How We're Helping Keep Kids Learning

We did not plan to launch our blog with a post about the pandemic and school closures. At the time that we were thinking about this blog, children 5-12 were finally eligible for vaccines and most schools were open. We were gathering with friends more, venturing back to the gym, and sometimes washing our hands for only 18 seconds. Life was starting to feel a lot more normal and we planned a different set of initial posts.  Enter omicron.

We now find ourselves faced with the biggest Covid surge of the pandemic.  And this time, there are no Italians singing, no rainbows in windows and no howling at the moon. We are in the third school year to be disrupted by the pandemic and quite literally we are all sick and tired.

We know that districts across the country are trying to keep schools open, but in many systems it is not possible. The rising case counts have led to widespread absences among staff and students resulting in unplanned school closures. And so for our inaugural blog post we are announcing that Outschool would like to help: We are offering free, unlimited access to Outschool’s 140K live online classes to any school or school system in the US that is closed until February 28th. 

You can sign up here and see excerpts from a letter from Amir Nathoo, founder and head of Outschool below. While we are disheartened at the unexpected turn this pandemic has taken; we are glad to be able to help.

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After a fall where we celebrated kids returning to the classroom, schools across the country are suddenly closing again. In what felt like an overnight shift, the Omicron variant brought us back to the uncertainty we saw at the beginning of the pandemic. With this new wave of COVID-19 come new challenges for teaching and learning: there’s simply not enough healthy staff to keep schools open.

At Outschool, we stand for learners, and we want to support schools and families in making sure that the learning doesn’t stop for the 74M students in our country. Effective immediately we are launching two new programs to support learners:

1. Support for Schools: We are offering unlimited Outschool classes to any school in the country that needs to switch to remote learning or has been closed. Click here to learn more information about the program and sign up your school.
2. Support for Families: We are offering families up to $20 off one Outschool class. Families can choose from any of the 140K+ live online classes available on the Outschool platform. Use the code KEEPLEARNING at checkout.

We will continue to support low-income families with $300 each through our Family Financial Assistance Program. Launched in March 2020 in the wake of mass school closures, we have provided 120,000 hours of free classes to families in need of financial support. To apply, click here.

We know this is a trying time for everyone. We hope that together we can keep kids safe, engaged and learning.

Amir

Head of Outschool