How to Homeschool in Pennsylvania (2026 Guide)

The short version

Pennsylvania is among the more regulated states for homeschooling. Every year you file a notarized affidavit with your school district, maintain a portfolio of your child’s work, and arrange for a qualified evaluator — a certified teacher, licensed psychologist, or approved private school professional — to interview your child and review the portfolio. Students in grades 3, 5, and 8 also need standardized test scores in the portfolio. The process has clear deadlines: affidavit by August 1, evaluator report by June 30. Once you understand the annual rhythm, it is manageable.

Legal basis

Pennsylvania’s home education law lives in 24 P.S. § 13-1327.1 of the Pennsylvania School Code, added by Act 169 of 1988. That act gave parents the right to conduct a home education program as a legal means of satisfying compulsory school attendance under § 13-1327. Important later amendments include:

• Act 67 of 2005 — allowed home-educated students to participate in school extracurricular activities.
• Act 196 of 2014 — established state-recognized high school diploma pathways and clarified that an annual evaluator’s certification is the required proof of appropriate education.
• Act 55 of 2022 — required school districts, beginning with the 2023–24 school year, to allow home-educated students to participate in cocurricular activities, certain academic courses, and career and technical education (CTE) programs.

A key regulation, 22 Pa. Code § 11.31a, confirms that school district approval is not required — only the required documentation. Once paperwork is filed, the district may not deny the right to homeschool unless a proper hearing has found the program out of compliance.

A home education program is not a nonpublic school under Pennsylvania law (§ 1327.1(b)).

Primary PDE resource: Pennsylvania Department of Education — Home Education and Private Tutoring

Notice of intent

Before starting a home education program — and by August 1 of each subsequent school year — the supervisor (the parent, guardian, or person with legal custody) must file a notarized affidavit or unsworn declaration with the superintendent of the school district where the family resides. [24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(b)(1)]

An unsworn declaration is functionally identical to the notarized affidavit but is signed under penalty of perjury rather than before a notary — either is acceptable under the law.

The affidavit must include:

• Name of the supervisor who will be responsible for instruction
• Name and age of each child in the program
• Address and telephone number of the home education site
• A statement that required subjects will be offered in English, along with an outline of proposed educational objectives by subject area
• Evidence that the child has been immunized as required under § 1303(a), or documentation of a medical, religious, or philosophical exemption
• Evidence that the child has received the health and medical services required for their age or grade level, or a religious exemption
• Certification that the supervisor, all adults living in the home, and any other persons with legal custody have not been convicted of criminal offenses listed in § 111(e) within the five years prior to the date of the affidavit

The outline of educational objectives you include cannot be used by the superintendent to determine whether the program is out of compliance. It is informational only.

PDE provides sample affidavit and unsworn declaration forms on its website, but families may use their own format as long as all required information is present. Check your local district’s board policy for any district-specific filing procedures.

Supervisor qualification: The person conducting the program must hold a high school diploma or its equivalent — including a GED, HiSET, a home-education-issued diploma (after October 31, 2014), or a diploma from an approved diploma-granting organization, or 30 college credits from an accredited U.S. institution. [22 Pa. Code § 4.72]

Required subjects

Pennsylvania specifies required subjects by level. [24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(c)]

Elementary level (grades K–6):

• English (spelling, reading, and writing)
• Arithmetic
• Science
• Geography
• History of the United States and Pennsylvania
• Civics
• Safety education, including regular and continuous instruction in the dangers and prevention of fires
• Health and physiology
• Physical education
• Music
• Art

Secondary level (grades 7–12):

• English (language, literature, speech, and composition)
• Science
• Geography
• Social studies (civics, world history, history of the United States and Pennsylvania)
• Mathematics (general mathematics, algebra, and geometry)
• Art
• Music
• Physical education
• Health
• Safety education, including fire prevention instruction

At the supervisor’s discretion, secondary programs may also include economics, biology, chemistry, foreign languages, trigonometry, and other age-appropriate courses from Chapter 5 of the State Board of Education’s curriculum requirements.

