Outschool is an approved vendor for many charter schools, enabling their families to purchase classes with their charter funds (also referred to as planning amounts or educational units).
There are two ways that charter schools can enroll learners in Outschool classes, via Purchase Orders (POs) or via Charter Admin accounts. See below for specifics on ongoing classes, which differ for both methods.
Enrolling Students via Purchase Orders
Parents will reach out to their charter via their specific ordering method and should include the following information:
Full name of the class, the section (including day and time) they would like to register for, a link to the class listing, email associated with their Outschool account, their learner’s name and age
Process the request from the parent, approving or denying the request.
If approved, submit a PO to Outschool Support with the following details:
School name
Parent name
Learner name and age
The email associated with their Outschool account
Full name of the course
The section (including day and time) they would like to register for. Please also include the start date of the class they are requesting.
We recommend parents give their school an alternative class time as a backup option when submitting requests, as Outschool cannot guarantee there will be available spaces in their preferred time.
The full and correct fee for the course. Please note that we can only support payment in full. We cannot accept dual or split payments between charter and parent.
Our team will complete the order and enroll the family using the purchase order number.
Our team will confirm with the charter by email when the purchase order is complete.
Parents also receive an email from Outschool confirming their enrollment by the charter.
Charters receive an invoice from Outschool the Monday after the section begins for all class types except for Ongoing classes. For ongoing classes, charters will be invoiced on the Monday following the last week that the learner was bulk enrolled for.
Enrolling in Ongoing Classes using Purchase Orders
Charter families can request an Ongoing Class for up to 18 consecutive week increments. When placing an order for an ongoing class, please indicate how many weeks you’re registering the student for, as well as the requested last date of the class.
If the family would like to continue attending the class, Outschool can extend their enrollment with a new PO at any time, or the family can resume their subscription with their own credit card on file by going to Transactions -> View Class Page under the class title and then clicking “Resume subscription.”
Enrolling in Fixed-Length Classes using Purchase Orders
Charter families can either request to purchase the entire Fixed-Length class upfront or can bulk enroll for anywhere between 4 weeks and 18 weeks of class with one PO. If bulk enrolling for 4-18 weeks for a Fixed-length class, please indicate how many weeks you’re registering the student for on the PO, as well as the requested last date of the class.
Once the requested amount of weeks has been completed on the first PO, the learner will be removed from class unless we receive another PO to continue the class. Outschool support can extend the learner's enrollment at any time if we receive another PO.
Enrolling Students via Charter Admin Account
Charters can request that Outschool set them up with a Charter Admin account to enroll students directly into Outschool classes with a credit card. To make this request, first create an account at Outschool.com, then write to schoolsupport@outschool.com or outschool.com/help letting us know the email you used to create your Outschool account and requesting a Charter Admin account. This email should be a school issued email address. Our team will then help you get set up with your charter admin account.
With a charter admin account, you’ll see the option to enroll learners directly into their preferred class section time, as shown below.
Enroll families directly into class using the charter enroll button and fill out the requested information.
Parent requests should include the following for faster processing:
Full name of the class, the section (including day and time) they would like to register for, a link to the class listing, email associated with their Outschool account, their learner’s name and age
Please check with the family to see if they have an existing Outschool account. If so, enter the email address associated with their account for accurate processing.
Enter the learner name exactly as the family has it listed on their Outschool account to avoid a duplicate learner.
The credit card on file in your charter admin account will be used to pay for class.
Charter receives receipt via email.
Parents receive an email from Outschool confirming the enrollment with a link to class. This email will also indicate that the class was paid for by the charter school and how much was spent on the enrollment.
Note that the class will be listed on the parents’ learner schedule and transactions page, but will not be listed on the charter school’s account.
You can request a report of purchases made for students on Outschool by contacting Outschool Support.
Please note that if completing a charter admin enrollment for a multi-week course, the enrollment can only be completed by choosing the “upfront payment” option.
Enrolling in Ongoing Classes using Charter Admin Account
Charter families can request an Ongoing Class for up to 18 consecutive week increments. When placing an order for an ongoing class, select the number of weeks you’d like to enroll for in the drop down menu.
You can extend the learner's enrollment at any time by using the "Admin Enroll" button on the class listing to purchase additional weeks of the class, or the family can resume their subscription with their own credit card on file by going to Transactions -> View Class Page under the class title and then clicking “Resume subscription.”
Enrolling in Fixed-Length classes using Charter Admin Account
Charter families can either request to purchase the entire class upfront or can bulk enroll for anywhere between 4 weeks and 18 weeks of class. If paying for the entire class upfront, select the Pay Upfront option.
If paying for a set number of weeks, select the number of weeks that the family would like to enroll in during checkout.
You can extend the learner's enrollment at any time by using the "Admin Enroll" button on the class listing to purchase additional weeks of the class.
New 1:1 Tutoring Process
Outschool rolled out a new tutoring format in the fall of 2023. As of November 2023, charters are able to register families for the new 1:1 format using both PO’s and Charter Admin Accounts.
Tutoring Classes with the new format will indicate availability, showing dates and times available similar to this:
Enrolling Students in new 1:1 Tutoring via Purchase Orders
Once the charter family has selected a day and time they would like tutoring to take place, a Purchase Order should be sent to Outschool Support with the following information:
Full name of the tutoring class
The day and time they’d like to register for
We highly recommend families provide you with 1-2 back-up days and times that they are available in the event their first choice is unavailable.
Note that private section links for the new 1:1 format expire 3 days after the link was created, after which time the time slot is released to the general public. As a result, if the family's request uses a private section link to help hold the spot, depending on processing time, the link may no longer work. Should this occur you can check the public class listing to see if the time requested is still available. If it is not, then a back-up time slot should be used to place the order.
How many weeks they’d like to book (this can be up to 12 weeks)
A link to the class listing
The email associated with their Outschool account
Their learner’s name and age
Enrolling Students in new 1:1 Tutoring via Charter Admin Account
Once the charter family has selected a day and time they would like tutoring to take place, they should place an order with the following information:
Full name of the tutoring class
The day and time they’d like to register for
We highly recommend families provide you with 1-2 back-up days and times that they are available in the event their first choice is unavailable.
Note that private section links for the new 1:1 format expire 7 days after the link was created, after which time the time slot is released to the general public. As a result, if the family's request uses a private section link to help hold the spot, depending on processing time, the link may no longer work. Should this occur you can check the public class listing to see if the time requested is still available. If it is not, then a back-up time slot should be used to place the order.
How many weeks they’d like to book (this can be up to 12 weeks)
A link to the class listing
The email associated with their Outschool account
Their learner’s name and age
When placing the order, follow the following steps:
Log into your Charter Admin Account
Visit the class listing page and click on, “View Availability.” Select the date the family would like to begin their tutoring sessions. Then select the time they would like their tutoring sessions to take place. Hit, “Enroll”
Select the number of sessions the family would like to book (up to 12) and hit “next”
Note: Should the educator be unavailable on any of the dates/times you’ve selected, this will be indicated as follows:
*Please note, if the educator is unavailable for any requested sessions, the total check out price will be adjusted to reflect the sessions that were not booked
After you hit, “next,” the standard Charter Admin checkout screen will appear. Enter in the requested information and click, “next.” This will complete enrollment.
The Charter receives receipt via email.
Parents receive an email confirming the enrollment with a link to the tutoring class. This email will also indicate that the class was paid for by the charter school and how much was spent on the enrollment.
A note regarding tutoring requests for more than 1 day a week: At this time, should the family desire to hold tutoring sessions more than once a week, they will need to place separate orders for each of the separate days a week they’d like to meet.