Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) form the agreement between you and Monte (“Monte,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) when you create a Monte account or use any Monte-branded mobile app, website, or service (collectively, the “Service”). Monte is a Montessori school-operations platform used by licensed Montessori schools and the adults who work with them.

By creating an account, accepting an invitation, or using the Service in any way, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not create an account and do not use the Service. If you are agreeing on behalf of a School, you represent that you have authority to bind that School to these Terms.

• Service — the Monte mobile app, website, related server infrastructure, and any features we provide under the Monte brand.
• Monte — Monte, the operator of the Service, whose legal notice address is listed in Section 28.
• School — a Montessori school, program, or classroom that has contracted with Monte to use the Service for its operations.
• Guide — a Montessori teacher employed or contracted by a School. Also called “Lead Guide” or “Staff” in the Service.
• Director — the School administrator role with the highest level of administrative privileges inside the Service.
• Parent — an adult parent or legal guardian of a Child whose educational records are maintained by a School in the Service.
• Child Data — personal information, including images, notes, developmental observations, medical and allergy details, and other records, about a child under 13, that is stored in the Service by a School or Parent.
• Education Records — as defined by FERPA (20 U.S.C. §1232g and 34 CFR Part 99) — records directly related to a student and maintained by an educational agency or institution, or a party acting for the agency or institution.
• UGC — user-generated content. Any content (photos, videos, notes, messages, observations, portfolio entries, etc.) uploaded to the Service by a user.
• Subscriber — the School that contracts with Monte and pays the subscription fee.
• Platform Provider — Apple Inc. (“Apple”) for iOS; Google LLC (“Google”) for Android.

Only adults may create accounts on the Service. Children do not use the Service. Children are the subjects of Education Records maintained by Schools; they are not users. If a person under 18 attempts to create an account, Monte will terminate it on discovery.

By creating or accepting an account, you represent and warrant that: (a) you are at least 18 years of age; (b) you have the legal capacity to enter into this contract; and (c) if you upload any information about a child, you are either the Parent or legal guardian of that child, or you are acting on behalf of a School under the authority described in Section 5.

These Terms bind:

• the individual user accepting them,
• in the case of School staff, the School whose behalf that user acts on (through authority delegated by the Director),
• in the case of invitees (staff, parents, volunteers), the individual who accepts the invitation.

The School separately binds itself through a written subscription agreement with Monte. These Terms do not replace that agreement. In the event of a conflict between these Terms and the School’s subscription agreement, the subscription agreement controls.

The Service is provided to Schools for a legitimate educational purpose. Monte does not collect Child Data directly from children.

Each School represents and warrants, on behalf of each Parent of each child for whom the School uploads or stores Child Data, that the School has the authority under COPPA’s “school authorization” exception (16 CFR §312.5(c), FTC COPPA Rule) to provide consent on behalf of those Parents for the limited educational purpose of operating the Service. The School further represents that it has provided each Parent with notice of the categories of Child Data collected, the purposes for which it is used, and the Parent’s rights to review and request deletion.

Monte operates as a “school official” with a “legitimate educational interest” under FERPA (34 CFR §99.31(a)(1)(i)(B)), performing an institutional service for the School that the School would otherwise use its own employees to perform. Monte is under the direct control of the School with regard to the use and maintenance of Education Records, and Monte will not re-disclose personally identifiable information from Education Records except as permitted by FERPA and directed by the School.

If a School cannot make the representations in this Section, the School may not use the Service.

Monte uses Child Data and Education Records only to operate, maintain, secure, support, and improve the Service for the School’s educational purpose. Specifically:

• No advertising. Monte shows no advertisements in the Service.
• No behavioral profiling. Monte does not build advertising or behavioral profiles of users or children.
• No sale. Monte does not sell, rent, or otherwise monetize personal information of users or children.
• No ML training on Child Data. Monte does not use Child Data to train machine-learning models except for narrow on-device or in-tenant features that operate exclusively on the School’s own data.
• No third-party transfer for marketing. Monte does not transfer Child Data to third parties for marketing purposes.

Child Data is used solely for the school-authorized educational purpose: recording observations, maintaining portfolios, communicating with Parents, scheduling, safety, and operations.

