Alabama Homeschool Documents & Templates

What to file

simple notice

Send to

local public school superintendent (filed by the parent on the superintendent's form, countersigned by the church school administrator)

How often

one time

Ala. Code 16-28-7 (parent files church school enrollment and attendance with local superintendent)

• ✓Attendance records

Ala. Code 16-28-7 (enrollment and attendance of a church school student filed with local superintendent)

This page covers Church School / Cover School / Umbrella School. Alabama offers 3 different ways to homeschool, and each may require different documents:

• •
  Church School / Cover School / Umbrella School(this page): You enroll your child in a church school (often called a cover school or umbrella school). Under Ala. Code 16-28-1, a church school offers instruction in grades K-12, including through home programs, and is operated as a ministry of a local church, group of churches, denomination, or association of churches that receives no state or federal funding. You file your child's enrollment and attendance with the local public school superintendent on the superintendent's form, countersigned by the church school administrator (Ala. Code 16-28-7). Alabama law sets no state rule on subjects, hours, or testing for church school students. Your church school may set its own policies.
• •
  Private Tutor: Your child is taught by a private tutor who holds a certificate issued by the State Superintendent of Education. The tutor teaches the branches of study required in the public schools, in English, for at least 3 hours a day for 140 days each calendar year, between 8:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. Before instruction begins, the tutor files a statement with the county or city superintendent showing the children to be taught, the subjects, and the period of instruction (Ala. Code 16-28-5).
• •
  Private School: Your child attends a private school, defined in Ala. Code 16-28-1 as a school established, conducted, and supported by a nongovernmental entity offering instruction in grades K-12, including through home programs. The school's principal teacher reports enrolled children to the county or city superintendent at the end of the fifth day after public schools open, then reports unexcused absences at least weekly (Ala. Code 16-28-7).

Our wizard helps you choose the right one and generates the correct documents. Compare all pathways for Alabama