Privacy Policy

Information We Collect: We collect only what is necessary to provide cello lessons, sponsorships, and donation services:
- Parents/Guardians: name, email address, phone number, income verification documents (for sponsorships only), necessary data for improving website functionality.
- Sponsored Students: first/last name, grade level, photograph, video playing cello, short bio, monthly lesson videos
- Non-sponsored Students: first/last name, grade level,
- Donors: name, email address, donation amount/history, payment method (processed by Stripe)
- Payment Data: handled securely by Stripe — we never store card details
- Website Usage: IP address, browser type, pages visited, browsing behavior (via Wix analytics)
How We Use Your Information We use this information only in the following ways (all uses involving a student’s information require explicit parental consent):
- Schedule and deliver lessons
- Send lesson reminders and progress updates to parents
- With parental consent: display student’s first name, grade, photo, and bio on the sponsorship page
- With parental consent: share monthly 15-second lesson progress videos with donors
- Process and acknowledge donations
- Send donors updates about the student they support (with parental consent)
- Promotional Use (with separate explicit parental consent): We may feature a student’s first name, photo, short bio, and/or short video clips on our website, social media, newsletters, or fundraising materials to promote the academy and the sponsorship program. You will always be asked for separate, clear permission before any such use, and you may revoke it at any time by contacting us at houtzcelloacademy@gmail.com
- Improve site functionality and user experience: We may use anonymized or aggregated website usage data (e.g., which pages are visited most) to make the site faster, easier to navigate, and more helpful.
Sharing and Disclosure We share information only as follows:
- Assigned Donor: receives student’s first name, grade, photo, bio, and private monthly video (parental consent required)
- Stripe: processes payment and donor contact info (PCI-DSS compliant)
- Service Providers: Wix (hosting), Google Workspace (secure storage)
- Legal Requirements: We never sell, rent, or trade personal information. Donations are not tax-deductible — we are a private studio.
Photographs and Videos
- Explicit parental consent is required before any photo or video is used or shared
- Student photos and videos are used only for donor updates, the sponsorship page,
- Parents or donors may request removal, blurring, or deletion anytime by emailing houtzcelloacademy@gmail.com
Data Security
- All data is stored in password-protected systems
- Payment data is encrypted and handled exclusively by Stripe
- Access is limited to authorized personnel only.
Your Rights (Parents, Students, and Donors) To access, correct, delete, or restrict your (or your child’s) personal information, withdraw consent for photos/videos (including promotional use), or opt out of communications, you must contact us directly. We do not offer self-service tools for these actions. Please email houtzcelloacademy@gmail.com with your request. We will process it as soon as reasonably possible. For children under 13: All collection and use occurs only with verifiable parental consent (COPPA compliant).
Third-Party Links Our site may link to Stripe or Wix. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies.
Changes to This Policy We may update this policy. The latest version will always be posted here with the effective date.
Contact Us Houtz Cello Academy Email: houtzcelloacademy@gmail.com

Last names, home addresses, and school names are never collected or displayed.