Subject to these Terms and your compliance with them, Monte grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to install and use the Service on devices you own or control, and solely for the Service’s authorized purposes. If you access the Service through an app distributed by Apple, this license is consistent with the Apple Usage Rules in the Apple Media Services Terms. If you access the Service through an app distributed by Google, this license is consistent with Google Play’s Terms of Service.

You may not:

• copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of the Service;
• reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive source code from any part of the Service, except where permitted by applicable law;
• remove any proprietary notices; or
• use the Service in a way that exceeds what a normal, authorized user of a School would do.

Monte has a zero-tolerance policy for abusive content and conduct. You agree not to upload, post, transmit, or otherwise make available through the Service any content or conduct that:

• is sexual, sexually suggestive, pornographic, or nude;
• exploits, endangers, or sexualizes any minor — any such content is a violation of federal law (18 U.S.C. §§2251, 2252) and of these Terms and will be reported as described in Section 9;
• is harassing, bullying, threatening, or intimidating;
• is hateful toward or incites violence against any person or group based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, or any other protected characteristic;
• is violent, graphically violent, or promotes self-harm;
• is illegal or promotes illegal activity;
• discloses another person’s private information without consent (“doxxing”);
• is spam, chain messages, bulk unsolicited messages, phishing, or deceptive content;
• impersonates another person or entity, or misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity;
• scrapes, harvests, or automatically extracts data from the Service, except where expressly permitted;
• probes, scans, or tests the vulnerability of the Service or circumvents any security or authentication measure;
• introduces viruses, malware, or other harmful code;
• interferes with, disrupts, or places an unreasonable load on the Service; or
• is otherwise prohibited by applicable law.

Violation of this Acceptable Use Policy may result in immediate suspension or termination of your account, removal of UGC, loss of access to the Service, and, for child-safety violations, mandatory reporting as described in Section 9.

The Service regularly handles photos and videos of children. You agree that:

• Adults may only upload images of children they are authorized to photograph — that is, a child of their own or, if they are School staff, a child whose School has media consent on file.
• If your upload depicts a child who is not yours (for Parents) or not a child your School has media consent for (for Staff), you must have authorization from the child’s Parent or legal guardian before uploading.
• Any content that sexualizes or exploits a minor, or that constitutes child sexual abuse material (“CSAM”) under 18 U.S.C. §2256, will trigger immediate, non-discretionary account termination.
• Monte will, as required by 18 U.S.C. §2258A, report all apparent instances of CSAM to the CyberTipline operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and will cooperate with law-enforcement requests related to those reports.
• You will not use the Service to contact a child in any way that is inappropriate for the educational relationship between Schools, Staff, and Parents.

If you become aware of a safety concern, contact us immediately at support@montepals.com and, if you believe a child is in danger, contact your local emergency services and the CyberTipline (1-800-843-5678 or report.cybertip.org).

UGC on the Service is moderated at two levels:

• Monte reserves the right, but does not have the obligation, to review, remove, restrict, or refuse any UGC for any reason, including violations of these Terms. Monte may also suspend or terminate accounts for repeat or serious violations.
• Schools, acting through their Directors, moderate content in their own tenant — they may remove UGC, restrict features, and suspend or remove users from their School’s use of the Service.

We aim to triage abuse reports within 24 hours of receipt. For time-sensitive safety concerns, contact support@montepals.com with the subject line “URGENT SAFETY REPORT.”

The Service includes in-app tools to report and block abuse:

• Messaging conversations include a “Block” and a “Flag” action on each message that routes the report to the appropriate School Director (acting as the tenant moderator).
• Observations, feed posts, portfolios, and announcements include a “Report” action that routes to the same Director workflow.
• The Service uses a director-as-tenant-moderator model: reports inside a School are handled first by the School’s Director, with Monte available for escalation.
• If abuse is occurring outside the messaging flow, or if the Director is the source of the abuse, route the report to support@montepals.com via Settings → Support inside the Service.

Monte supports and will assist with all good-faith reports and will, at its discretion, escalate to law enforcement as required.

