required for.
June 30You file
Portfolio
Kept all year and reviewed by your evaluator before the evaluation is due on June 30
How often: continuous
Goes to: Reviewed by the evaluator; the school district's authority to review the portfolio was REMOVED as of 31 October 2014
Minimum contents: samples of the student's work; a log made contemporaneously with the instruction designating reading materials by title; evidence of either 180 days or 900 hours (elementary, K-6) / 990 hours (secondary, 7-12); standardized test results for grades 3, 5 and 8; and the evaluator's written evaluation. If your child takes academic or cocurricular courses or a career and technical education program through the school district, the grades the district or center gives you must also be kept in the portfolio.
June 30You file
Evaluator's written certification
By 30 JUNE of each school year
Goes to: SUBMITTED by the supervisor to the district superintendent
Based on an interview of the child and a review of the portfolio. Certifies whether an appropriate education is occurring. If the program ends before the school year does, the Department of Education's guide says the evaluation should be submitted when the program ends. You pay any fee the evaluator charges.
No fixed dateYou file
Standardized test, grades 3, 5 and 8
Kept in the portfolio
How often: at those grades
Goes to: In the portfolio the evaluator reviews; not filed separately with the district
Reading/language arts and mathematics, using the statewide tests (PSSA) or a nationally normed test from the Department of Education's approved list. The test must not be given by the child's parent or guardian. The statewide tests can be taken free at your school district; if you choose them, the Department of Education's guide says to tell the district early in the school year so it can order the tests.
August 1You file
Signed certification about criminal convictions, in the affidavit
In the affidavit: before the program begins, then by August 1 each year
Goes to: District superintendent
The supervisor signs a certification that the supervisor, every adult living in the home and anyone with legal custody of the child have not been convicted of the criminal offenses listed in section 111(e) of the Public School Code within the five years before the date of the affidavit.
August 1You file
Written approval of the program for a child who needs special education
With the affidavit, for a child identified as needing special education services (not gifted only): before the program begins, then by August 1 each year
Goes to: District superintendent
The program must address the child's specific needs and be approved by a teacher with a valid Pennsylvania certificate to teach special education or a licensed clinical or certified school psychologist. Written notice of that approval is submitted with the affidavit. This does not apply to a child identified only as gifted or talented.
No fixed dateYou file
Request for a letter of transfer when moving to another Pennsylvania school district
By registered mail, 30 days before the program moves to another school district in Pennsylvania, during the school term or before it opens in the fall
How often: when moving
Goes to: Superintendent of the district you are leaving
The superintendent must issue the letter 30 days after receiving your request. If the program is not in compliance, or is in hearing procedures, the superintendent must tell you and the new district's superintendent why the letter is denied.
No fixed dateYou file
Letter of transfer, filed with the new school district
When you move, once the district you are leaving has issued it; the law sets no number of days
How often: when moving
Goes to: Superintendent of the new school district
If proceedings are pending, the new district's superintendent continues the program until the appeal process is finalized.
No fixed dateYou file
Certification asked for in a certified letter from the superintendent
Within 30 days of receiving the superintendent's certified letter
How often: if requested
Goes to: District superintendent
If the superintendent reasonably believes appropriate education may not be occurring, the letter, which must give the reason, can require an evaluation and an evaluator's certification that an appropriate education is occurring. If the superintendent reasonably believes the program is not following another part of the law, the letter requires a certification that the program is in compliance. If the grade 3, 5 or 8 tests have not been given yet, send the other documents to the evaluator now and the test results at the end of the school year. Missing the 30 days leads to a hearing.
The words a reviewer uses
'An appropriate education', statutorily defined as instruction in the required subjects, for the required time, with the student demonstrating SUSTAINED PROGRESS IN THE OVERALL PROGRAM.
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 Pennsylvania, which today are English (326 of 383), Mathematics (490 of 574), Science (334 of 604), Social Studies (5 of 1631) and Physical Education (97 of 106). Those figures count the topics we carry for ages 5 to 12 that cite one of Pennsylvania's published standards. A further 175 Social Studies topics are matched only to the national C3 Framework, which is guidance, not Pennsylvania's own standard. Arts is not in the app for Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania'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
- Read 11 Aug 2026
- Read 28 Aug 2026
- Read 7 Oct 2026
- Read 7 Oct 2026
Last read at the source on 2026-10-07: 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1, Home Education Program (Pennsylvania General Assembly). That is the date we read it, not the date the rule last changed.
Check it yourself: the authority's own page.
Guidance, not legal advice. Rules change and districts vary: confirm with the authority named above before you file.