Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

The Rooted Learner (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is an educational resource platform operated by Michelle Pokodner, based in Columbia, Maryland. The website at therootedlearner.com provides teaching resources, teacher tools, consulting services, curated product recommendations, and educational blog content for grades 1–8 educators, schools, and families.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in the following ways:

Information you provide directly

• Account registration details (name, email address, password)
• Newsletter subscription information (email address)
• Contact form submissions (name, email, message content)
• Purchase and transaction information when buying resources or products
• Any other information you choose to share with us

Information collected automatically

• Device information (browser type, operating system, screen resolution)
• Usage data (pages visited, time spent, navigation patterns)
• IP address and approximate geographic location
• Referring website or search terms that led you to our site
• Cookies and similar tracking technologies (see Section 5)

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Provide, maintain, and improve our educational resources and services
• Process your account registration and manage your membership
• Send our weekly newsletter with teaching strategies, free resources, and updates (only if you subscribe)
• Process purchases and deliver digital products
• Respond to your questions, comments, and support requests
• Analyze usage patterns to improve our website and content
• Protect against fraud, abuse, and unauthorized access
• Comply with legal obligations

4. How We Share Your Information

We never sell your personal information. We may share limited information with:

• Service providers who help us operate our website (hosting, email delivery, analytics, payment processing). These providers only access information necessary to perform their services and are bound by confidentiality obligations.
• Payment processors to complete transactions securely. We do not store your full credit card details on our servers.
• Legal authorities when required by law, court order, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of our users or the public.

The tools that process visitor data on this website are:

• Supabase stores newsletter signups, contact and pilot notes, account profiles, and order records.
• Resend sends the guide you request and other email from this site.
• Stripe processes checkout when a purchase runs through this website.
• Sanity hosts blog posts and toolkit resources.
• Google Analytics 4 and Google Tag Manager load only when those IDs are configured. Custom events wait until you allow them in cookie settings. We do not send your email, school name, form message, or order details to analytics.

5. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Essential cookies: Keep you logged in and remember your preferences
• Analytics cookies: Understand how visitors use our site so we can improve the experience
• Functional cookies: Remember your settings and personalization choices

Analytics scripts (Google Analytics 4 or Google Tag Manager) load only when those tools are configured for the site. They may set analytics cookies. We do not load advertising pixels in our application code, and we do not use session replay. You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect site functionality.

6. Email & Newsletter

When you subscribe to our newsletter, we use your email address solely to send you educational content, teaching strategies, and occasional updates about our resources. Every email includes a clear unsubscribe link. We use a third-party email service provider to deliver our newsletter, and your email address is stored securely on their platform.

We will never add you to our mailing list without your explicit consent.

7. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information, including:

• Encrypted data transmission (HTTPS/TLS) across our entire site
• Secure password hashing for user accounts
• Regular security reviews and updates
• Limited employee access to personal data on a need-to-know basis

While we strive to protect your information, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure. We encourage you to use a strong, unique password for your account.

8. Children's Privacy

The Rooted Learner is designed for adult educators, school administrators, and parents/caregivers, not for children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately and we will promptly delete it.

9. Your Rights & Choices

You have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete information
• Delete your account and associated data
• Unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time
• Opt out of non-essential cookies via your browser settings

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us. We will respond to your request within 30 days.

10. Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party sites, products, or services (including affiliate links in our Favorites section). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party site you visit.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. When we make significant changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

12. Student education records

The Rooted Learner does not ask website visitors to upload student records. Website forms collect adult professional contact information. Please do not submit student information through those forms.

• This website does not collect student education records.
• Before any district shares student information with AlignED, The Rooted Learner and the district will agree on the purpose, data scope, access, and applicable privacy terms.
• Schools and districts retain ownership of their student data.
• Retention and deletion practices will be documented before any student-data use begins.

If your school or district requires a data-privacy agreement, please contact us. This page does not say that AlignED is certified, validated, or already approved by a district.

13. International Users & GDPR

If you are accessing The Rooted Learner from the European Economic Area (EEA) or United Kingdom, you have additional rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

• Right to access, rectify, erase, or restrict processing of your personal data
• Right to data portability
• Right to object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Right to withdraw consent at any time

Our legal basis for processing your data includes: consent (newsletter subscriptions), contract performance (purchases and account management), and legitimate interests (analytics and site improvement).

To exercise any GDPR rights, contact us at admin@therootedlearner.com. We will respond within 30 days.

14. AI and student data

AlignED is being designed with student-data protection and educator oversight in mind. Early conversations and demonstrations use sample or adult-provided information.

• Please do not submit student information through website forms.
• We will document what any AI tool does and does not process before student information is used.
• Any future use of student information will be scoped with the district before implementation.

For how AI shows up in educator-facing work, see the AI Ethics page.