• Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)

    Dear Parents/Guardians,

    If you have a school-aged child(ren) 13 years old or younger, Norfolk Public Schools would like to share some important information, especially as we reopen schools using a virtual learning format for the 2020-2021 school year.

    Norfolk Public Schools provides your child(ren) with the most effective web-based tools and applications for learning and uses several computer software applications and web-based services, operated by third parties. NPS uses Google Apps for Education and other web-based resources (i.e., Canvas, Zoom, and Flipgrid) for students. For our students to use these programs and services, certain personal identifying information -- generally the student’s name and email address -- must be provided to the website operator.

    Under federal law, entitled the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), these websites must provide parental notification and obtain parental consent before collecting personal information from children under the age of 13. However, the law permits school divisions to consent to the collection of personal information on behalf of all its students, thereby eliminating the need for individual parental consent given directly to the website operator. A list of the possible sites to be used in our classrooms, with links to their privacy policies and terms of services, can be seen below.

    If you have any questions, please contact your child(ren)’s principal. As always, thank you for your continued support of your student’s success.

    Here is a list of COPPA information sites.