Homeschooling in District of Columbia
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.
United StatesFiling requiredWho is in charge
Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE)
Who actually reviews your child
OSSE, on a scheduled portfolio review it initiates in writing.
What you must 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
Notification of Homeschool Continuation
By 15 AUGUST each continuing year
Goes to: OSSE, online
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.
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 Mathematics (487 of 496) and Science (525 of 535). Those figures count the topics we carry for ages 5 to 12 that cite one of District of Columbia's published standards. We do not hold District of Columbia's own standards for English and Social Studies yet, and they are being added. Physical Education 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.
Other places in United States
The exact DCMR chapter number was reported inconsistently across sources; treat the citation as ASSUMED and confirm against the DCMR before it appears on a signed document.
Sources last checked on 2026-08-11: osse.dc.gov. That is the date we checked, not the date the rule last changed.
Check it yourself: the source we used.