01What do I need to enroll my child in school in Florida?
A Florida Certification of Immunization, a school-entry health exam, proof of your child's age, and the proofs of address your school district asks for.
Read the answer →Ask 1stFlorida
Send a written notice to the superintendent of your county's school district within 30 days of starting, signed by the parent, with each child's full legal name, address and birth date; the Department of Education calls it a letter of intent.
Keep a portfolio: a log of the educational activities, written as you go, and samples of the child's writings, worksheets, workbooks or creative work. Keep it 2 years, and make it available for inspection on 15 days' written notice.
Each year the parent arranges an educational evaluation, by one of five routes: a Florida-certified teacher reviews the portfolio; a certified teacher gives a nationally normed test; the child takes a state assessment; a licensed psychologist evaluates the child; or another method agreed with the superintendent. When you stop home schooling, send a written notice of termination within 30 days, with the evaluation.
Florida Virtual School is free to Florida residents, home school students may take up to 6 of its courses, and enrollment is open all year. The Personalized Education Program is different: a scholarship option under the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship, separate from home education under the law, whose students take a norm-referenced test every year.
01A Florida Certification of Immunization, a school-entry health exam, proof of your child's age, and the proofs of address your school district asks for.
Read the answer →
02Yes. Voluntary Prekindergarten, VPK, is free for every 4-year-old who lives in Florida, whatever the family's income: the child must be 4 on or before September 1 of the school year.
Read the answer →
03Start with the school, because in Florida the address decides it. The state grades its public schools and every school district from A to F each year; for 2025-26, 34 of the 67 districts were graded A, 23 B and 10 C, and none D or F. A district graded A still has schools graded lower, so look up the grade of the exact school assigned to the address before you make an offer.
Read the answer →Florida's State University System has 12 public universities: Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida Polytechnic University, Florida State University, New College of Florida, the University of Central Florida, the University of Florida, the University of North Florida, the University of South Florida and the University of West Florida.
Not necessarily. A will signed in another state, other than a handwritten or spoken one, is valid in Florida if it was valid where it was signed.
Start with Employ Florida, the state's online job listings at employflorida.com, which you can search before you move.
Have a different question? Ask 1stFlorida →