What FERPA governs
FERPA protects education records maintained by schools and education agencies that receive U.S. Department of Education funds. A school—not the Arcade—determines whether gameplay information becomes part of an education record and which FERPA exception, consent, contract, or local approval governs the school's use.
The U.S. Department of Education advises teachers to first determine whether an online tool is approved by their school or district and whether personally identifiable information from education records will be disclosed.
How the Arcade minimizes school data
- Student participation uses generated, tenant- or room-scoped aliases rather than real names.
- A public room does not require membership in a teacher's class.
- A teacher-hosted room or homework assignment uses a bounded access code and remains subject to authentication, App Check, expiration, attempt limits, immutable question-bank versions, and teacher close/archive controls.
- Anonymous play keeps progression ephemeral. A signed-in player can earn persistent XP, badges, tokens, and unlocks in either a verified teacher workspace or the Arcade's isolated public-play scope. Rewards remain scoped to that context and do not create a public student profile.
- Reports and long-term trends show aliases or groups of at least five; aggregate trend views expose no learner identifier. CSV exports are hardened against spreadsheet formulas and do not include student names, email addresses, or roster identifiers.
- Public question banks contain instructional content and an opaque creator label, not teacher contact information.
- Direct browser access to underlying Firestore and Storage collections is denied.
School and district responsibilities
Before classroom use, a school or district should review the privacy notice, terms, security contract, retention schedule, provider list, accessibility posture, and local policies. The school should determine whether parental notice or consent is required and should not instruct students to enter real names or other personal information.
Where a school relies on the school-official exception, it is responsible for determining that the legal requirements are met, including direct control, legitimate educational interest, and limits on redisclosure and use. The Arcade does not claim that using the product automatically creates or satisfies that exception.
Teacher launch checklist
- Confirm the Arcade is approved by the school or district.
- Use a teacher account and create the room in the correct workspace.
- Tell students to use only the generated alias and never enter a real name, email, room code, or answer in feedback.
- Share the room code only with intended participants; remove unexpected participants immediately.
- Download reports only to an approved school device or location and apply local record-retention rules.
- End the room when play is complete and delete local CSV copies when no longer required.
Access, correction, and deletion
FERPA requests concerning school education records should be directed to the school. The school or an eligible student may contact the Arcade for assistance locating, correcting, exporting, or deleting service records under the school's control. Because students appear by alias, the school may need the room and report context to identify the appropriate record without disclosing a student name.
Assessment Center separation
The Scholar's Ascent Arcade and The Scholar's Ascent Assessment Center remain separate products and Firebase trust boundaries. When an authorized teacher assigns an Arcade activity from the Assessment Center, a signed server-to-server bridge can send the exact game and immutable bank selection, issue a one-time learner launch, and return the bounded score and completion result to that assignment. The bridge uses scoped opaque references and does not transfer rosters, student names, student emails, school identifiers, Clever or SIS identifiers, provider tokens, credentials, answer keys, or a general gradebook. Ordinary Arcade play does not activate this bridge.
Contact and references
Email info@reminiscentroadmedia.com with the subject “The Scholar's Ascent Arcade student privacy.” Do not email student names, answers, or room codes.