PSA Filing in California: How to Register Your Home as a Private School

You pull your child out of public school in California, and the district asks where they're enrolled. The correct answer is: your home, operating as a private school. The document that makes that legal is the Private School Affidavit — the PSA.

Most California homeschool families file the PSA and never look back. But many find out about it after already withdrawing, file it incorrectly, or miss details that matter later when their child applies to college. Here is what the PSA actually requires, what it makes you responsible for, and what to watch for at each step.

What the PSA Is and Why It Exists

California does not have a dedicated homeschool statute. Instead, the state's compulsory education law (Education Code §48200) requires children ages 6–18 to attend a public full-time school or a private full-time day school, or to be taught by a private tutor under a teaching credential. The PSA route works by designating your home as a private school under Education Code §48222.

When you file a PSA, you are telling the California Department of Education (CDE) that you are operating a private school. Your home address becomes the school's address. You choose the school's name. Your child is the enrolled student — and you are the school administrator.

The state does not come to inspect. It does not approve your curriculum. It does not require you to report grades or attendance. The affidavit is the entirety of your formal interaction with state education authorities for the year — as long as you file it correctly.

What the PSA Requires You to Certify

The CDE's PSA form (designated the R-4 form) asks for the following information about your school:

School name and address. You choose a name — many families use something like "[Family Last Name] Academy" or a more descriptive title. The address is your home address.

Contact information. A phone number and email address for the school.

Owner/administrator information. The name of the person responsible for the school. This is typically a parent.

Grade levels served and number of students. You list the grades you are teaching and how many students are enrolled. For most PSA families, this is one student (their own child), though siblings can be listed on the same affidavit.

Instruction language. Whether instruction is primarily in English.

Credential affirmation. You certify that persons providing instruction are capable of teaching. California does not require parents filing a PSA to hold a teaching credential. You are certifying competence, not a license.

Curriculum subjects. You certify that you will teach the required branches: for grades 1–6, English, mathematics, social sciences, science, visual and performing arts, health, and physical education under EC §51210; grades 7–12 also include foreign language, applied arts, and career or technical education under EC §51220. The law does not specify how or with what materials — that is entirely your discretion.

When to File

The annual PSA filing window runs October 1 through October 15. This is the traditional window used by established private schools and returning PSA homeschoolers to re-certify their schools for the academic year.

The CDE PSA portal is open from August 1 through June 30, with July closed for maintenance. The statutory filing period remains October 1 through October 15. The CDE portal at the Private School Affidavit website (https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/ps/rq/psaaccess.asp) is where all filings happen online.

For families withdrawing mid-year: New PSA filings can be submitted outside the October window. If you are withdrawing your child in February and have not previously filed a PSA, you can file at that time. The affidavit goes into the state's database and your school is active from the filing date.

Annual renewal: The PSA is filed annually, with the statutory filing period running October 1 through October 15. If you are starting or withdrawing mid-year, use the open CDE portal and file promptly rather than waiting for October.

How to File

The entire PSA process happens online through the CDE's portal:

1. Go to the CDE Private School Affidavit portal and select "Create a new PSA filing."
2. Enter your school's information. Choose your school name carefully — this name will appear on your child's transcripts and diploma.
3. Complete the certification sections confirming curriculum subjects, instruction language, and administrator credentials.
4. Submit. The CDE receives and records the filing; keep the confirmation code and printable affidavit for your school records.

After filing, save the confirmation code and printable affidavit. The CDE does not send a paper certificate or approval letter, and it does not approve or deny the filing. Keep the confirmation and physical record for at least three years.

What You Now Have — and What You Don't

Once filed, you are the operator of a California-registered private school. That comes with genuine legal standing and genuine responsibilities.

What you have:

• Legal authority to educate your child at home without public school enrollment
• Freedom to choose curriculum, schedule, and instructional methods without state approval
• The ability to issue your own grades, transcripts, and — at high school completion — a diploma
• Home-based PSA schools are categorically exempt from the vaccination mandate; public and traditional classroom-based private schools cannot use personal-belief exemptions under SB 277

What you do not have:

• Access to CIF athletic programs through a public school (PSA students are not enrolled in a public school)
• A standard institutional transcript from a recognized accrediting body — your transcript is parent-issued
• Any automatic UC/CSU A-G course certification — your courses are not reviewed or approved by a public school

These are trade-offs, not failures of the system. They are the design of the PSA pathway. Understanding them before you file helps you plan accordingly.

The Transcript and CEEB Code Question

One thing the PSA does not provide is a CEEB code — the school identifier used by College Board and ACT for testing registration and some college applications.

If a testing registration or college application asks for a school code, use the current instructions for homeschool applicants from that system rather than treating the PSA confirmation as a CEEB code.

If a testing registration or college application asks for a school code, follow the current instructions for that system. UC and CSU do not require or use SAT or ACT scores for admissions decisions; their guidance addresses homeschool applicants through the application materials and other supported academic records.

Use consistent school information across any testing registration and college application, following each system's current homeschool instructions.

The Subjects You Are Required to Teach

For PSA compliance, California requires instruction in the following branches. Grades 1–6 use the EC §51210 list; grades 7–12 also include foreign language, applied arts, and career or technical education under EC §51220:

• English (reading, writing, language arts)
• Mathematics
• Social sciences (history, civics)
• Science
• Visual and performing arts
• Health
• Physical education

The law does not specify the number of hours, the texts to use, or the sequence. Many California PSA families use a structured curriculum that covers all subjects; others use a more eclectic or interest-led approach that incorporates all areas without a boxed curriculum. Either is legal.

The PSA route does not require routine submission of grades or attendance to CDE or a district, but EC §§33190 and 48222 require private-school records: a PSA copy, attendance register, faculty qualifications and residential addresses, course of study, and cumulative student file. Keep the confirmation and physical record for at least three years. These records also support college transcripts, community-college concurrent-enrollment applications, and other documentation requests.

Coordinating Withdrawal and the PSA

The PSA filing and withdrawal should be coordinated. If you are establishing a home-based PSA, execute the filing and written withdrawal immediately; if you are joining a PSP or charter, finalize the receiving enrollment first.

California does not require parents to submit a formal notice of intent before beginning to homeschool under the PSA. There is no state withdrawal form. But there is a practical process: informing the district or school of withdrawal, handling final-day logistics, requesting records, and understanding what the district is and isn't entitled to ask about your plans.

Getting withdrawal right — knowing what to say, what to request, and how to handle pushback — sets up the PSA filing and everything that follows. The California Legal Withdrawal Blueprint covers the full withdrawal process: the conversation with the district, the records request, and how to establish your school from day one of the PSA in a way that serves your child through high school.

The PSA is a form. What it unlocks requires doing the preceding steps correctly.

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