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Thea the owlWrite with Thea

Terms of Use

Effective Date: February 28, 2026

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using Write with Thea (“the Service”), available at writewiththea.org, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service. If you are using the Service on behalf of a school or district, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization to these terms.

2. Description of the Service

Write with Thea is a free, web-based writing instruction platform for primary-grade students. The Service provides a structured, step-by-step research paper writing process guided by an AI-powered owl character named Thea. The Service is built on the methodology of Thea Holtan (1973) and Dr. Hilda Taba’s inductive teaching strategies.

3. User Accounts

Teachers

Teachers create accounts using an email address and authenticate via magic link (passwordless login). You are responsible for maintaining the security of your email account and for all activity under your account.

Students

Students access the Service using a class code provided by their teacher and a first name. Students do not create accounts, do not provide email addresses, and are not required to authenticate. A project code is generated for each student to resume their work.

4. Use of AI Features

The Service includes AI-powered features (“Ask Thea”) that provide personalized writing feedback and coaching to students. These features:

  • Are designed to teach writing skills, not to generate writing on behalf of students
  • Can be enabled or disabled by teachers on a per-class basis
  • Use third-party AI services (Anthropic Claude) to process student inputs and generate responses
  • Do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or appropriateness of AI-generated feedback

Teachers are encouraged to review AI-generated feedback and exercise professional judgment. AI coaching is a supplement to, not a replacement for, teacher instruction.

5. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

  • Use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable laws
  • Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of the Service
  • Interfere with or disrupt the Service or servers connected to it
  • Use the Service to collect personal information about students beyond what is necessary for educational purposes
  • Share student project codes publicly or with unauthorized parties
  • Attempt to reverse engineer, decompile, or extract source code from the Service

6. Student Content

Students retain ownership of all writing, notes, and other content they create using the Service. Write with Thea does not claim ownership of student work. Student content is stored to enable the educational features of the Service and may be accessed by the student’s teacher for instructional purposes.

7. Creative Commons Licensing

The Write with Thea methodology and instructional content are licensed under Creative Commons. The software platform, design, and Thea character are proprietary to Write with Thea. You may not reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works of the platform without permission.

8. Privacy

Your use of the Service is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which describes how we collect, use, and protect personal information including student data.

9. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Write with Thea does not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of harmful components. AI feedback is generated programmatically and may contain inaccuracies.

10. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Write with Thea shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of or related to your use of the Service, including but not limited to loss of data, loss of educational progress, or reliance on AI-generated content.

11. Modifications to the Service and Terms

Write with Thea reserves the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the Service at any time. We may also update these Terms of Use from time to time. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated terms. Material changes will be communicated via the Service or by email to registered teachers.

12. Termination

Write with Thea may suspend or terminate access to the Service for users who violate these Terms of Use. Teachers may delete their account and associated class data at any time by contacting us.

13. Governing Law

These Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Minnesota, without regard to conflicts of law provisions.

14. Contact

If you have questions about these Terms of Use, please contact us at feedback@writewiththea.org.