Shepherd Skills Terms of Service
Shepherd Skills Terms of Service
Effective Date: October, 2026
Spectrum Shepherd, Inc., a Delaware corporation doing business as Shepherd Skills ("Shepherd Skills", "we", "us", "our"),
provides Shepherd Skills, a web-based life-skills and transition curriculum for students with autism and other neurodiverse learners (the "Service"). These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of the Service. By using the Service, you agree to these Terms.
If you use the Service on behalf of a school, district or other educational organization (a "School"), you confirm that you are authorized to accept these Terms for it. If a School has a signed agreement with us, such as an order form, service agreement or student data privacy agreement, that agreement controls wherever it conflicts with these Terms.
1. Who May Use the Service
School accounts only. Accounts are provided through a School. Learners may join only through an invitation code issued by their School. Students may not sign up on their own.
Educators. Teachers and other School staff may use the Service when authorized by their School. Educators must be at least 18 years old.
Free trial. An individual educator may use a free trial for 45 days from sign-up, under these Terms. We may change or end the free trial offer at any time.
2. Accounts and Sign-In
You may sign in with a Google account, or a Microsoft account. Keep your sign-in details secure and do not share your account. Tell us promptly at info@spectrumshepherd.com if you believe your account has been used without permission. Schools are responsible for deciding who has access, and for removing access when staff leave or change roles.
3. The Service and AI Features
The Service includes interactive lessons and games, personalized lesson content, recorded and AI-generated narration, learning plans with optional AI-assisted skill recommendations, progress tracking, progress reports with automated summaries, and in-app messages between teachers and learners.
AI-generated content can be inaccurate, incomplete or biased. Educators should review AI-generated recommendations and report summaries before relying on them. The Service supports, and does not replace, the professional judgment of educators, IEP teams and other professionals. It does not provide medical, clinical or psychological advice.
4. Student Data and Privacy
Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect and use information. For student data:
Student education records remain the property of and under the control of the School. We use those records only to provide and support the School-authorized Service. Where the School relies on FERPA’s school official exception, we remain under the School’s direct control regarding the use and maintenance of those records and comply with applicable restrictions on use and redisclosure.
We do not sell student data or use it for targeted advertising.
Where the School has signed a student data privacy agreement with us, that agreement governs student data and controls over these Terms.
Where COPPA applies, Shepherd Skills will provide the required notices and obtain legally sufficient consent before collecting children’s personal information. We will rely on School authorization only where legally permitted for School-authorized educational purposes.
5. Content and Ownership
Your content. You and your School keep ownership of content you submit, such as profile information, goals and messages. You give us permission to store and use it only to provide and support the Service.
Our content. Shepherd Skills and its licensors retain their respective rights in the Service and its content, including lessons, games, narration, artwork, software, names, and logos. Schools and their authorized users may use the Service and its content for the School’s educational purposes, subject to these Terms and any signed agreement.
Feedback. If you send us suggestions, we may use them without any obligation to you.
6. Acceptable Use
You agree not to:
Share accounts or invitation codes with anyone not authorized by your School;
enter information you are not authorized to share, or sensitive information the Service does not ask for, such as medical records or Social Security numbers;
Copy, resell or redistribute the Service or its lessons outside your School;
Reverse engineer the Service, scrape it, or interfere with its security or operation;
Use the Service to harass anyone or to post unlawful or inappropriate content.
We may suspend access that breaks these rules. Where possible, we will tell the School first.
7. Fees and Payment
Paid use is licensed to Schools for the term, price and number of users stated in a written quote or order form.
We invoice Schools, and payment is due according to the terms agreed in the School’s accepted quote, order form, or service agreement.
Licenses do not renew automatically and are not charged to a card. Renewals are agreed in writing.
Prices exclude taxes. Tax-exempt Schools should send us their exemption certificate.
