PodsCool connects independent teachers with families running K-12 learning pods. The app is rated 4+ on the App Store. It contains no violence, no mature themes, no gambling and no advertising of any kind. What follows is a plain description of who can use it, what they can see, and what happens when something goes wrong.
1. Who has an account
- Teachers. Independent educators. Credentials are submitted for staff review, and a verified badge is granted by our team rather than claimed by the teacher.
- Parents. Adults who enroll their children and pay tuition.
- Students aged 13 and over. They sign in with their own Google account, which a parent links to the family.
- A child under 13 signs in with a username and password their parent creates and controls. The parent can reset it at any time. No email address, date of birth, photo, or contact channel is collected for that child, and the parent sees everything that login does.
2. What appears in the app
Pod listings and lesson material written by teachers, classwork and quizzes, grades and teacher feedback, schedules, and reviews left by families. Teacher profiles show a name, photo, credential badge and education line.
Classroom records - work turned in, quiz answers, grades, feedback - are visible only to that student, their parent and their teacher. They are never shown to other families and never used for advertising.
There is no advertising anywhere in PodsCool, and no third-party ad software in the app.
3. Messaging
Messaging is text only, and only between parents and teachers. Students do not message anyone. There is no public feed, no comments, no follower system and no way for one person's post to be broadcast to strangers.
Either participant can block a conversation at any time, which stops new messages immediately. Messages in a reported conversation may be reviewed by our safety team.
4. Reporting and moderation
A parent can report a teacher, and a teacher can report a family, from inside the app. Reports go to a staffed review queue rather than an automated one, and we act on them directly with the accounts involved.
If something needs attention faster, email support@podscool.com. That address is published here, in the app, and on every page of this site.
5. Links out of the app
The mobile app cannot browse the open web. Its in-app browser is limited to podscool.com and nothing else. Google sign-in, payment pages, Google Drive and Google Meet all open in the device's own browser, where the address bar is visible and the phone's own parental controls apply.
6. What we do not do
- We show no advertising, to anyone, ever.
- We do not sell personal information.
- We do not collect student biometric data or government IDs.
- A child under 13 has a username login created by their parent, no email address, and no way to message anyone.
7. Questions
Email support@podscool.com. For the full detail on what we store and why, read our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.