Privacy Policy

1. Who we are and what this policy covers

Dreamlight High School (“Dreamlight”, “we”, “us”) is a not-for-profit virtual school registered in the State of Florida, located at 1655 E. Semoran Blvd, Suite 28, Apopka, Florida 32703. This policy applies to this website, our online admission and contact forms, our student portal and the online learning services we provide to enrolled students. It does not cover third-party websites linked from our site, which have their own policies.

2. Information we collect

Information you give us. When you apply, enroll or contact us, we collect the information needed for those purposes:

• Applicant and student information: name, date of birth, gender, optional race or ethnicity for statistical reporting, contact details, home address, e-mail and phone numbers.
• Parent or guardian information: name, relationship to the student, e-mail and phone number.
• Education records: previous schools, transcripts, report cards, grade level, credits, learning accommodations such as an IEP or 504 plan, and the records we create while you study with us (assignments, grades, attendance, plan of study, diploma).
• Identity documents: a government-issued photo ID or birth certificate, and proof of guardianship for minors, to verify identity and eligibility.
• Communications: messages sent through our forms, e-mail, phone or WhatsApp.

Payment information. Application fees and tuition are processed by an independent, PCI DSS-compliant payment processor. Card details are entered in a secure field hosted by that processor and are never stored on our systems. We receive only a transaction reference, the amount, the payment status and the billing name.

Information collected automatically. Like most websites, we receive technical information such as browser type, device, pages viewed and approximate location derived from your IP address, through cookies and similar technologies described in section 7. Our forms are configured not to store IP addresses with your submission.

What we do not collect online. We do not ask for Social Security numbers, financial account numbers or health information in our online forms.

3. Children’s privacy

Dreamlight serves students from grade 6, some of whom are under 13. In accordance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), we do not knowingly collect personal information online directly from a child under 13. The admission application for any student under 18 must be completed by a parent or legal guardian, who provides the child’s information and consents to its use for enrollment and education. Once enrolled, students under 13 use our learning platforms under school-authorized accounts, for educational purposes only, and we do not permit those platforms to use student data for targeted advertising. A parent may review the information we hold about their child, ask us to correct or delete it, or withdraw consent, by contacting us as described in section 13.

4. How we use information

We use personal information to:

• review admission applications, verify identity and eligibility, and evaluate transfer credits;
• build and update each student’s plan of study, deliver courses, grade assignments, administer proctored assessments and issue transcripts and diplomas;
• process application fees and tuition payments and keep financial records;
• communicate with students and families about their application, progress, attendance, schedule and school announcements;
• provide academic advising, tutoring, counseling and technical support;
• comply with Florida and federal education, tax and record-keeping requirements;
• protect the security of our systems and prevent fraud;
• improve our website and services, using aggregated statistics that do not identify individuals.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not use student information for advertising or marketing to children.

5. How we share information

We share personal information only when necessary to operate the school, and only with parties bound to protect it:

• Service providers that act on our behalf: our payment processor, our learning management platform (Google Workspace for Education and Google Classroom), our website host, e-mail and form providers, proctoring services and cloud storage. They may use the information only to provide their service to us.
• Partner institutions: for students who participate in dual enrollment, the information needed to register with the partner university, with the family’s knowledge.
• Other schools: official transcripts and records sent at the request of the student or parent, for example when transferring.
• Authorities: the Florida Department of Education, the National Center for Education Statistics and other public bodies where the law requires reporting, and courts or law enforcement when legally compelled.
• Successors: if the school merges with or transfers its operations to another institution, records may be transferred subject to this policy.

We may disclose directory information (such as a student’s name, grade level, dates of attendance and honors) for school announcements or graduation programs. Parents and eligible students may opt out of directory disclosures at any time by writing to the registrar.

6. Student education records

We maintain education records in line with the principles of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Florida law. Parents of students under 18, and students who are 18 or older (“eligible students”), have the right to:

• inspect and review the student’s education records within a reasonable time of a written request;
• request the correction of records they believe are inaccurate or misleading, and to a review if the request is refused;
• consent before personally identifiable information from education records is disclosed, except where disclosure is permitted without consent (for example to school officials with a legitimate educational interest, to another school where the student seeks to enroll, or as required by law);
• receive a copy of this policy and file a concern with the school administration.

Requests should be sent to the registrar using the contact details in section 13.

7. Cookies and analytics

Our website uses strictly necessary cookies to keep the site secure, remember form progress (for example the “save and continue later” feature of the application) and keep you signed in to the student portal. If we use analytics tools, they collect aggregated usage statistics with IP anonymization enabled, and we do not use advertising cookies. You can disable cookies in your browser settings; some features, such as saving an application in progress, may then not work.

8. How long we keep information

• Applications not followed by enrollment: deleted 12 months after the decision.
• Contact form messages: deleted 6 months after they are closed.
• Student education records: transcripts and diploma records are kept permanently, as required for former students to obtain official copies; other records (assignments, attendance, correspondence) are kept for 5 years after the student leaves the school.
• Financial records: kept for 7 years to meet tax and accounting obligations.
• Identity documents: deleted once identity and eligibility have been verified and recorded, unless the law requires otherwise.

9. How we protect information

We use administrative, technical and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information: encryption in transit (HTTPS) on all pages and forms, encryption of sensitive form data at rest, access limited to staff who need it for their role, two-factor authentication for administrators, regular software updates and backups, and contracts with our service providers requiring equivalent protection. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure; if we learn of a breach affecting your personal information, we will notify you and the relevant authorities as required by the Florida Information Protection Act and other applicable laws.

10. Your rights and choices

Subject to applicable law, you may ask us to:

• tell you what personal information we hold about you or your child and provide a copy;
• correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete;
• delete information we no longer need to keep;
• stop sending you non-essential communications (every marketing e-mail includes an unsubscribe link; transactional messages about your enrollment will continue);
• opt out of directory information disclosures.

To exercise these rights, contact us as described in section 13. We will verify your identity before acting on a request and respond within 30 days. We will not treat you differently for exercising your rights.

11. International students and data transfers

Dreamlight serves students located outside the United States. Information you provide is processed and stored in the United States, where privacy laws may differ from those of your country. By using our services, you consent to this transfer. If you are located in a jurisdiction that grants additional rights, such as the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we honor those rights on request.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy to reflect changes in our practices or the law. The effective date at the top of the page shows the current version. If a change materially affects how we use student information, we will notify enrolled families by e-mail before it takes effect.

13. Contact us

Questions, requests and complaints about privacy can be sent to:

Dreamlight High School, Registrar
1655 E. Semoran Blvd, Suite 28
Apopka, Florida 32703, United States
E-mail: info@dreamlighthighschool.com
Phone: +1 407 814-3030

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Florida Department of Education or, for children’s privacy matters, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.