You retain ownership of UGC you upload. By uploading UGC to the Service, you grant Monte a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, cache, back up, display, distribute (to the narrow audience within your School’s tenant), moderate, and otherwise process that UGC solely to operate and provide the Service to you and to your School, and to comply with law. This license ends when you or your School delete the UGC, except: (a) for backup copies maintained for a reasonable period and rotated out within 30 days, and (b) where Monte is required by law, or by a legitimate safety investigation, to retain the UGC.

For clarity, Monte does not acquire any ownership in your UGC and does not use your UGC for advertising, behavioral profiling, or general-purpose ML training. See Section 6 for purpose limits.

You agree that:

• information you provide at signup is true, accurate, and current;
• you will keep your login credentials confidential and will not share them;
• you are responsible for activity that occurs under your account;
• you will notify Monte promptly of any unauthorized access to your account at security@montepals.com;
• you are responsible for maintaining a secure device, including lock screens, OS updates, and up-to-date software.

Monte may require re-authentication or password rotation at any time if we reasonably believe an account has been compromised.

You may delete your personal Monte account at any time:

• In the app: Settings → Account → Delete Account
• On the web: montepals.com/delete-account

When you delete your personal account, Monte will delete or anonymize the personally identifiable information in your profile. However:

• School-retained records. If you are or were a School staff member or a Parent linked to a School, the School retains ownership of educational records created during your participation. Deleting your personal account removes your identity from those records but does not, by itself, remove the records. Parents wishing to have Child Data deleted should request removal from the School; Schools are responsible for honoring Parent deletion requests as required by FERPA, COPPA, and state law.
• Legal holds and safety records. If your account is subject to a legal hold or a pending abuse-report investigation, Monte may retain the necessary records for as long as the hold or investigation requires.
• Retention for state-law requirements. Some states require schools to retain student records for years after enrollment ends. Those records are owned and retained by the School, not by the user.
• Backup rotation. Backups that contain your personal information are rotated out within 30 days, after which Monte retains no accessible copy.
• School admins have a separate workflow. Deleting entire School tenant records requires a Director-initiated workflow coordinated with Monte support.

Monte is a business-to-business (“B2B”) service. Schools subscribe to the Service via a written agreement and are invoiced out-of-app. Monte does not sell subscriptions, one-time purchases, or tips inside the mobile app. The Monte mobile app does not use Apple’s In-App Purchase system or Google Play Billing.

Consumption-only access.The Service may be accessed through the app by existing paying subscribers of a School; subscriptions are not sold inside the mobile app. This reflects the narrow read-only / consumption-only permitted use under Google Play’s Payments Policy and the absence of any in-app digital goods sale.

Price changes.If the School-level subscription price changes, Monte will give the School at least 30 days’ advance notice and an opportunity to terminate prior to the change taking effect. Individual users are not charged.

Schools and Parents may enter allergy, medication, medical condition, immunization, emergency contact, and incident information into the Service. This information is used only for classroom safety, emergency response, and routine school operations.

• Not a medical device. The Service is not a medical device. It does not diagnose, treat, or make recommendations about medical conditions. Do not rely on the Service for emergency medical care.
• Not Apple HealthKit. The Service does not use Apple HealthKit and does not read from or write to Apple Health.
• FERPA education record. Health information entered into the Service about a student is treated as an Education Record.
• Sensitive data categorization. This information is treated as “Sensitive Info” for Apple’s App Privacy labels and as “Health info” for Google’s Data Safety form, with the specific purposes disclosed on those forms.

If you need urgent medical attention or a child under the School’s care needs urgent medical attention, call your local emergency services immediately — do not rely on the Service to relay the message.

Monte currently offers three sign-in methods for all users: email + password, email one-time passcode (OTP), and email magic-link. Monte does not currently offer Google Sign-In, Facebook Login, or any third-party social sign-in service on the Service.

If Monte adds a third-party sign-in option (such as Google or Facebook) in the future, Monte will also offer Sign in with Apple on platforms where Apple requires it, in accordance with App Store Review Guideline §4.8.

Monte uses service providers (“subprocessors”) to operate the Service — for example, for hosting, push notifications, image storage, analytics, and email delivery. A current list of Monte’s subprocessors is included in Monte’s Privacy Policy at montepals.com/privacy. Monte has a written data processing agreement (“DPA”) with each subprocessor.

