Free live online classes to support public school families affected by closures in the wake of COVID-19

For Parents • Mar 13, 2020

Update as of 3/14 9pm PT: Thanks to new donations and teachers' hard work rapidly creating and running classes, we're able to continue offering this program. So far we have placed more than 2K students in over 10K live online class hours. The budget for this program is now $300K with Outschool contributing half to match donated funds. We expect more demand for this program tomorrow as the reality of school closures continues to set in. Please consider donating here.

Update as of 3/14 1pm PT: We have exceeded the original $100K donation, but are continuing to fund the program. We have now limited the program to $100 worth of free classes per family so we can support more families. Outschool has committed an additional $50K and is looking for matching donors. This program is intended for families in need, please consider whether to signup for free classes or whether you can afford to pay the usual price. If you would like to match Outschool and help fund this program, you can donate here: https://ecf.networkforgood.com/projects/52744-outschool-org

Update as of 3/14 2am PT: Due to massive demand we have added a limit of $200 worth of free classes per family. You will be charged regular prices for classes once you've reached that limit and that will be shown on your enroll form.

Yesterday we saw mass closures of public schools across the country from San Francisco and Seattle, to Ohio, Maryland and New Mexico. We expect more closures in the days ahead and disruption for weeks if not months. This is a positive step towards slowing spread of COVID-19 and alleviating its impact.

On March 2 we announced our help for schools and teachers preparing for closures. We are uniquely positioned to offer this help with our expertise in homeschooling and online learning. Since 2017, over 80K learners have attended over 300K remote class hours on Outschool. Now we’re announcing that we will be making $100K worth of Outschool classes free for public school K-12 students affected by school closures.

To get started taking Outschool classes for free, visit outschool.org, signup and enter the details of your school.

Outschool classes can be used to fill in gaps where school districts are unable to provide full-time remote schooling. Outschool teachers are background checked and classes are vetted to ensure they are safe, age-appropriate, objective and secular.

We are able to make $100K of classes available for free thanks to donations from Zoom Video Communications, Inc. and an anonymous donor who, together, have contributed $50K. We, Outschool, are funding the rest. This initial commitment represents about 10K student hours of live online classes.

As these funds are used over the coming week we will seek additional donations to continue funding free Outschool classes for K-12 students in public schools. 100% of that funding will be used to pay teachers who are offering the classes - Outschool will not be profiting. Our classes are live and interactive, so every class hour represents a cost in teachers’ time. This funding will enable access to this more social and interactive online learning for families with limited disposable income.

If you’re interested in supporting public school students affected by school closures, please help us:

Reach affected families and schools by sharing outschool.org with your community
Contact me at amir@outschool.com for more information on making a donation

About Outschool
Outschool is a marketplace of live online classes for kids ages 3-18. Classes meet in small groups over live video chat where students are safely connected with teachers and classmates who share their interests. These classes are offered through our marketplace and conducted on our remote learning platform, powered by Zoom.

Live online group classes are more engaging and valuable than passive online content through being social. At the same time, they have the benefits of online learning for access and convenience. Outschool’s team and community of teachers have more expertise in this type of learning than any other US-based organization having had 80K students attend more than 300K class hours.