High school graduation requirements (grades 9–12): [24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(d)]

Requirement	Years
English	4
Mathematics	3
Science	3
Social studies	3
Arts and humanities	2

Instructional time: The program must provide a minimum of 180 days or 900 hours per year at the elementary level, and 990 hours per year at the secondary level. [24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(c)]

Annual evaluation

Every year, for each homeschooled child of compulsory school age, the supervisor must arrange for a qualified evaluator to:

1. Interview the child
2. Review the portfolio (described in the next section)
3. Produce a written certification that an appropriate education is occurring

The evaluator’s written report must be submitted to the superintendent of the district of residence by June 30 of each school year. [24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(e)(2); (h.1)]

Failure to submit the evaluation by June 30 can trigger a formal hearing before the school district. Possible consequences include probation, increased reporting requirements, or suspension of homeschooling rights for up to twelve months.

Evaluator qualifications — an evaluator must be one of the following [24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(e)]:

1. Licensed clinical psychologist
2. School psychologist
3. Pennsylvania-certified teacher with at least two years of grading experience at the level being evaluated (K–6 and/or 7–12)
4. Nonpublic school teacher or administrator with at least two years of teaching experience in a Pennsylvania public or nonpublic school within the last ten years, at the level being evaluated
5. A person with other qualifications, with the prior written consent of the superintendent of the district of residence

The supervisor selects the evaluator; the district may not reject the selection as long as the evaluator meets one of the five criteria above.

The evaluation does not need to be conducted in person. A supervisor may mail or send the portfolio electronically and conduct the child interview by phone or video call.

Record keeping

Pennsylvania requires supervisors to maintain a portfolio for each child. The portfolio must include: [24 P.S. § 13-1327.1(e)(1)]

• A log, made contemporaneously with the instruction, that designates by title the reading materials used
• Samples of the child’s writings, worksheets, workbooks, or other creative materials
• For students in grades 3, 5, and 8: results of standardized tests in reading/language arts and mathematics

For the grade 3, 5, and 8 tests, families may choose between:

• PSSAs (Pennsylvania state tests) — if you want your child to take the PSSA, the district must allow them to test at the school they would otherwise attend, at no cost
• A nationally normed standardized achievement test from PDE’s approved list, administered by someone other than the parent

PDE’s approved nationally normed tests include: California Achievement Test, Comprehensive Testing Program (CTP IV), Iowa Test of Basic Skills, Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), Metropolitan Achievement Test, Peabody Individual Achievement Test – Revised, Stanford Achievement Test, Terra Nova, Woodcock-Johnson Revised Tests of Achievement, Woodcock-Johnson, and Wechsler Individual Achievement Test.

The portfolio is not submitted to the school district; it is maintained by the supervisor and reviewed by the evaluator. If the superintendent requests evidence mid-year that appropriate education is occurring, the evaluator’s written certification also satisfies that request.

Borrowing materials: On request, the school district must lend the supervisor copies of the district’s planned courses, textbooks, and curriculum materials appropriate for the student’s age and grade level.

Withdrawing from public school

If your child is currently enrolled in a public school, contact the school to withdraw them before you begin. There is no state-prescribed withdrawal form. Simply notify the school in writing — including the child’s name, grade, date of withdrawal, and that you will be conducting a home education program.

After withdrawal, file your notarized affidavit (or unsworn declaration) with the district superintendent. Homeschooling may begin as soon as the affidavit is submitted; you do not need to wait for district acknowledgment or approval. [22 Pa. Code § 11.31a]

Students with disabilities: If your child has been identified by the school district as requiring special education services (other than gifted identification), the proposed home education program must be approved by a certified special education teacher or a licensed clinical or certified school psychologist before you begin. This requirement does not apply to students identified as gifted only. [24 P.S. § 13-1327(d)]

Returning to public school: If your child later re-enrolls in a public school, the district will typically assess them for grade placement. A well-maintained portfolio can simplify that process.

Support and community

Several organizations serve Pennsylvania homeschool families:

• Pennsylvania Homeschoolers (PA Homeschoolers) — pahomeschoolers.com — one of the oldest homeschool organizations in the state, with evaluator referrals, curriculum resources, and a well-known AP correspondence program
• Pennsylvania Home Education Network (PHEN) — phen.org — statewide advocacy and support organization
• Pennsylvania Homeschool Notification Project — a grassroots resource for understanding district-specific affidavit procedures and policies

The Pennsylvania Department of Education’s School Services Unit can be reached at (717) 214-8212 or RA-home-education@pa.gov for questions about the law or affidavit requirements.

Local homeschool co-ops and support groups operate across the state. PA Homeschoolers maintains a directory of groups organized by region.