________________
To: ________________
I am withdrawing ________________ from your school. My child will be educated at home under the law of Massachusetts.
Please send me a copy of my child's school records.
Thank you.
SignatureDate
Withdrawing from school to homeschool in Massachusetts
How to take your child out of school to homeschool in Massachusetts, step by step: what to file first, what to tell the school, and a letter to print.
- Massachusetts law
- This year's checklist
- Withdrawing from school
This is general information, not legal advice; check your state's own page. Laws change, and Massachusetts's own statute and education department are the final word. The links below go straight to them.
Deadlines, forms and amounts checked on against the sources linked on this page.
Step by step
- Before your child's last day, do what Massachusetts asks of a new homeschool. Before you start: Notify the school district where you live, preferably in writing, then wait for the district to approve your plan. Notifying alone does not let you start.Source: Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: Home Schooling; M.G.L. c.76, section 1, school attendance (Massachusetts Legislature)
- Tell the school. Before your child stops going to school: Taking a child of compulsory school age out of school without an approved home schooling plan makes the child truant.Source: Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: Home Schooling
- Ask for your child's records (report cards, test results, any evaluations or plans) so you know where your child stands. Good practice, not a legal step.
- If your child has an IEP or a 504 plan, ask the district before you leave what, if anything, it offers homeschooled students, and get a copy of the plan. Good practice, not a legal step.
- Keep copies of everything you send and anything you get back, with the dates. Good practice, not a legal step.
- Start your records on day one. We found no state rule on records for home schooling. The Department says each school committee has its own policy on approval of home schooling plans, available from the district, so ask the district what it expects.Source: Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: Home Schooling
What Massachusetts's law or education agency says about leaving school
The Department says removing a child of compulsory school age from school without an approved home schooling plan would cause the child to become truant.Source: Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: Home Schooling
A letter to the school
Fill this in and print it. It tells the school your child is leaving to be taught at home and asks for the records. It is not the state's notice.
Your letter
Keep a copy with the date you handed it in or mailed it.
Where this comes from
- M.G.L. c.76, section 1, school attendance (Massachusetts Legislature) (the law)
- M.G.L. c.71, section 1, subjects of instruction (Massachusetts Legislature) (the law)
- Department of Elementary and Secondary Education: Home Schooling (state agency)
Checked on October 29, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. Laws and forms change; confirm a date with your school district or the state agency before you rely on it. For legal advice, ask a lawyer licensed in Massachusetts; homeschool legal-help organizations and your state's homeschool groups can also point you to help. Something out of date? Tell us and we will fix it.