The District asks for a notice before you start, a renewal every August 15, and a portfolio of your child's work that OSSE may ask to review. There is no testing, no hour count, and no approval of your curriculum.
Verified against primary sources November 2026. Laws change; sources are linked at the bottom of this page.
File a Notification of Intent to Homeschool with the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) at least 15 business days before your first day of home instruction, and a continuation notice by August 15 of every year you keep going. The parent teaching must have a high school diploma or its equivalent, or ask OSSE for a waiver. Teach language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, art, music, health, and physical education with thorough, regular instruction. Keep a portfolio of each child's current work for at least one year, and show it to OSSE if OSSE asks in writing. No tests, grades, or hour logs are filed.
The District's one homeschool route. A parent or legal guardian teaches their own children, notifies OSSE, and keeps a portfolio OSSE may review. The rest of this page describes it.
Still home schooling, with the same duties. OSSE says you may use an online curriculum run by a third-party provider, and you must still file the Notification of Intent no matter which curriculum you use.
File written notification on OSSE's official form at least 15 days before the first date of home instruction, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or District holidays. The form records your consent to the home schooling rules. OSSE takes it online through the DC Homeschool portal, where you also upload your diploma or GED document or ask for a waiver. After approval, OSSE emails a verification letter; give it to your child's school, because until the school officially withdraws your child, the child stays enrolled and can be marked absent.
For each year the home schooling program continues, file a notification form that identifies each child being homeschooled, no later than August 15. OSSE calls it the Notification of Homeschool Continuation.
If you stop homeschooling for any reason, notify OSSE in writing at least 15 days before you stop, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or District holidays. You can stop at any time of year.
Each child's program must provide thorough, regular instruction of sufficient duration, including at least language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, art, music, health, and physical education. You do not have to use the public schools' programs, methods, or curricular frameworks. The regulation sets no number of days or hours.
A parent or legal guardian who teaches must have a high school diploma or its equivalent. A parent without one may petition OSSE for a waiver, with evidence of the ability to provide thorough, regular education. OSSE says a parent may not teach other families' children under this route.
Keep a portfolio of home schooling materials for each child that includes evidence of current work, such as writings, worksheets, workbooks, creative materials, assessments, or other materials showing thorough, regular educational activities in a range of subjects. Keep it for at least one year and make it available to OSSE on written request.
OSSE may ask to review the portfolio at its discretion. The request must be in writing, the review is held at a time and place you and OSSE both agree to, there can be no more than two reviews in a school year, and the purpose is to make sure your child is getting thorough, regular instruction. Nothing requires OSSE to review every portfolio. OSSE's guides add that it gives at least 30 days' written notice and may meet online or somewhere like a library.
OSSE sends a written Notification of Deficiencies within 30 business days of the review. You answer in writing within 30 business days with a Corrective Action Plan showing how each problem is being fixed, and you may ask to meet first. OSSE responds within 15 business days. If the plan does not fix the problems, OSSE issues a Letter of Non-Compliance, which you may appeal in writing to the State Superintendent of Education within 15 calendar days, and then to DC Superior Court. Only after a final decision requiring enrollment do you have 45 days to enroll your child in a school, unless a court stays it.
| At least 15 business days before your first day | File the Notification of Intent to Homeschool with OSSE online. Keep your child in school until OSSE's verification letter arrives and the school withdraws your child. |
| By August 15 each year | File the Notification of Homeschool Continuation, naming each child you will homeschool in the coming year. |
| Throughout the year | Teach the eight subjects and add current work to each child's portfolio. |
| If OSSE asks in writing | Agree on a time and place, and share the portfolio. No more than two reviews can happen in a school year. |
| At least 15 business days before you stop | Send OSSE the Notification to Discontinue Homeschooling. |
At least 15 days before the first day of home instruction, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or District holidays. OSSE calls this 15 business days. You file online through the DC Homeschool portal, and OSSE emails a verification letter once it approves the notice. Give that letter to your child's school to finish the withdrawal.
Evidence of your child's current work, such as writings, worksheets, workbooks, creative materials, assessments, or anything else that shows your child is doing thorough, regular schoolwork in a range of subjects. The regulation does not require a set number of samples, a particular order, or a sample from every subject. Keep it for at least one year.
No. OSSE may ask to review a portfolio at its discretion, and the regulation says nothing requires a regular review of all portfolios. A review must be requested in writing, held at a time and place you and OSSE agree on, and limited to two reviews in a school year. OSSE's guides say it gives at least 30 days' written notice and may hold the review online or in person.
No. Testing is voluntary. A homeschooled child may take the regularly scheduled standardized tests given in the public school the child is eligible to attend, free of charge. OSSE tells families to contact their neighborhood DC Public Schools school to register.
A free parent account comes with a Home class. Add your children as students and see every project they make and every lesson they finish. See what they can make, by age.
Make a free parent accountReference information reviewed August 2026 against primary sources (statutes, NCAA and Common App published requirements). This is general information, not legal advice; requirements change, so verify anything load-bearing for your family against your state's current law.