For founders

How can I run a microschool in West Virginia?

West Virginia recognizes 8 canonical operator models. Each has different legal compliance pathways, capital requirements, and family relationships. Choose the one that fits your team. You can change later, but the legal mechanics differ enough that the choice shapes facility planning and scholarship eligibility.

Independent Private School

Viable

A parent-responsibility-free model where your school registers under WV Code §18-28 and assumes full legal responsibility for enrolled students. Families satisfy compulsory attendance by enrolling. Once registered and compliant with §18-28, the school is exempt (per §18-28-6) from all other education law except fire, safety, sanitation, and immunization requirements. This is the right model for schools that want to issue transcripts/diplomas or expect to operate school-style programming across full instructional weeks.

Top requirements

Form business entity with West Virginia Secretary of State (LLC or corporation) at https://business4.wv.gov.
Register for state taxes with the West Virginia State Tax Department at https://tax.wv.gov.
File a notice of intent to operate with the State Superintendent of Schools under §18-28-5, including the school's name, address, and chief administrator.

Watch for

Once registered under §18-28, you cannot quietly drop testing or shorten the school year — those are the consideration the state extracts in exchange for the §18-28 carve-out in §18-28-6.
For Hope Scholarship participation as a school, you must additionally register with the Hope Scholarship Board as an Education Service Provider (see statePrograms.esas).

Microschool Statutory Model

Viable

A West-Virginia-specific operator model created by SB 268 (2022) and codified at WV Code §18-8-1(n). A "microschool" is a school of up to 100 students initiated by one or more teachers (or an entity) that charges tuition and operates as an alternative to enrollment in a public school, private school, homeschool, or learning pod. Families — not the school — file a notice of intent with the county superintendent. The instructor must have at minimum a high school diploma or equivalent (or a post-secondary degree/certificate from a regionally accredited institution). This is the lowest-friction operator model for small microschools in WV and does NOT require §18-28 registration with the State Superintendent.

Top requirements

Operate with an enrollment of 100 or fewer students.
Form business entity with West Virginia Secretary of State.
Charge tuition and operate as an alternative to public school, private school, homeschool, or learning pod (definition of "microschool" in §18-8-1(n)).

Watch for

Crossing 100 students triggers a different legal posture — either incorporate as two microschools, reconstitute as a §18-28 private school, or accept that students beyond 100 are not covered by the §18-8-1(n) exemption.
The legal responsibility for each child's compulsory attendance remains with the family — the family files the NOI and obtains the assessment. Do not hold yourself out as satisfying compulsory attendance on their behalf.

Homeschool Cooperative

Viable

A shared-resource model where families retain full legal responsibility for their children's education under WV Code §18-8-1(c). You provide programming, space, and support; each family files their own Notice of Intent with the county superintendent and submits annual assessments by June 30. Hope Scholarship funds CAN flow to homeschool families participating in your co-op, but the family — not the co-op — is the Hope Scholarship account holder.

Top requirements

Form business entity with West Virginia Secretary of State (LLC recommended for liability separation).
Structure operations as a shared resource for home-instruction families, NOT as a school. Families remain legally responsible under §18-8-1(c).
Maintain written agreements with families documenting that each family files their own NOI and obtains their own annual assessment.

Watch for

Do not market as a "school" or refer to participants as "enrolled students." Use co-op, learning community, or shared homeschool resource language.
Each family must independently file the NOI and obtain the annual assessment — the co-op cannot do this on behalf of families.

Certified Tutor Practice

Not viable

West Virginia does NOT have a certified-tutor exemption from compulsory attendance. The recognized pathways under §18-8-1 include public school, registered private/parochial/church school under §18-28, the §18-8-1(n) microschool/learning-pod exemption, and home instruction under §18-8-1(c). A solo tutor must structure as either supplemental instruction for students enrolled elsewhere, an Education Service Provider under the Hope Scholarship program, or a §18-8-1(n) microschool / co-op resource.

Religious Community School

Viable

A congregation-connected model that operates as a registered church school under WV Code §18-28 (or as a §18-8-1(n) microschool if ≤100 students and operating as an alternative to public/private/home school). No state review of curriculum or doctrine. Once compliant with §18-28, exempt (per §18-28-6) from all other education law except fire/safety/sanitation/immunization. Hope Scholarship participation requires separate Education Service Provider registration with the Hope Scholarship Board.