8. Service Providers
We use service providers to run the Service, including Amazon Web Services for hosting, Google and Microsoft for sign-in, and OpenAI for AI features. Our Privacy Policy lists them and what they receive. We are not responsible for outages caused by events outside our reasonable control.
9. Changes to the Service and These Terms
We improve the Service over time and may change features. If we make a material change to these Terms, we will give Schools at least 30 days' notice by email or in the Service. Changes do not override a School's signed agreement with us.
10. Term and Termination
A School’s access runs for the period specified in its accepted order form, service agreement, or written Pilot confirmation.
You may stop using the Service at any time. A School may end its paid license as provided in its signed agreement. Pilot termination is governed by Section 12.
We may suspend or end access for serious or repeated breaches of these Terms.
When a School’s license or Pilot ends, we will return or delete its student data in accordance with its signed data privacy agreement and applicable law. A written request is not required where an applicable agreement or law requires return or deletion without one.
11. Disclaimers
We work to keep the Service accurate and available, but it is provided "as is" and "as available". To the extent the law allows, we make no warranties beyond those in these Terms or a School's signed agreement, including any warranty that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that AI-generated content will be accurate.
12. Pilot Use
We may provide a School with access to the Service for an agreed evaluation period (“Pilot”). The Pilot period and any Pilot fees, if applicable, must be agreed in writing before the Pilot begins. A School Pilot may have a different duration from an individual educator’s free trial.
No obligation to purchase. Participation in a Pilot does not obligate the School to purchase a subscription, renew access, or continue using the Service. The Pilot will not automatically convert to a paid subscription. Any purchase following the Pilot requires a separate written agreement accepted by an authorized School representative.
Ending the Pilot. Either party may end the Pilot by written notice to the other. Ending the Pilot does not create a cancellation fee or an obligation to purchase. Any fees expressly agreed for the Pilot remain governed by that written agreement.
Evaluation and limitations. Pilot access is provided for evaluation on an “as is” and “as available” basis, to the extent permitted by applicable law. We do not guarantee uninterrupted access, error-free operation, or particular educational outcomes. Educators remain responsible for reviewing content and determining its suitability for their students. The limitation of liability provisions in these Terms apply to Pilot use.
Student data. The student privacy, security, and data return or deletion requirements applicable to the Service also apply during and after the Pilot. Nothing in this section overrides a signed agreement with the School or limits obligations that cannot lawfully be limited.
13. Limitation of Liability
To the extent permitted by applicable law, Shepherd Skills will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service, including Pilot use, even if advised of the possibility of those damages.
To the extent permitted by applicable law, Shepherd Skills’ total aggregate liability to a School for all claims arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service, including Pilot use, will not exceed the greater of (a) $5,000 or (b) the fees paid by that School for the Service during the twelve months immediately preceding the first event giving rise to a claim. This limit applies regardless of the legal theory asserted, including contract or negligence, and is an aggregate limit rather than a separate limit for each claim.
The limitations in this section do not apply to liability arising from Shepherd Skills’ fraud, gross negligence, or willful misconduct, or to liability that cannot lawfully be limited. Any different allocation of liability expressly established in a signed agreement between Shepherd Skills and the School, including a student data privacy agreement, controls over this section.
14. General
Order of precedence: a School's signed data privacy agreement, then its order form or service agreement, then these Terms, then the Privacy Policy.
Entire agreement: these Terms and any signed agreement with a School are the full agreement on this subject.
Assignment: we may transfer these Terms in a merger or sale of our business, with notice to Schools as required by their agreements with us.
Events outside our control: neither party is responsible for delays caused by events outside its reasonable control.
Severability and waiver: if part of these Terms is unenforceable, the rest still applies. Not enforcing a term is not a waiver of it.
Notices: we may send notices by email or in the Service.
15. Contact Us
Spectrum Shepherd, Inc.
6 Liberty Square, Boston, MA 02109
General: info@spectrumshepherd.com
Privacy: privacy@spectrumshepherd.com