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 social and emotional challenges surface across learning culture, attendance, and engagement. These changes often develop gradually and can be hard to spot 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

  • Private, encrypted data practices

  • No external model training

  • No outside internet access

  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.

  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

  • Private, encrypted data practices

  • No external model training

  • No outside internet access

• 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.

• Why does BrainDash include the Wellness Buddy?

  The Wellness Buddy offers a simple, approachable way for students to check in and share how they’re doing. Designed to feel familiar and low-pressure, it encourages brief reflection without disrupting the school day.

  For schools, this provides a more consistent way to hear from students over time, using intentionally lightweight, unobtrusive moments. The Wellness Buddy does not monitor students continuously, give advice, or interpret responses. Schools decide when and how it’s used.

• 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.
  

• How is BrainDash aligned with COPPA-related practices?

  BrainDash follows principles and practices that align with COPPA’s intent around limiting data use, protecting privacy, and safeguarding student information. Schools remain responsible for obtaining any required permissions or notices under applicable law.

• 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.

• Can families or outside parties access BrainDash data?

  BrainDash is configured under the school’s control and aligned with school policies. Access is limited to authorized school personnel; BrainDash does not share student information with third parties, and it is not accessible by families or the general public without school approval.

• 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 handled)

  BrainDash uses a layered, evidence-informed data approach designed to surface meaningful patterns over time while maintaining clear boundaries around use, access, and decision-making.

  What the system uses

  • Structured check-in inputs related to sleep, stress, coping, readiness, and day-to-day functioning

  • Student feedback signals indicating whether a check-in felt accurate or relevant

  • Patterns derived from full check-in interactions, viewed across time rather than as single moments

  • Contextual school data, accessed through authenticated systems, to ensure insights are interpreted appropriately

  How data is handled

  • Raw responses and full transcripts are analyzed, but they are interpreted only in context and over time, not as isolated events

  • Personal and identifying information is protected through secure authentication and role-based access tied to existing school systems

  • AI-generated responses are tightly constrained, following defined prompts and guardrails, and are used only to support the check-in experience and pattern formation

  • No automated conclusions or actions are generated. Insight is presented to support professional review and judgment

  BrainDash does not provide diagnosis, treatment, or automated intervention, and it does not replace human decision-making at any point.

• Who decides what data BrainDash uses?

  Schools choose which internal data sources to connect with BrainDash. The platform does not autonomously connect to systems or pull additional information without school authorization and configuration. This means schools retain control over what BrainDash sees and uses.

• 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.