Top requirements

Operate as a church school under §18-28 — same legal posture as Independent Private School (or use the microschoolStatutoryModel if ≤100 students).
Form business entity (often a 501(c)(3) ministry or separate nonprofit corporation) with the WV Secretary of State.
Comply with §18-28 instructional term (900 hours/year), assessment, and notice requirements (or the §18-8-1(n) microschool pathway if electing that instead).

Watch for

WV Code §18-31-11 explicitly preserves provider freedom: a participating school is NOT required to alter its creed, practices, admission policy, hiring policy, or curriculum to accept Hope Scholarship students. This is a meaningful protection for religious schools.
Hope Scholarship antidiscrimination compliance references 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (race-based contracting), not Title VI more broadly — preserves more flexibility for faith-based admissions than some other state programs.

Childcare Preschool Program

Viable

A pre-compulsory-age model for children under 6. Following the HB 2006 (2023) reorganization of DHHR into three departments effective January 1, 2024, child care licensing is administered by the WV Department of Human Services (DoHS). DoHS licenses Child Care Centers serving 7 or more children for all or part of a day. Programs serving 6 or fewer children, preschool programs operating ≤4 hours per day, certain school-age programs operated under WVDE grants, and relative care are exempt.

Top requirements

Regulated by the WV Department of Human Services (DoHS), Bureau for Family Assistance, Division of Early Care and Education, under Title 78 CSR 1.
Child Care Center license required when serving 7 or more children for all or part of a day in a nonresidential facility.
Alternative threshold: facilities for 13 or more children open more than 30 days/year/child are also Child Care Centers.

Watch for

Once any enrolled child reaches compulsory attendance age (6 by September 1 per §18-8-1a), they need a separate compulsory-attendance pathway — the child care license alone does NOT satisfy compulsory attendance.
Hope Scholarship funding does not currently flow to pre-K care; do not include pre-K tuition projections in Hope Scholarship pro formas.

Hybrid University Model

Viable

A part-time program (typically 2-3 days/week on-site, family-led at home on remaining days) that operates as a homeschool co-op resource under §18-8-1(c). Families file their own NOIs and obtain annual assessments. If your program operates 4-5 days per week with school-controlled curriculum and assessment, reclassify as Independent Private School under §18-28 — or, if ≤100 students, elect the §18-8-1(n) microschool pathway (microschoolStatutoryModel).

Top requirements

Same as Homeschool Cooperative: families file their own NOI under §18-8-1(c) and remain legally responsible.
Operate 2-3 days per week on-site; families handle remaining instructional days.
Document the split-schedule arrangement in family agreements.

Watch for

Same cautions as Homeschool Cooperative — do not issue transcripts/diplomas or present as the child's primary school.
WV is unusual in offering an explicit microschool statute. If you find yourself functioning as the primary school 4-5 days/week, the §18-8-1(n) microschool pathway is often a better fit than continuing to call the program a co-op.

Umbrella School Satellite

Viable

A satellite model operating under the umbrella of an established WV §18-28-registered private school. The umbrella school holds the §18-28 registration; you operate a satellite site under their accreditation and policies via a formal affiliation agreement.

Top requirements

Operate under an existing §18-28-registered private school's accreditation umbrella via a written agreement.
The umbrella school remains responsible for §18-28 compliance (180 days, 5 hours/day, annual testing) for the satellite's students.
Form business entity for the satellite operation.

Watch for

Less common in WV than in stricter-registration states because the §18-28 microschool election makes solo operation low-friction at small scale.
Verify in writing how Hope Scholarship payments flow: typically the umbrella school registers as the Education Service Provider and remits to the satellite per the affiliation agreement.

For families

What programs help families pay for tuition?

West Virginia funds private school tuition through 1 state program.

Education Savings Accounts

Hope Scholarship Program

HopeScholarship

West Virginia's flagship Education Savings Account program, established by HB 2013 (2021) and codified at WV Code §18-31. Funded at 100% of the statewide average per-pupil net state aid — approximately $5,435.62 for the 2026-27 school year. Universal eligibility for all West Virginia K-12 students beginning 2026-27 (more than 20,000 students applied after eligibility broadened). Funds may be used for tuition, fees, instructional materials, tutoring, therapies, and other approved educational expenses at participating schools and education service providers. Students cannot be enrolled in public school while receiving Hope Scholarship funds.

