Pennsylvania schools require proof of immunization at enrollment — and again at 7th and 12th grade. This page covers the exact records Pennsylvania law requires at each checkpoint, how to retrieve them from PA-SIIS, and what happens if records are incomplete when school starts.
Last verified: September 8, 2026
Under 28 Pa. Code §23.83, every child attending a Pennsylvania public, private, parochial, or home education program must have documented immunization records on file. Pennsylvania has three distinct checkpoints with different requirements at each.
All grades — K through 12 entry:
7th grade checkpoint:
12th grade checkpoint:
PA-SIIS (Pennsylvania Statewide Immunization Information System) is the state's centralized immunization registry. Most healthcare providers in Pennsylvania submit dose records to PA-SIIS electronically. Contact your pediatrician or local county health department to request a printout from PA-SIIS — this printout is accepted by Pennsylvania schools as an official immunization history.
(Source: PA Department of Health — PA-SIIS, accessed Aug 28, 2026)
If PA-SIIS doesn't have a complete record — common if your child received doses in another state — bring whatever records you have to your pediatrician. They can review the history, update PA-SIIS with verified doses, and provide a signed record that lists each vaccine with the month, day, and year of administration.
If your child was vaccinated outside Pennsylvania, bring the original documentation (even if from another country) to a Pennsylvania-licensed provider. The provider reviews dose dates against PA requirements, enters valid doses into PA-SIIS, and identifies any gaps that need to be addressed. Once the record is reconciled, the provider can generate an official PA-compatible immunization record.
(Source: PA Department of Health, accessed Aug 28, 2026)
Pennsylvania's 7th-grade Tdap booster and MCV4 requirement — and the 12th-grade MCV4 booster — catch families off-guard. If your child is approaching either grade, verify these doses are documented in PA-SIIS before school starts, not during the first week. A well-child visit before 7th grade is the natural time to get both doses administered and documented.
Pennsylvania allows provisional enrollment for students who have received at least the first dose of each required vaccine series and have an appointment scheduled for the remaining doses. Under 28 Pa. Code §23.85, the provisional period is 5 school days from the date of enrollment.
(Source: PA Department of Health — Provisional Attendance, 28 Pa. Code §23.85, accessed Aug 28, 2026)
Pennsylvania's 5-day provisional window is one of the shortest in the country. Assembling records before enrollment — not the first week of school — is critical.
Every person gets one health story, and one private Family Stork email address every clinic already knows how to use. Give that address to your pediatrician, your county health department, or your school nurse — they send records to it, and the immunization history builds itself into one timeline.
When Pennsylvania schools ask for immunization records at kindergarten — or at the 7th-grade Tdap/MCV4 checkpoint, or at the 12th-grade MCV4 booster — the dose dates are already filed. No calling the old provider, no re-requesting from PA-SIIS, no digging through a folder of paper cards.
Tired of logging into a different MyChart for every clinic? Family Stork vs MyChart — one email address replaces every portal.
Keep your family's entire health story in one place: family health timeline software.
Family Stork gives every family member a private @families.familystork.com address. Providers send immunization records to it automatically. PA-SIIS data, dose dates, and every checkpoint record — organized in one place, ready for every enrollment. $99/year — about $10/month.
Start your family's record — freePennsylvania recognizes medical, religious, and philosophical (strong moral or ethical conviction) exemptions from school immunization requirements, governed by 28 Pa. Code §23.84.
The official process and submission requirements are described at the Pennsylvania Department of Health: