Privacy
The short version: we collect as little as possible, we protect it, we don't sell or share it, and you can have it deleted whenever you want.
Version 2026-06-26
Our approach: collect as little as possible
We practice data minimization. At this stage we're gauging interest, so we ask for the least that lets us do that — and we deliberately do not collect children's names or dates of birth anywhere on this site. We use age and grade bands instead.
What each form collects, and why
Interest form
- What: your first name, email, ZIP code, optionally the number of children, their age/grade bands (not birthdays), what you might teach, what you'd want your kids in, and whether you'd volunteer.
- Why: to measure interest and see where families are clustered (the ZIP), so we can plan a location and program that actually fits.
Newsletter
- What: your email address only.
- Why: to send occasional updates. We use double opt-in (you confirm by email) and every message has a one-click unsubscribe.
Instructor / volunteer registration
- What: name, email, phone, your interests/experience or how you'd help, your children's grade bands, and your acknowledgements (background-check, Code of Conduct, and our independence disclaimer).
- Why: to follow up about helping, and — because these roles involve minors — to begin the background-check process. Registering is not approval.
Contact form
- What: your name, email, and message. This becomes an email to our monitored inbox and isn't stored in our database.
Who processes your data
We host almost everything ourselves. The only third-party service that touches your data is the spam check:
- Cloudflare Turnstile (third party) — a privacy-friendly, cookieless “are you human?” check on our public forms. Cloudflare receives the information needed to run that check (such as your IP address and a token). This is the one external processor we use.
- Email — self-hosted. Confirmation, unsubscribe, and contact emails are sent through our own mail server on our own machine. No third-party email provider receives your address.
- Analytics — self-hosted Plausible. We use a privacy-friendly, cookieless analytics tool that we run ourselves. It does not track you across sites and collects no personal information — just aggregate page counts.
- Storage — encrypted, on our own box. Your data lives in a database that is encrypted at rest on a server we control; sensitive fields get an additional layer of encryption. Backups are encrypted too. We don't use a third-party cloud database.
How long we keep it
- Interest data is kept while it's useful for planning, and we clear it out once it no longer is. Ask us and we'll delete yours sooner.
- Registration data is kept for as long as you're involved (and briefly after), since it's tied to safety and participation.
- Records of consent (what you agreed to and when) are kept as a simple compliance record.
Children's privacy (COPPA)
This site is for adults only. Children don't create accounts or interact with it. Any information about a minor is entered by a parent or guardian, on purpose, with consent — and at this stage we don't collect identifying details about children at all (bands only). We'll revisit this carefully before any future enrollment feature.
Your choices and how to reach us
You can ask us to show you what we have, correct it, or delete it. Email {{contact_email}} or use our contact form and we'll take care of it. To stop newsletter emails, just click unsubscribe in any message.