Community Standards

Guidelines for Outschool members

Updated over a week ago

Outschool is an open community of learners (children ages 3-18), parents and teachers. We are connected by technology and united by a desire to help children love learning. All our classes are offered by independent teachers, who determine the content and format of their own classes.

While our open community is our greatest source of strength, it also brings challenges. It is important to us that Outschool is a safe space for our users. Our members should treat each other without bias or prejudice across all pillars of diversity including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, and gender identity. Here are some guidelines that we ask our members to observe. Outschool members who do not meet these guidelines will be removed from the site.

Teacher Code of Conduct

  • Offer classes only where you have appropriate background or expertise.

  • Teach classes professionally:

    • Be prepared, teach from a professional setting (e.g. from a desk), with suitable equipment, begin on time, and treat all learners with respect.

    • Do not teach while impaired by alcohol or drugs, and do not model any behavior that a student age 18 or younger is restricted from doing.

  • Respond promptly to parent questions and requests.

  • Communicate with parents and learners in a professional manner, both in messages and in-class.

  • Keep all communications on our platform; never provide personal contact information to parents or learners for “off-platform” communications, or in-person meetings (prohibited unless an Outschool-sponsored event).

  • Adhere to our class content policy by only offering secular, objective, age-appropriate classes

  • Create a safe and welcoming space for learners and families from all backgrounds, beliefs, and locations.

Parent Code of Conduct

  • Learners should only attend class under their own enrollment, as themselves. It violates Outschool policy for a learner to use their sibling’s or another learner’s enrollment to attend class.

  • Ask questions of teachers to clarify any missing details about classes

  • Show up for your class; many classes depend on group conversation, and the absence of a single student can have a big impact

  • Provide constructive feedback about your class experience, for the benefit of the teacher and other parents.

  • Engage in civil conversation, and speak and act with respect for different opinions.

  • Help keep Outschool a safe space for learners, families, and teachers from all backgrounds, beliefs, and locations. To that end, we encourage you to watch our Trust and Safety Code of Conduct video with your learner.

Learner Code of Conduct

  • Be kind: Help all learners feel welcome and included.

  • Be safe: Keep your personal information private and never ask other learners for theirs (e.g., email address, mailing address, phone number, gamer tags, etc.).

  • Be respectful: Treat others how you want to be treated. Dress in a manner appropriate for class; please be fully clothed with both a top and bottoms on.

Outschool Code of Conduct

  • We welcome members from all backgrounds, beliefs, and locations and are committed to creating a safe space for our users across all pillars of diversity.

  • We will listen to feedback from parents, teachers, and learners, and make changes accordingly.

  • We will create and enforce policies to create a high-quality, trusted, and safe community for learning. This may include removing content or users from the platform.

  • We will respond promptly to questions and issues that arise.

Finally, we ask that all members assume the best intentions in others. When something goes wrong, whether it's a technical glitch, an email without a response, or something else, we ask that you share feedback in a constructive way.

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