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A California Tint Academy student squeegeeing dark window film onto a practice glass pane in the Modesto training shop, the shop reflected in the glass

We are shaping the next generation

California
Tint Academy

Window tint school and training classes in Modesto, California

Hands-on window tint, flat glass and vehicle wrap training in Modesto, California. You work on real vehicles from day one.

See upcoming datesText (209) 860-2134

Se enseña en español.Ver esta página en español

  • Oct 26 – 29Vehicle Wrap· Sold out
  • Real vehicles, every day
  • A tool kit you keep
  • Certificate of completion
  • We train on Solar Gard film
A student in a tool belt unrolling a fresh roll of window film while Roberta Rodriguez watches, in the Modesto training shop with the Solar Gard wall and training cars behind them
Modesto training shop

How training works

Hands-on. Not just demos.

You do not watch someone tint a car. You tint the car.

Every student works on real vehicles every day of the course. Roberta corrects your hands while you are still holding the squeegee — the angle, the pressure, where your thumb is when the film starts to lift. That is the part a video cannot do, and it is the reason people who have already watched a hundred hours on YouTube still show up here.

Class sizes are small on purpose. Seats are capped so that everyone gets glass and everyone gets corrected.

8Seats per class, max
4dOn real cars, not panels
2002Roberta's first shop

Programs

Three programs. One trade.

Automotive Window Tint

The flagship. Start here if you are starting.

4 days$2,550
View course

Flat Glass & Architectural

Storefronts, offices and homes. Per-contract revenue instead of per-car revenue.

4 days$2,550Next: Jan 11 – 14
View course

Vehicle Wrap

Vinyl, color change, partial to full. Bigger tickets on cars you are already touching.

4 days$2,550Next: Oct 26 – 29
View course
Rows of tool kits — heat guns, sprayers, aprons and hand tools — laid out at each seat on long tables in front of the training vehicles

Tuition includes

What's included

  • A professional tool kit you keep — heat gun, tool belt, install tools. Not a discount code for tools. The tools.
  • Window film to take home so you keep practicing after class ends.
  • Real vehicles, every day, not demo panels.
  • A fully equipped training facility.
  • Lunch every day, and coffee in the morning.
  • A final hands-on evaluation, and your certificate when you finish.
  • Post-training support — help finding work and guidance on starting your own shop.
Tuition
$2,550
Deposit to hold a seat$500
Balance, Day One at check-in$2,050
FinancingSnap Finance
Tuition & financing

Certification

You leave with a certificate of completion — or knowing why

On the last day you complete a hands-on evaluation on a real vehicle. Finish the program, and you receive a California Tint Academy certificate of completion, digital in your account and verifiable online.

California has no state license for tinting car windows — anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you one. Film on buildings is different: a job of $1,000 or more needs a contractor's license from the CSLB. What a certificate does is answer the question a shop owner actually asks — can you do this without wasting my film — and give you something to show them.

A graduate in a white T-shirt and cap holding his framed California Tint Academy certificate of completion in front of the Solar Gard wall
Certificate of completion

The person teaching you

Let me pay forward what was once forwarded to me. I want to see you one day on top and proudly say, I helped you get there.
Roberta RodriguezFounder & lead instructor · “Your Tint Girl”

Roberta Rodriguez opened her own window tinting shop in 2002. In 2023 she was a judge and trainer at Tinter Battles. ABC10 and Good Day Sacramento have both filmed inside this shop.

  • ABC10Filmed in the shop
  • Good Day SacramentoLive segment
  • Tinter BattlesJudge and trainer, 2023
  • Latino ChamberStanislaus County

We train on Solar Gard film

We train on Solar Gard professional film, a Saint-Gobain brand — the film you will actually be selling — not house-brand practice stock.

Solar GardSaint-Gobain

Se enseña en español

Most of our classes are taught bilingually, in English and Spanish. If Spanish is the language you work in, this whole site is in Spanish too — and so is the class.

Ver esta página en español

Come to Modesto

Students drive in from across the Central Valley and fly in from out of state. We hold a discounted student rate at the DoubleTree Modesto.

219 McHenry AveDoubleTree student rateFly into Sacramento (SMF), San Jose (SJC) or Fresno (FAT)
Plan your trip

Groups welcome

Partners & programs

Public programs, tribal programs, schools and employers send groups to train with us: hands-on, in small classes, in English or Spanish.

  • In-custody and re-entry programs
  • Workers' comp and return-to-work
  • Tribal programs
  • Schools and youth
  • Employers and shops
A high-school career dayWe introduce professional window tinting as a career to high-school students during a school visit.

In a school library, a presenter stands beside a projected slide reading 'Professional Window Tinting' while students sit at round tables; on-screen text reads 'Industry leadership starts here.'

Seats are limited

Start your next chapter

Whether you are building a new career or adding a service to a business you already run — this is where it starts. Seats are limited and classes do sell out.