Monte will give Schools at least 30 days’ notice of any material change to its subprocessors, and the School will have the opportunity to terminate its subscription if it objects to a new subprocessor.

Monte and its licensors own all right, title, and interest in the Service, including all software, content Monte creates, logos, trademarks, and other intellectual property. No license is granted to you except the limited license in Section 7.

You retain ownership of UGC you upload, subject to the license you grant Monte in Section 12. You represent that you have all rights necessary to upload your UGC and to grant that license.

If you send Monte feedback, bug reports, feature suggestions, or similar input (“Feedback”), you grant Monte a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable license to use that Feedback for any purpose, including to improve the Service. You are not entitled to compensation for Feedback.

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available” without warranties of any kind. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Monte disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement, and any warranty arising out of course of dealing or trade usage. Monte does not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or free of harmful components.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties. In those jurisdictions, the above exclusions apply only to the maximum extent permitted by law, and non-waivable consumer warranties are preserved.

To the maximum extent permitted by law:

• Monte will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, goodwill, or data, arising out of or related to your use of the Service, even if Monte has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
• Monte’s total aggregate liability to any individual user for all claims arising out of or related to these Terms or the Service will not exceed one hundred U.S. dollars (USD 100). A School’s total aggregate liability cap is defined in its separate subscription agreement with Monte; this Section does not modify that cap.
• Nothing in this Section excludes liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law, including liability for fraud, willful misconduct, or gross negligence.

Apple liability flow-down (iOS). As required by the Apple minimum terms, in the event of any failure of the Service to conform to any applicable warranty, the user may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price (if any) to the user. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation with respect to the Service.

Google liability flow-down (Android). Google is not a party to these Terms and has no responsibility for the Service.

By the School.Each School will indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Monte, its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claim, loss, liability, judgment, fine, or cost (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of: (a) the School’s uploads to the Service; (b) the School’s representations and warranties, including those about parental consent under Section 5; (c) the School’s violation of law; and (d) any act or omission of the School’s Directors, Guides, or staff that injures a child, Parent, or third party.

By the user.You will indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Monte, its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claim, loss, liability, judgment, fine, or cost arising out of: (a) your UGC; (b) your violation of the Acceptable Use Policy in Section 8 or the child-safety rules in Section 9; (c) your violation of these Terms; or (d) your violation of any applicable law.

This Section survives termination of these Terms.

For cause. Monte may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, with or without notice, for: (a) violation of these Terms (including the Acceptable Use Policy); (b) non-payment by the School; (c) behavior that poses a safety or security risk; or (d) as required by law.

For convenience.Monte may also terminate the Service or your access to it for convenience on at least 30 days’ notice to you or to the School.

By you. You may stop using the Service at any time. The School may terminate its subscription in accordance with its subscription agreement.

Effect of termination.On termination, your right to use the Service ends. Before permanently deleting a School tenant, Monte will, at the School’s written request, export the School’s data in a reasonable, machine-readable format. Monte will then delete the data consistent with Section 14. Sections that by their nature should survive (including IP ownership, UGC license, disclaimers, limits of liability, indemnity, dispute resolution, and miscellaneous) will survive termination.

Governing law. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Missouri, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules.

Exclusive venue for non-arbitrable claims. Any claim that is not subject to arbitration under this Section (including small-claims actions and claims for injunctive relief) will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Pettis County, Missouri. You and Monte consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

Informal resolution first. Before filing a claim, you and Monte agree to try in good faith to resolve any dispute by notice to legal@montepals.com (for claims against Monte) or to the user’s email of record (for claims by Monte). We agree to confer in good faith for 30 days after notice.

Binding arbitration.If the dispute is not resolved in 30 days, you and Monte agree that any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, before a single arbitrator, in Pettis County, Missouri (or by video conference at the claimant’s election). The Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. §§1 et seq.) governs the interpretation and enforcement of this Section. The arbitrator’s award is final and may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Small-claims carve-out. Either party may bring an individual small-claims action in a court of competent jurisdiction as an alternative to arbitration, so long as the action remains in that court and does not seek class relief.

Class-action waiver. You and Monte each agree to bring claims only individually, and not as a class member or class representative. The arbitrator may not consolidate claims of more than one person or preside over any form of representative or class proceeding.

