A Guide for Alabama Families
Homeschooling in Alabama
A practical overview of Alabama homeschool law, church schools, enrollment, attendance, curriculum, high school planning, graduation, and other questions families often have when educating at home.
A note about legal information: This page is intended to provide general educational information for Alabama families. Laws and regulations can change, and individual circumstances can differ. We include links to the relevant Alabama Code sections so families can review the current law directly.
Alabama law uses several legal categories.
Understanding the terminology.
Families commonly use the word homeschool to describe educating children primarily at home. Alabama law organizes home-based education through several legal categories.
Alabama statutes recognize private schools, church schools, and instruction by a qualified private tutor. The statutory definitions of both private school and church school include home programs.
The requirements differ somewhat depending on the structure a family uses, so identifying that structure is a helpful first step.
Three legal paths for home-based education.
Alabama families may educate at home through different legal structures. Each has its own definition and requirements.
Church School
Alabama law defines a church school as a school operated as a ministry of a church, group of churches, denomination, or association of churches and does not receive state or federal funding.
- May provide instruction through on-site or home programs.
- Parents complete the church-school enrollment filing required by Alabama law.
- The church-school administrator countersigns the enrollment form.
- Church schools have their own attendance and reporting provisions under Alabama law.
Private School
Alabama law also recognizes nongovernmental private schools providing elementary or secondary instruction, including instruction through home programs.
- May be religious or nonreligious.
- May offer on-site or home-based instruction.
- Private schools have statutory reporting provisions that differ from church schools.
Private Tutor
Alabama also provides a private-tutor option for instruction by a qualified tutor.
- The tutor must hold a certificate issued by the State Superintendent of Education.
- The statute specifies instructional subjects and hours.
- The statute requires at least 140 instructional days per calendar year.
- The tutor has filing and recordkeeping responsibilities under the statute.
What is a church school?
Church school is a category specifically defined in Alabama law.
The statutory definition includes schools offering instruction in grades K–12, or combinations of those grades, including preschool, through either on-site or home programs.
A church school is operated as a ministry of a local church, group of churches, denomination, or association of churches and does not receive state or federal funding.
Heritage Christian School operates as a church school and supports families whose students receive instruction through home-based programs.
Terms families may hear
Families sometimes use terms such as cover school, umbrella school, or homeschool program when talking about church-school enrollment.
These can be useful everyday terms, while church school is the term used in Alabama law for this particular legal structure.
School attendance ages in Alabama.
Alabama’s compulsory-attendance law generally applies to children between the ages of six and 17, subject to the provisions and exceptions contained in the statute.
Families using a church school should also follow the church-school enrollment provisions contained in Alabama law.
Why the legal structure matters
Attendance, filing, and reporting rules are not identical for church schools, private schools, and private tutors.
Once you know which structure your family is using, it becomes much easier to identify the provisions that apply to your student.
Filing church-school enrollment information.
Alabama Code §16-28-7 addresses enrollment and attendance reporting for students attending a church school.
The parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the child files the student’s church-school enrollment information with the appropriate local public-school superintendent using the applicable form.
The church-school administrator countersigns the form, which is then returned to the local superintendent by the parent.
The statute also addresses notification if a student ceases attending the church school.
What this filing does
The church-school enrollment filing documents that the student is enrolled in a church school for purposes of Alabama’s compulsory-attendance law.
Alabama law also provides that this enrollment provision does not give the State Department of Education, State Board of Education, or State Superintendent authority to license or regulate private, nonpublic, or church schools offering K–12 instruction.
Beginning your homeschool journey.
Every family’s situation is a little different, but these steps provide a useful starting point.
Choose the legal structure you will use.
Decide whether your student will be enrolled through a church school, a private school, or instructed under the statutory private-tutor option.
Complete enrollment with the school or program.
Follow its enrollment procedures and keep copies of the documents you submit.
Withdraw from the student’s current school if needed.
If the student is currently enrolled elsewhere, complete that school’s withdrawal process.
Complete any required filing.
Families using a church school should complete the church-school enrollment filing described in Alabama Code §16-28-7.
Begin a student record file.
Keep enrollment documents, attendance records, coursework information, grades or evaluations when appropriate, and important correspondence together.
Keeping an attendance record.
Alabama Code §16-28-8 requires the principal teacher of a public school, private school, church school, or private tutor to maintain an attendance register.
The register shows enrollment and records absences of one-half day or more during each school day of the year.
The same section provides that church-school officers are not included among those required to furnish certain additional reports that may be requested of private schools and private tutors.
Instructional-day requirements depend on the legal structure
Alabama’s private-tutor statute specifically requires at least 140 instructional days per calendar year for students educated under that option.
Church-school families follow the provisions applicable to church schools, including the attendance-register requirement described in §16-28-8.
Building an education around the student.
Families homeschool for many different reasons, and students do not all learn in the same way.
One student may thrive with a traditional textbook program. Another may learn best through video instruction, hands-on activities, literature-based learning, online courses, dual enrollment, or a combination of approaches.
The goal is to choose materials and methods that support the student’s learning needs and long-term educational plans.
Questions that can help when choosing curriculum
Is the academic level appropriate for this student?
Does the student understand and retain the material?
Can our family use this program consistently?
Does it support our short- and long-term goals?
For high school students, will we have the information needed later for transcripts, college applications, employment, military service, or other postsecondary plans?
Planning for the high school years.
As students move into high school, thoughtful planning and consistent records become especially useful.
Four-Year Planning
Map likely courses before ninth grade or as early in high school as possible. The plan can change as interests and goals develop.
Credits
Keep a running record of completed coursework and credit decisions throughout high school.
Transcripts
Maintain accurate course titles, credits, grades, and other information needed for the student’s high-school record.
Course Descriptions
Save descriptions for specialized, advanced, elective, or homeschool-designed courses when appropriate.
Dual Enrollment
College coursework can be a useful option for some students. Admission standards, placement, prerequisites, and costs vary by institution.
Planning Beyond Graduation
College, career training, employment, apprenticeships, military service, entrepreneurship, and other paths may call for different high-school preparation.
Homeschool students can continue to college and beyond.
Colleges establish their own admission requirements, so families should review the requirements of individual institutions as students approach graduation.
Alabama Code §16-1-11.4 provides that an Alabama public two-year or four-year institution may not deny admission to, or otherwise discriminate against, an otherwise qualified student because the student attended or graduated from a nonpublic school or was homeschooled.
Read the Alabama Code.
These are the primary Alabama Code sections referenced throughout this guide.
Start with what your family needs next.
Whether you are considering homeschooling for the first time, planning the high-school years, or looking for practical resources, HCS is building information to help families navigate the journey.