Policies
Payment
For private sessions, invoices are sent electronically and are due by the date specified on the invoice. Invoices can be paid by credit card (all major credit cards accepted), check, or cash. We invoice parents on a monthly basis. For group sessions, payment is due on or before the first day of the group session.
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Risk-Free Trials
New students can withdraw within 3 days of the first session and receive a 100% refund. For summer courses, since the courses often meet multiple times a week, we ask that we are notified before the second scheduled session, which may be less than 3 days.
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Financial assistance
We offer financial assistance to families that can demonstrate financial need. Assistance will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
Late payments
Any outstanding balances 60 days past due incurs a late fee equal to 10% of the amount owed. This amount will be added to the delinquent bill each month until the balance is fully paid off. We reserve the right to appeal to small claims court or to refer to collection agencies for any balances not settled within 6 months. If you are unable to pay for a class or service in full all at once, please simply ask about payment plans in advance and avoid penalties.
Cancellation
Private sessions
We require 24 hours' notice for cancellations because we need time to notify our instructors about scheduling changes. For cancellations made in less than 24 hours, we charge a $30 cancellation fee. For no-shows, we charge the full amount of the session. If a student cancels too many sessions in a given month, the student risks losing his/her time slot.
Group sessions
There are no refunds for missed classes or group sessions. However, we make every effort to record our virtual tutoring sessions and send homework for upcoming, so students can stay caught up with what they missed.
Discounts
Siblings
Siblings receive an automatic 10% discount on courses, if they register at the same time.
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Debate
All debaters are automatically eligible for a 5% discount on courses.
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Lifelong Learner
Like most skills, reading and writing skills take time to develop and practice is key. As a result, after their first skill development session, students become eligible for the Lifelong Learner discount, which allows them to save up to 50% on all of our skill development sessions!
Safety and liability
Pickup
Students in grades 4-8 are not permitted to go outside unaccompanied unless their ride is waiting for them. You may call/text your son or daughter to let them know you are waiting or come in. Students in grades 9-12 may leave on their own. We are not responsible for anything that occurs after a student leaves the premises.
Illness
Kids who are sick have an uncanny ability to rapidly infect each other and us. If your child has a cold or the flu, please keep him or her home. We will send over any missed assignments and/or reschedule your private lesson.
Medical emergency
In the event of a medical emergency, we will immediately call 911 to have the student transported to the nearest hospital, and then we will call the emergency contact on the student's information form. It is of paramount importance that parents provide a valid emergency contact on their child's form.
Chronic conditions
If your child has a chronic medical condition such as asthma or serious allergies, it is imperative that you let us know. This information will be confidential and we will handle it discreetly, but we absolutely have to know about it.
Injury
Our students' safety is our top priority. However, we cannot be held liable for any injuries resulting from contravention of teacher instructions. This applies to all customers of all ages, including people in the waiting areas. Most parents drop off and pick up their children, leaving them in our care for the duration of the lesson. However, parents who do not have complete faith that their children will obey teacher instructions should remain in the parent waiting area.
Inclement Weather
We do not always follow MCPS closures. In the event of inclement weather, we will email all students who are scheduled to come in that day if our office is closed. If we remain open and you cannot make it to your session, please let us know by noon that day.
Privacy Policy & Recordings
​Consent
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By using our website, you hereby consent to our Privacy Policy and agree to its terms.
Information we collect
When you register for a free trial or tryout, we may ask for your contact information, including items such as name, email address, telephone number, and zip code. We do not share sell this information to any third parties.
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How we use your information
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We use the information we collect in various ways, including to:
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Provide, operate, and maintain our website
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Improve, personalize, and expand our website
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Understand and analyze how you use our website
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Develop new products, services, features, and functionality
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Communicate with you, either directly or through one of our partners, including for customer service, to provide you with updates and other information relating to the website, and for marketing and promotional purposes
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Send you emails and text messages
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Find and prevent fraud
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Log Files
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Potomac Oak Tutoring follows a standard procedure of using log files. These files log visitors when they visit websites. All hosting companies do this and a part of hosting services’ analytics. The information collected by log files include internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date and time stamp, referring/exit pages, and possibly the number of clicks. These are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable. The purpose of the information is for analyzing trends, administering the site, tracking users’ movement on the website, and gathering demographic information.
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Cookies and Web Beacons
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Like any other website, Potomac Oak Tutoring uses ‘cookies’. These cookies are used to store information including visitors’ preferences, and the pages on the website that the visitor accessed or visited. The information is used to optimize the users’ experience by customizing our web page content based on visitors’ browser type and/or other information.
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CCPA Privacy Rights
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Under the CCPA, among other rights, California consumers have the right to:
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Request that a business that collects a consumer’s personal data disclose the categories and specific pieces of personal data that a business has collected about consumers.
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Request that a business delete any personal data about the consumer that a business has collected.
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Request that a business that sells a consumer’s personal data, not sell the consumer’s personal data.
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If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us.
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GDPR Data Protection Rights
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We would like to make sure you are fully aware of all of your data protection rights. Every user is entitled to the following:
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The right to access – You have the right to request copies of your personal data. We may charge you a small fee for this service.
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The right to rectification – You have the right to request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request that we complete the information you believe is incomplete.
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The right to erasure – You have the right to request that we erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
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The right to restrict processing – You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
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The right to object to processing – You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
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The right to data portability – You have the right to request that we transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.
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Messaging Terms & Conditions
You agree to receive informational messages (appointment reminders, account notifications, etc.) from Potomac Oak Tutoring. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. For help, reply HELP or email us at signup@potomactutoring.com. You can opt out at any time by replying STOP.
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No mobile information will be shared with any third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. All other categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with or obtained by any third parties.
If you wish to be removed from receiving future communications, you can opt out at any time by texting STOP or contacting us at signup@potomactutoring.com.
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Recordings​
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​By signing up for any of our sessions, you grant permission for your student to be recorded. We record virtual sessions for a variety of reasons including for training, quality control, and marketing purposes. If at anytime you are uncomfortable with us using your student's likeness for marketing purposes, please let us know.