30-day opt-out.You may opt out of the arbitration and class-action waiver by sending a written opt-out notice, within 30 days after first accepting these Terms, to legal@montepals.com with the subject line “Arbitration Opt-Out” and your full name and account email. An opt-out does not affect any other provision of these Terms.

If you access the Service through an app distributed by Apple on iOS, the following additional terms apply. They are included to satisfy Apple’s minimum terms for end-user license agreements in Schedule 1 of the Apple Developer Program License Agreement.

1. Acknowledgement. You acknowledge that these Terms are between you and Monte only, and not with Apple. Monte, not Apple, is solely responsible for the Service and its content.
2. Scope of license. The license granted to you in Section 7 is a non-transferable license to use the Service on any Apple-branded device that you own or control and as permitted by the Apple Usage Rules in the Apple Media Services Terms.
3. Maintenance and support. Monte is solely responsible for any maintenance and support services for the Service. Apple has no obligation whatsoever to furnish any maintenance and support services with respect to the Service.
4. Warranty. Monte is solely responsible for any product warranties. In the event of any failure of the Service to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price (if any) to you.
5. Product claims. You and Monte acknowledge that Monte, not Apple, is responsible for addressing any claims relating to the Service or your use of it.
6. Intellectual property rights. You and Monte acknowledge that, in the event of any third-party claim that the Service or your use of the Service infringes that third party’s intellectual property rights, Monte, not Apple, will be solely responsible for the investigation, defense, settlement, and discharge of any such intellectual property infringement claim.
7. Legal compliance. You represent and warrant that (i) you are not located in a country that is subject to a U.S. Government embargo, or that has been designated by the U.S. Government as a “terrorist supporting” country; and (ii) you are not listed on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
8. Developer name and address. Monte’s name and contact address for legal notice are set out in Section 28.
9. Third-party terms. You agree to comply with any applicable third-party terms of agreement when using the Service.
10. Third-party beneficiary. You and Monte acknowledge and agree that Apple, and Apple’s subsidiaries, are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms, and that, upon your acceptance of these Terms, Apple will have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce these Terms against you as a third-party beneficiary.

If you access the Service through an app distributed by Google on Android, the following additional terms apply.

• You agree to also comply with Google Play’s Terms of Service at play.google/about/play-terms.
• Google is not a party to these Terms and is not responsible for the Service, its support, any warranty claims, or any other obligation related to the Service.
• Google provides no warranties for the Service, express or implied.
• Monte is solely responsible for the Service, for any claims you may have about it, and for compliance with applicable law.

Legal notice address. Any legal notice required under these Terms must be sent to:

Email contacts.

• General / support: support@montepals.com
• Legal notices / disputes: legal@montepals.com
• Privacy inquiries / Parent rights: privacy@montepals.com
• Security vulnerabilities / incidents: security@montepals.com

Notices to you will be sent to the email address associated with your account. You are responsible for keeping that address current.

Monte may update these Terms from time to time.

• Material changes. Material changes (including changes that add new categories of data collection, new permitted uses, or new commercial obligations) require renewed in-app acceptance before you continue using the Service.
• Commercial changes. Changes that affect the commercial terms applicable to a School (for example, price changes) require at least 30 days’ prior notice to the School, and the School’s right to terminate its subscription before the change takes effect.
• Other changes. Other changes (clarifications, typo fixes, or legal-text updates that do not expand Monte’s rights or reduce your rights) take effect on the new Effective date, and continued use constitutes acceptance.

We will, in all cases, post the updated Terms in the app and on our website, with a new version number and Effective date.

Severability. If any provision of these Terms is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force.

Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the School’s subscription agreement (where applicable) and the Monte Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and Monte regarding the Service, and they supersede any prior or contemporaneous communications on the subject.

Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms without Monte’s prior written consent. Monte may assign these Terms, in whole or in part, to an affiliate or in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets.

Force majeure. Neither party will be liable for any delay or failure to perform due to causes beyond its reasonable control, including natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism, labor disputes, utility or internet outages, and governmental actions.

No waiver. A party’s failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of its right to enforce that provision later.

Relationship. The parties are independent contractors. These Terms do not create an agency, partnership, joint venture, or employment relationship.

Headings. Section headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation.