How to Homeschool Legally in Pennsylvania (2026): Declaration, Portfolio & Evaluation Made Simple

Short answer: Yes, homeschooling is legal in Pennsylvania, it's just more paperwork-heavy than most states. Pennsylvania's Home Education Program requires an affidavit or unsworn declaration, a year-long portfolio, an annual third-party evaluation, and standardized testing in three specific grades. This guide explains the main requirements, then shows how to make the portfolio easier to maintain.

(This is general information, not legal advice. Always confirm current requirements with the [Pennsylvania Department of Education](https://www.pa.gov/agencies/education) or your local school district. Requirements below are drawn from 24 P.S. §13-1327.1.)

The Basics: Who Has to Comply?

Pennsylvania's compulsory attendance applies to children ages 6 to 18. The parent running the program (the "supervisor") must have a high school diploma or equivalent, and all adults in the household must certify they haven't been convicted of certain criminal offenses in the past five years.

Pennsylvania does mandate specific subjects at each level and a minimum of 180 days (or 900 hours elementary / 990 hours secondary) of instruction, but you still choose your own curriculum and teaching methods within that.

What Pennsylvania Actually Requires (the Home Education Program)

1. File an affidavit or unsworn declaration by August 1 each year with your local superintendent. Pennsylvania publishes samples of both; an affidavit is notarized, while the statutory unsworn declaration does not require notarization. The filing includes family details, required health information, the criminal-offense certification, and an outline of educational objectives by subject area.

A reassuring detail most parents miss: the statute explicitly says those objectives "shall not be utilized by the superintendent in determining if the home education program is out of compliance." They're proposed goals, you're not held to them, and the district can't reject your affidavit over them.

2. Maintain a portfolio throughout the year. This is the centerpiece of PA's system, and it must contain:

• a contemporaneous log of educational activities, made as instruction occurs, noting the titles of reading materials used;
• samples of the student's work (worksheets, projects, photos, videos, field-trip records);
• standardized test results in grades 3, 5, and 8.

3. Standardized testing in grades 3, 5, and 8 only. A nationally normed test (or the statewide PSSA) in reading/language arts and math, with results filed in the portfolio. The parent may not administer it.

4. Annual third-party evaluation. Your portfolio is reviewed, and your child interviewed, by a qualified independent evaluator (a PA-certified teacher with two years' experience, a licensed psychologist, or a nonpublic school teacher/administrator). The parent cannot be the evaluator. The evaluator writes a certification stating that an appropriate education is occurring.

5. Submit only the evaluator's certification to the superintendent by June 30, not the portfolio itself. The portfolio stays your property; districts can't demand it except in a formal non-compliance hearing.

(Pennsylvania also allows homeschooling via a private tutor who holds a PA teaching certificate, that path skips the affidavit, portfolio, and evaluation, but requires a certified teacher.)

Where Ivy Waters International Fits, Honestly

The straight truth first: Ivy Waters is a Texas-based private school with a records platform. Enrollment does not replace your Pennsylvania affidavit, portfolio, evaluation, or testing. Under the Home Education Program you file your own affidavit and use a PA-qualified evaluator, that's the law, and no out-of-state school changes it. We won't pretend otherwise.

Pennsylvania is a state where consistent capture can help, because its year-long portfolio includes a contemporaneous log, reading list, and work samples. IvyTracks is designed to support that collection without claiming to replace Pennsylvania's required portfolio or evaluation:

• Build your PA portfolio as you go. Log activities, reading titles, and work samples throughout the year with a dictated note, photo, or quick line. You still decide what belongs in the statutory portfolio and confirm its completeness with your qualified evaluator.
• Bring organized evidence to the evaluation. Ivy Waters can suggest connections between parent-approved evidence and the Ivy Waters International Standards, helping you review the year before meeting the evaluator. Your PA-qualified evaluator still conducts the required evaluation and decides whether the portfolio supports their certification.
• A planned official transcript and Showcase Portfolio each year on top, genuinely useful if your family travels, moves, or your child transitions into a conventional school.
• We teach nothing and dictate nothing. You keep full curriculum control; we offer real-life activity suggestions and specific curriculum recommendations you're free to ignore.

Think of Ivy Waters as the modern record-keeping engine behind your Pennsylvania portfolio, you handle the affidavit, the required test years, and the third-party evaluation; we turn the year-long documentation from a dreaded chore into something that's simply already done, and, once issuance is operating and approved, add a planned official record.

(For traveling families, the goal is one continuous record that remains coherent across moves; every receiving authority decides how it will use that record.)

Ready to see what you'd actually get?

Before paying, review the current Enrollment Agreement and the homepage's Included section; those are the source of truth for what Annual Enrollment includes.

It all runs on our Live-Log-Align Method: your child lives their learning, you log it in seconds, and, when useful, you review and approve suggested connections to the Ivy Waters International Standards. And here's the part no compliance binder ever gives you, years from now, those quick dictated notes and photos become the record you'll actually treasure: your child's words, at this exact age, kept.

Explore the planned Ivy Waters enrollment, $279 per student/year

Related reading:

• The Honest K–8 Umbrella School Comparison
• How to Homeschool Legally in Virginia
• How to Homeschool Legally in Colorado

Ivy Waters International is a private school serving students from Pre-K through Grade 8. Based in Texas, where private schools are not accredited by the state, Ivy Waters International maintains its own academic standards without external accreditation and currently does not issue high school diplomas. Enrollment with us does not by itself satisfy Pennsylvania's compulsory-attendance law, you still file your own affidavit, maintain your portfolio, complete the required testing, and obtain a qualified evaluator's certification. This guide is informational only and not legal advice; confirm current requirements with the Pennsylvania Department of Education.