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🚀 How to Start Homeschooling in Alaska

The first steps for a Alaska family starting to homeschool: what to file, how to leave a public school, and where to find co-ops, classes and help — drawn from our Alaska guide and articles.

Before you enroll or buy

Compare programs. Check each program's allotment amount, preschool or sibling policy, purchase method and vendor list. DEED's Correspondence School Directory has contacts for all 34.
Mind enrollment cutoffs. Districts must enroll year-round, but a program can tie the full allotment to an enrollment date (Fairbanks BEST uses October 1 for 2026–27).
Get approval before you buy. Programs approve purchases under their written standards and can require pre-authorization. A vendor that isn't on your program's list may need to sign up first.
Keep it in the plan. Every purchase must tie to the student's ILP, and items other than curriculum, supplies, tutoring, athletic equipment and technology need director-level approval.
Expect testing and contact. Correspondence students take the statewide assessments, and students who did not meet standards get at least monthly teacher contact and an ILP with strategies to reach proficiency.
Know who owns what. Unspent allotment money stays with the program while your child is enrolled and goes back to the district when the student leaves. A 2026 law (HB 28, chapter 22, SLA 2026) added AS 14.03.300(c): a student who leaves a district correspondence program may keep textbooks, equipment and other materials, including items bought with the allotment, if they are the type a student leaving a physical school in the district may keep. DEED's older regulation (4 AAC 33.422(b)) still says non-consumables go back to the district. Ask your program for its current rule in writing.
Part-time is possible. A student can take some courses through a correspondence program and count toward that program's funding share (4 AAC 09.040, 33.430). At least half of the program coursework must be core courses, with exceptions (4 AAC 33.426).
Amounts and rules change by program and year. Confirm anything important with your program.

Read the full section in our Alaska guide

Homeschooling in Alaska: the basics

Compulsory school ages are 7 through 16 (AS 14.30.010(a)). A six-year-old enrolled in public first grade is covered once enrolled, but may be withdrawn within 60 days.
Independent homeschool: AS 14.30.010(b)(12) exempts a child "being educated in the child's home by a parent or legal guardian." The statute attaches no conditions: no notice to the state or district, no required subjects, no testing and no parent qualifications.
Correspondence enrollment: a full-time correspondence program approved by DEED is a separate exemption (AS 14.30.010(b)(10)(B)). It brings the ILP, teacher oversight, state testing and the allotment.
Other routes in the same law: a private school whose teachers are certificated, tutoring by certificated personnel, or a religious or other private school operating under AS 14.45.100–.200.
Records and diplomas: an independent homeschool keeps its own records and issues its own diploma. Correspondence students get grades and transcripts from the program, and the transcript notes outside courses the district didn't approve.
Switching: families can move between independent homeschooling and correspondence enrollment. Districts keep correspondence enrollment open all year, though charter programs may cap it.

Read the full section in our Alaska guide

Official sources

Summarized from our Alaska guide (as of October 2026) and articles. Rules change — confirm on the official pages before you act.

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