Family eligibility (3 criteria)

Universal: all WV K-12 resident students eligible beginning 2026-27.
Family applies through the Hope Scholarship Board portal at hopescholarshipwv.gov each program year.
Student cannot simultaneously be enrolled in a WV public school.

School eligibility (8 criteria)

Submit notice to the Hope Scholarship Board indicating intent to participate as an Education Service Provider (ESP) or Participating School.
Provide participating parents with receipts for all qualifying educational expenses.
Agree not to refund, rebate, or share Hope Scholarship funds with parents or students (except remittances back to the Hope Scholarship account in accordance with program rules).
Certify non-discrimination on any basis prohibited by 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (race-based contracting).
Submit any employee with student contact to a criminal background check.
Participating schools must annually notify the county superintendent of any student whose tuition is paid through Hope Scholarship.
Submit to any audit initiated by the Hope Scholarship Board related to Hope Scholarship funds.
Per §18-31-11: participating schools/ESPs are NOT required to alter creed, practices, admission policy, hiring policy, or curriculum to accept Hope Scholarship students.

Family-side compliance

How families satisfy compulsory attendance

West Virginia recognizes 3 legal pathways for families to satisfy compulsory attendance. The pathway determines who's legally on the hook (your microschool, the parent, or both) and shapes the operator model you should use.

Private School

WV Code §18-8-1; §18-28-1 et seq.

A child satisfies compulsory attendance by attending a registered private, parochial, or church school under WV Code §18-28. Registered schools must maintain 900 instructional hours per school year (§18-28-2), administer a nationally normed standardized achievement test annually (§18-28-3), and file a notice of intent to operate with the State Superintendent of Schools (§18-28-5). Under §18-28-6, compliant schools are "not subject to any other provision of law relating to education except requirements of law respecting fire, safety, sanitation and immunization."

Microschool

WV Code §18-8-1(n)

A statutory microschool compulsory-attendance EXEMPTION unique to West Virginia, created by SB 268 (2022) and codified at §18-8-1(n). A "microschool" is defined as "a school of up to 100 students initiated by one or more teachers or an entity created to operate a school of up to 100 students" that charges tuition and operates as an alternative to public school, private school, homeschool, or learning pod. Families satisfy compulsory attendance by enrolling and filing a notice of intent with the county superintendent; the child must receive instruction in reading, language, mathematics, science, and social studies, and must be assessed annually. The microschool itself is NOT registered with the State Superintendent under §18-28 — this is a separate, lighter-touch pathway.

Home Instruction

WV Code §18-8-1(c)

A parent or person providing home instruction may satisfy compulsory attendance by filing a Notice of Intent with the county superintendent and obtaining an annual academic assessment for the child at grades 3, 5, 8, and 11. This is a family-filed pathway — a microschool supporting these families is NOT the legally responsible party.

Licensing trigger

When does West Virginia require a state license?

West Virginia imposes one state license requirement that may apply to your microschool. Most general microschools never trigger it.

Operating a child care center serving 7 or more children for all or part of a day

Title 78 CSR 1 (Child Care Center Licensing); WV Code §49-2-114

Must obtain a license from the WV Department of Human Services (DoHS), Bureau for Family Assistance, Division of Early Care and Education before opening. (Authority transferred from DHHR to DoHS by HB 2006 of 2023 effective January 1, 2024.) Licensing covers staff:child ratios, facility square footage, fire and health inspections, criminal background checks, training, and ongoing monitoring inspections. Programs serving ≤6 children, preschool programs operating ≤4 hours/day, certain school-age programs under WVDE grants, occasional/brief care, and relative-only care are exempt.

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Verification

Primary sources

Every claim on this page traces to a primary source. The full list of state code sections, regulatory citations, and government program pages cited:

All sources cited (17)

Microschool laws in West Virginia

How can I run a microschool in West Virginia?

Independent Private School

Top requirements

Watch for

Microschool Statutory Model

Top requirements

Watch for

Homeschool Cooperative

Top requirements

Watch for

Certified Tutor Practice

Religious Community School

Top requirements

Watch for

Childcare Preschool Program

Top requirements

Watch for

Hybrid University Model

Top requirements

Watch for

Umbrella School Satellite

Top requirements

Watch for

What programs help families pay for tuition?

Hope Scholarship Program

How families satisfy compulsory attendance

Private School

Microschool

Home Instruction

When does West Virginia require a state license?

Operating a child care center serving 7 or more children for all or part of a day

Ready to plan your West Virginia microschool?

Primary sources