Private School
Cal. Educ. Code § 33190, § 48222
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:leginfo.legislature.ca.gov ↗leginfo.legislature.ca.gov ↗cde.ca.gov ↗cde.ca.gov ↗cde.ca.gov ↗
Compulsory attendance
Legal pathways California recognizes
How a family satisfies compulsory attendance outside public school. Your operator type maps to one of these, and the statute linked on each card is what defines it.
Private School Satellite Program
Cal. Educ. Code § 33190, § 48222 (same as private school — PSPs operate under the private school umbrella)
A Private School Satellite Program (PSP) is a home-based instruction model where families enroll in an existing private school that has filed a PSA. The PSP (the umbrella private school) assumes the administrative responsibilities: filing the PSA, maintaining student records, issuing transcripts and diplomas, and in some cases providing curriculum support. The family retains day-to-day instructional responsibility at home.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:cde.ca.gov ↗hsc.org ↗hsc.org ↗
Credentialed Private Tutor
Cal. Educ. Code § 48224
A child may satisfy compulsory attendance through instruction by a private tutor who holds a valid California teaching credential for the grades being taught.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:leginfo.legislature.ca.gov ↗cde.ca.gov ↗
For founders
Operator types in California
What each type is, and who to talk to. The requirements to hold each designation are set by the statute and agency pages linked on the card; read them before you choose.
Independent Private School
A standalone private K-12 school operating under the PSA pathway. Microschool operators commonly choose this model because it is simple, flexible, and avoids any state oversight beyond the annual affidavit.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Homeschool Cooperative
A shared-resource cooperative where families operate their own PSA-filed home-based private schools or enroll in a PSP. Each family typically files their own PSA (listing their home as the school address), and the co-op provides programming without being itself the compulsory-attendance satisfier. Some co-ops operate AS a PSP — they file one PSA as an umbrella school, enroll member families as students, and provide shared programming. Either structure works; the PSP umbrella model simplifies administration but requires the co-op to maintain comprehensive records.
Certified Tutor Practice
Requires the tutor to hold a valid California teaching credential appropriate to the grade level (issued by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing).
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Religious Community School
A faith-integrated K-12 program operating as a private school under the PSA pathway. Religious curriculum and content are unrestricted.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Childcare Preschool Program
Child care centers (commercial setting) and family child care homes (licensee's own home) require CDSS licensing.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing DivisionWho licenses this type
Hybrid University Model
As a private school, hybrid programs can enroll any number of students, charge tuition, and satisfy compulsory attendance through enrollment.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Umbrella School Satellite
California's PSP structure IS functionally an umbrella-school satellite model. An established private school files the PSA and then operates satellite campuses, home-based member families, or affiliated micro-cohorts under the umbrella. Satellite operators typically pay the umbrella an annual fee in exchange for the umbrella's PSA filing, record-keeping, and compliance infrastructure. This is a legitimate and common model in California.
Check before you open
Could childcare rules apply to you?
In California, childcare licensing is administered by California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division. The governing rules are cited as Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 1596.70-1596.895; 22 CCR Div. 12, Ch. 1; Cal. Health & Safety Code § 1597.40 et seq.; 22 CCR Div. 12, Ch. 3.
Agency and rules:cdss.ca.gov ↗cdss.ca.gov ↗
Common triggers. Not a complete list:
- caring for children below the state's compulsory school age
- parents drop off and leave
- before- or after-school care, or full-day hours
- care in a home rather than a school space
- the number of unrelated children in your care
Childcare rules can reach school-age children as well as preschoolers, and a microschool that fits a pathway above can still fall under them. Only the agency can tell you whether your program needs a license. Ask them before you open, and confirm with your attorney.
For families
Funding programs
Looking for money to start a school?
Grants and loans that aren't tied to one state, each linked to the funder's own page.
This page lists no state-run scholarship, voucher or education savings account program for California. Check the state education agency for anything new.
Calendar
Where to find California dates and deadlines
We don't publish filing windows or due dates. A wrong date can cost a school year. These pages set them; check them directly, and again before you file.
Beyond childcare
Other state licensing triggers
Situations that can bring a program under a state approval or licensing rule. Approval rules and forms change; confirm with the agency on the linked page.
Operating a private elementary or high school that employs anyone in a position requiring contact with minor pupils
Cal. Educ. Code § 44237
Every private school offering elementary or high school instruction must require each applicant for employment in a position requiring contact with minor pupils to submit two sets of fingerprints to the California Department of Justice for DOJ and FBI criminal record review before employment begins.
Amounts, dates, thresholds and licensing status are left to the linked sources.
Read the source:leginfo.legislature.ca.gov ↗
Legislation
Law changes in California
Show
Bills the California legislature passed that touch microschools, learning pods or education savings accounts, each read before it is listed. The sections above describe the law as we last verified it; a law listed here may change them.
Our search found no enacted bills on microschools, learning pods or education savings accounts in California. A search can miss things, so this is not a statement that nothing changed.
Bill data from LegiScan LLC, CC BY 4.0. Updated Sep 26, 2026. Every law listed was read before it was listed. Read the act on the legislature's site before you rely on it.
Verification
Sources
Every source this page draws on, split by who published it. Check which group a link is in, and who published it, before you rely on it.
Law and government publications (10)
Government-published — which is not the same as state-published. Most are this state's own code, regulations, agency and legislature pages. Others are federal, and some of those only SUMMARISE this state's rules rather than setting them; a few are city or county government. A summary of the law is not the law, and neither a federal nor a local page is a source of state obligation — so check who published any you rely on.
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=48222.&lawCode=EDC
- Cal. Educ. Code § 33190
- https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/ps/affidavit.asp
- https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/ps/psafaq.asp
- https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/ps/psaffedcode.asp
- https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/ps/homeschool.asp
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=48224.&lawCode=EDC
- https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/child-care-licensing
- https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/child-care-and-development/contractor-resources/licensing
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=44237.&lawCode=EDC
Supporting sources (2)
News coverage, program directories, advocacy and association publications. Useful context, and listed so you can see what this page drew on — but they are not the law and they are not the state speaking. This list is not mapped claim by claim, so if a specific fact matters to a decision, confirm it against a government source rather than assuming it came from one.