FAQs

• What is BrainDash designed to solve?

  Schools face two persistent gaps:

  1. Limited early visibility and context

     Counselors are often brought in after a concern surfaces, when a student is already struggling in class, behavior has changed, or a parent raises an issue. What is usually missing is the buildup: the gradual shifts across stress, engagement, and functioning that led there.

     BrainDash provides the missing context by surfacing early, patterned changes over time, not just when a concern becomes visible.

  2. Late activation across most tools

     Most school-based solutions engage after symptoms appear or disruption has already occurred. BrainDash helps adults see early risk signals sooner, while there is still time for measured, preventive action guided by professional judgment.

  Our goal

  To give counselors and leadership teams clearer context earlier, so they can support learners more thoughtfully and strengthen the school’s ability to care for its community before issues escalate or force reactive decisions.

• How does BrainDash fit into existing school support?

  Schools are seeing increased strain show up in classrooms, attendance, behavior, and engagement. These challenges often build gradually and can be difficult to detect early, especially with limited counselor capacity.
  
  BrainDash fits within a school’s existing support approach by providing counselors with earlier context before concerns escalate. Counselors remain on the front line and are supported by improved timing and visibility, enabling them to do what they already do best: support students thoughtfully and appropriately.
  
  This strengthens existing support structures rather than changing the school’s role.

• What are BrainDash safety standards?

  The American Psychological Association (APA) and The Jed Foundation have issued clear guidance for youth-facing AI tools, emphasizing strong guardrails, transparency, limited scope, and human oversight.
  
  BrainDash was designed to align with and exceed these expectations.
  
  The BrainDash Interactive Wellness Buddy operates within strict boundaries:

  • No AI-generated advice or coping strategies

  • No interpretation of feelings

  • No therapeutic role

  • School-controlled activation and settings

  • Human oversight at every step

  • Private, encrypted data practices

  • No external model training

  BrainDash may support the delivery of school- or counselor-authored content, but the AI itself never selects, generates, or directs guidance.

• What is the Interactive Wellness Buddy?

  BrainDash includes a chat-based interface called the Interactive Wellness Buddy. It is designed only to support:
  

  • Emotional reflection

  • Context gathering
    

  • Structured check-ins
    

  It does not give advice, guidance, interpretations, or strategies.
  
  It does not simulate a therapist or coach.
  
  It does not manage or direct care.
  
  Its sole purpose is to make brief, age-appropriate check-ins feel natural, safe, and consistent for students.
  

• What should we tell parents about the Wellness Buddy?

  The Interactive Wellness Buddy is a simple, structured check-in tool designed to make reflection easy and age-appropriate for students.
  
  It does not give advice, interpret feelings, or guide behavior. Its purpose is to make check-ins feel natural, so counselors can better understand patterns over time. Any guidance or follow-up always comes from school adults, not the technology.

• How does the Wellness Buddy avoid common AI Risks?

  American Psychological Association and The JED Foundation highlight risks when AI gives advice, encourages emotional disclosure, creates dependency, role-plays as a therapist, or responds unpredictably.

  The Wellness Buddy avoids these risks through fixed, governed limits. Conversations operate within clear boundaries, remain brief, and are designed only to support reflection and check-ins. The system does not probe, interpret, recommend, or guide.

  Schools control when and how the Wellness Buddy is used, including tone and depth. The experience is structured and predictable, not open-ended or exploratory.

• How does this ultimately help students?

  BrainDash helps schools support students earlier, when challenges are smaller and easier to address.

  By improving visibility and timing, counselors can help students feel more ready, more supported, and better prepared to handle the demands of school and life. The goal is not intervention for its own sake, but thoughtful support that strengthens readiness over time.
  

• What happens if a student shares something concerning?

  If concerning content appears, the system immediately shifts into safety mode.

  • The conversation is gently closed with a school-approved message, such as:

     “Thank you for sharing. It’s important to talk with an adult you trust. Please reach out to your counselor, teacher, or parent.”

  • A counselor is notified. Human review is always required.

  • No advice, reassurance, or interpretation is given. The system does not attempt to de-escalate or respond clinically.

  This ensures student safety while keeping all decisions and action with trained adults.

• Is BrainDash designed to diagnose or treat students?

  No. BrainDash does not diagnose, label, or treat mental health conditions.
  
  It is a counselor insight and decision-support tool. It helps surface patterns related to readiness and functioning so counselors can decide when and how to engage. BrainDash supports professional judgment; it does not replace it.

• What would parents think about BrainDash?

  Research consistently shows that the vast majority of parents expect schools to notice when students are struggling and to respond appropriately. BrainDash supports that expectation by helping counselors identify patterns earlier, enabling support before challenges escalate.
  
  When positioned clearly, parents tend to view BrainDash as a responsible extension of the care schools already provide, rather than as something new or intrusive.
  
  Make sure to ask us about our onboarding communication plans and templates.

• What do counselors see on their dashboard?

  Today, BrainDash provides counselors with summarized insights and patterns only.
  
  The platform is designed to surface trends and context over time, not to present or replay individual student conversations.

  Conversation content is intentionally excluded so insight remains high-level, governed, and focused on functioning rather than disclosure.

  This preserves privacy, reduces risk, and keeps professional judgment centered where it belongs.

• How is data used? (and not used)

  BrainDash uses a layered, evidence-based data schedule designed to surface early shifts before disruption occurs.

  What the system uses

  • Structured signals such as stress, coping, readiness, and day-to-day functioning

  • Simple confirmation signals indicating whether a check-in felt accurate

  • High-level indicators such as overall sentiment or stability trends over time

  What the system does not use

  • Raw chat text

  • Personal details

  • Full conversation transcripts

  • Any AI-generated responses

• What about FERPA & security?

  Student data security and privacy are core requirements.
  
  BrainDash is designed with student privacy and security as core requirements. Student information remains under school control; access is limited to authorized personnel; and data is protected by enterprise-grade security and encryption.
  
  Sensitive identifiers are tokenized, and students and staff access BrainDash through the school’s existing login system.

  BrainDash stores only the information needed to support counselor insight and student readiness, does not sell or share student data, and is designed to support schools in meeting their obligations under FERPA.

• How does BrainDash surface reliable insights over time?

  BrainDash looks at patterns, not moments.
  The system relies on:

  • Trends observed over time, rather than one-day responses

  • Input from multiple sources, not a single question or interaction

  • Consistency across days and contexts, so brief fluctuations do not drive insight

  • Thresholds that require sustained change, ensuring insights surface only when patterns are established

  A single difficult day does not trigger insight. Patterns emerge only when consistent, multimodal change occurs.