Let me explain our billing policies, callouts, exits, and how it all works together to make sure we're helping your child catch up, get ahead, and find his or her success.
Scheduling and Billing:
There are no contracted minimum number of hours required, we will simply schedule classes as requested. Though, we will need a recurring schedule after the first few introductory classes.
You should expect your card on file to run once a month, on the first, for whatever teaching hours you schedule for that upcoming month. So, since you're new, we'll run your card this coming Friday for this partial month (assuming you didn't enroll on the 1st), and then again on the first of next month.
If you are a scholarship student, please refer to the SUFS specific section below for more applicable details.
Callouts, Breaks, and Exits:
Since you're paying for the month upfront, in order to protect you from having your card run for classes you don't intend on using, we ask for a 30-day written (i.e. text or email) notice of breaks and exits. So, if you're taking a week off for spring break, going north for the summer, or ending the program after the March SAT (for example) please make sure that is communicated so our scheduling system properly ends your schedule so you never get charged for those classes.
But life happens and you'll inevitably need to call out with less than 30 days' notice. In those situations, we ask you to call out (phone, text, email, whatever is easiest) by noon for afternoon classes and by 8 pm for morning classes. Assuming we received proper notice, we'll reschedule you for a more convenient time without penalty.
Progress Updates, Teaching Area:
We'll be reaching out to schedule Progress Update Meetings routinely based on your program and weekly attendance. We'll want to review what we've been working on, what's improved, and what still needs work. You'll get an email from us shortly with a scheduling link to add progress meetings directly to our calendar but we'll also be sending you invites based on your schedule and when your child is due for a check-in.
But, because we have other students who deserve focus and attention, we kindly ask that you refrain from entering the teaching area, cornering a teacher mid-session, or trying to get unscheduled meetings with us that last longer than a few quick seconds. If you have homework you want us to review, want to chat about updates from the school, or need anything at all, please call/email us in advance.
Study Hall & Safety Points:
We only charge for your scheduled time with one of our tutors. Want to send your child in early to do their homework? Want to have your child meet you in the parking lot so you can stay in your car? Not a problem!
Here's the thing though, we cannot accept liability during times outside your scheduled time or outside our doors. We're adults, and we'll keep an eye out, but for insurance and safety reasons I need to be clear that we're responsible during our scheduled times and inside our doors, and not beyond that.
Safety point: if your child has an allergy, health concern, or other special consideration please let us know! Our staff are professional teachers and tutors, not medical professionals. So in the event of any medical emergency, we'll call 911.
Likewise, if anyone other than you is going to be picking up and dropping off, or have anyone who should definitely NOT be allowed to pick up your child, or if you have any other accommodations we should be aware of, please tell us!
Final Points & How we'll Help:
We are here to help! We succeed when you succeed. For over 45-years, GradePower Learning has been helping kids catch up and get ahead. Locally, we've become the #1 rated learning center because parents often tell the story of their success with us and the lifelong value of investing in your child's education.
Our philosophy is to go to your child's level and build real understanding and help your child learn how to learn in the first place. To build skills for long-term success and not tutor from test to test.
Every child is unique, and every student here needs different accommodations, the trick to making this work is communication, patience, and your child's hard work learning the skills to succeed. We'll get there, together. After all, it's more than a tagline, it's a way of life: #NeverStopLearning
Specific Policies:
We don't have any any minimums or large commitments required in order to get your child started. That said, our experience is that students take at least 40-hours worth of work to remediate a single grade level in one subject. We'll be your partner in this journey and will help with targeted interventions, cognitive development, and will keep you updated with regular check-ins but it is a journey worth committing to for your student's long-term benefit.
We want our students to start early so they are best prepared for their college entrance exams. That is why we offer a guarantee which kicks-in after 30-hours of our small-group SAT or ACT test prep program. Any hours you deem necessary after 30 are completely free to you. We just retain the right to reasonably schedule them around our availability.
Our Day Academy for homeschooling students is a unique blend between a pod-school and private tutoring for homeschooling families. Our small groups are kept to 5:1 and classes run 12-hours per week following the local public school calendar.
It's important to remember that your child is a homeschooler. We'll take care of all the reading, writing, and math here, along with anything else individually tailored in your students plan, but homeschooling is about more than just those core academics.
We will maintain your child's portfolio and complete end-of-year testing on your behalf with one of our certified teachers.
Each Team Academy is unique, but we'll be the education partner for your child's team this year. We'll provide the instruction, curriculum, and academic coaching to keep your student-athlete on track.
We only use your data and images internally, to caregivers you ask us to share with, and in communication with your child's classroom teacher with your permission.
Uploaded images are only used to help our teachers identify new students. Additionally, we sometimes post pictures to our social media pages. If you do not want your student in any photos please make sure we know!
We never put AI content in front of students without either you or our teacher reviewing it first. Yet we do use AI in summarizing notes and in certain communications.
For a full privacy and AI policy visit https://gradepowerlearning.us/privacy and https://gradepowerlearning.us/ai.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA): As an educational institution, we comply with FERPA, which gives you specific rights regarding your child's educational records.
Your FERPA Rights Include:
- Right to inspect and review your child's educational records
- Right to seek amendment of your child's educational records that you believe are inaccurate or misleading
- Right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in your child's educational records, except as permitted by law
- Right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures to comply with FERPA
Privacy Concerns: If you have any concerns about your child's educational records, data privacy, or believe your FERPA rights have been violated, please email us immediately at alearned@gradepowerlearning.com. We will investigate and respond to all concerns within 5 business days.
Ontario Law-25 (Consumer Privacy Protection Act): For our Ontario customers, we comply with Law-25, which strengthens privacy protections for Canadian consumers.
Your Rights Under Law-25:
- Right to know what personal information is collected, used, and disclosed
- Right to meaningful consent for collection and use of personal information
- Right to withdraw consent at any time (subject to legal restrictions)
- Right to access and correct your personal information
- Right to data portability in a structured format
- Right to be informed of privacy breaches posing real risk of significant harm
Ontario Privacy Concerns: For Ontario customers with Law-25 questions or concerns, please email alearned@gradepowerlearning.com. We respond to Law-25 inquiries within 30 days as required by legislation.
As stated previously, our system generates invoices monthly for the classes scheduled, but we know that sometimes parents need to pay in smaller amounts. We can accomodate weekly payment plans if you desire but please be aware that the way we do that is by dividing your monthly invoice by four weeks and scheduling the payments on the first four Fridays of the month. Meaning, your weekly payments will not fluctuate due to missed or reschedule classes until the next month as would be the case for our normal monthly invoicing/scheduling system.
We also hope you understand that our teachers do need to be paid in a timely fashion. Therefore, if payments are not received within 60-days of the class and if you have not set-up a payment plan with us directly we reserve the right to send your account to collections. If that is required, we will add to the invoice an amount equal to our cost of any collection action.
We are a direct-pay provider for the New Worlds Reading, Unique Abilities, and Personalized Education Plan (homeschooling) Step Up for Students Scholarships. If you added your child's SUFS ID when you added him/her earlier, we'll use the funds you authorize through the EMA towards your bill with us first. Here's how to authorize funds in your EMA portal.
If you don't what what I'm talking about but are interested in learning more about scholarships for reading, students with unique abilities and/or homeschoolers, check out Step Up for Students
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