Privacy Policy & SMS Terms of Service

Updated January 13, 2026

Germantown Friends School (“GFS,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) is committed to protecting the data entrusted to us. This privacy policy is intended to help you understand how we collect, use, share, and otherwise process the personal information of individuals who visit our websites or otherwise provide information to us. We apply the same principles to all personal information provided to us offline.

INFORMATION WE COLLECT

When using our websites or otherwise interacting with us, you may voluntarily provide personal information about yourself and others, including names; contact information; financial account information; and additional information related to GFS students and prospective students such as birth dates, class year, and educational records. We may also receive information about you, students, or prospective students from third parties and combine that with other personal information that we collect.

In addition to personal information, we may also gather technical information including, but not limited to, IP addresses; browser type; location of visitors (country, city); pages visited; device type; and time and date of visit. We and our educational partners may use cookies or similar technology to collect such information.

INFORMATION USE

We may use the personal and technical information we collect for any lawful purpose. These purposes include, but are not limited to, the following:

To process applications for admission and financial aid;
To create student, parent, and alumni directories;
To register you and/or your family members for GFS programs and services;
To execute enrollment contracts and user agreements;
To respond to your inquiries;
To process financial transactions for tuition, fees, event/program registrations, and philanthropic contributions;
To communicate with website visitors, students, parents, applicants, alumni, and others;
To conduct business-related activities such as analytics, research, advertising, monitoring, and marketing;
To maintain, operate, customize, and improve our websites;
To comply with law enforcement and maintain the security of our websites and our school;
As otherwise disclosed at the time of collection or use.

Information Sharing and Disclosure

We may share the personal information we have collected through our websites with other parties to the extent permitted by law, including, but not limited to:

Parents/guardians of a student;
GFS employees;
At your direction or request, such as providing student information to third parties related to standardized testing, transfers to a new school, in connection with financial aid applications and administration, or applications for higher education;
Accreditation, oversight, and research authorities;
Other members of the GFS community, such as through the publication of student and parent directories;
Volunteers, contractors, consultants, and other third-party service providers that we use to support GFS and provide services including fundraising, advertising, and marketing;
As part of a sale, merger, or acquisition, or other transfer of all or part of our assets including as part of a bankruptcy proceeding;
Pursuant to a subpoena, court order, or other legal process or as otherwise required or requested by law, regulation, or government authority programs;
To protect our rights or the rights or safety of third parties including in connection with disciplinary proceedings or a health or safety emergency;
With your consent (on behalf of yourself or a student or prospective student for whom you are the parent/guardian);
SMS opt-in and phone numbers collected for SMS communication purposes will not be shared with any unauthorized third party or affiliates for marketing purposes.

We may share technical information, as well as other information that has been de-identified or aggregated so that it does not identify you personally, without restriction.

We do not sell, trade, or rent any data.

Analytics

We may also work with third parties that collect data about your use of our websites over time for non-advertising purposes. For example, we use Google Analytics to improve the performance of our websites. Learn more about how Google collects and uses data, and opt out here.

Third-Party Links and Tools

Our websites may also include links to third-party websites or apps, as well as integrated social media tools or plug-ins, offered by third parties. If you use these links or tools to share personal information or otherwise interact with these features on our websites, those companies may collect information about you and may use and share such information in accordance with your account settings, including by sharing such information with the general public. Your interactions with third-party companies and your use of their features are governed by the privacy policies of the companies that provide those features. We do not control the privacy practices of those websites or apps, and they are not covered by this privacy policy. We encourage you to carefully read the privacy policies of any websites, apps, or tools that you use.

Children Under the Age of 13

Our website is not intended for children under 13 years of age. No one under age 13 may provide any personal information on the website. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without valid parental consent. If you are under 13, do not use or provide any information on our website. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at optout@germantownfriends.org.

Updating Your Information

You may request to review, change, or update your personal information by logging into the GFS Parent Portal or your profile on other school-affiliated platforms.

Updates to Our Privacy Policy

From time to time, we may update our privacy policy. If we do, we will post these changes on this page.

SMS Terms of Service

Acceptance of Terms By opting into our SMS services, you agree to these Terms of Service. If you do not agree with these terms, please do not use our SMS services.

Opt-In and Consent By providing your mobile number, you consent to receive SMS messages from GFS regarding school activities, emergency alerts, marketing, promotions, and important announcements. Standard message and data rates may apply. Opt in to SMS here.

Opt-Out You may opt out of SMS communications at any time by replying STOP to any message. You may also add your number to our Opt out of SMS form here. After opting out, you will no longer receive SMS communications from us.

Help and Support For assistance, reply HELP to any message or contact our technology department at optout@germantownfriends.org.

Message Frequency Message frequency will vary depending on school updates and emergency notifications. We reserve the right to adjust message frequency at any time.

Charges and Fees Standard message and data rates may apply as per your carrier’s terms. We are not responsible for any fees charged by your carrier.

Privacy and Data Use We respect your privacy. No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. All other categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties. Please review this full Privacy Policy for more details.

No Warranties We do not guarantee that SMS services will be error-free or uninterrupted. We are not responsible for delays or failures in message delivery.

Changes To Terms We may modify these Terms of Service at any time. Your continued use of our SMS services constitutes your acceptance of any changes.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us at:

Germantown Friends School
31 West Coulter Street, Philadelphia, PA 19144
215-951-2300
optout@germantownfriends.org