We love Apollo… what is Apollo Online!?

Apollo is a national PK – 8 afterschool education program. Our mission is to make learning fun and exciting for kids – and our classes are now available online! We’ve adapted some of our most popular activities in the physical classroom to fit the digital one. These include puzzles, arts and crafts, storytelling – even science experiments online! Apollo Online is designed to be an enjoyable and valuable experience for our students, even after they can finally go back to their regular classes.

How does this whole ‘Apollo Online!’ thing work?

When you register, you’ll pick a day, time slot, and age level that works best for your family. Our administrative staff will send you information on how to get your technology set up to participate in the class. One of our amazing Apollo instructors will lead each class of up to six students. Kids will engage in at least two activities in each class, along with Brain Breaks and group activities, all while learning fun new facts about the theme! To register, click here. For more information on our Apollo Online class themes and activities, click here. For our safety and privacy measures, click here.

How do I register?

First, you’ll need to sign up. You’ll pick a day, theme, and timeslot. If you haven’t already, you’ll create a profile and enter your family's information. Our administrative staff will send you information on how to get your technology set up to participate in the class. To register, click here. For more information on our Apollo, click here. For our safety and privacy measures, click here.

Where do I get the supplies for class?

We will send you a supply list for the classes you register for. Supply lists are also available to view from our main registration page by clicking on the drop-down menu for any particular theme. The supplies are primarily things you already have at home such as markers, computer paper, crayons, glue, baking soda etc. Occasionally we may use a piece of construction paper or tissue paper. Both can be found at the dollar store.

What software do you use for your Apollo Online! classes?

Currently we use Zoom Meetings. We know there has been some negative press about Zoom lately, and these stories typically relate to users not utilizing all of the safety measures built into the platform.

How do we join our class?

Prior to the beginning of the class, you will receive an email with a Zoom Meeting link for your upcoming class session. For safety, you must download, set up, and sign into the app – you cannot log into our classes from your web browser. If you’re having trouble, please check out our tutorial here.

Can I use a tablet or mobile device?

Our interactive experience has been created for a laptop or desktop computer. For best results, we recommend not using a tablet or mobile device.

How can we be assured the Zoom Meeting rooms are secure?

  • Our top priority is to ensure your children’s safety during each of our sessions. We have taken the following steps:

  • All Zoom settings have been specifically adjusted to safeguard our online classes

  • Only invited parents can participate. No one can get the link unless a parent who has registered forwards their invitation to someone else, which is against our policy. See below for our safeguards on preventing this from happening.

  • No one is able to join the meeting prior to our host joining.

  • Once the class begins, the meeting is locked and no one else that can join the meeting.

  • Parents are required to register for the meeting in the app; this tracks your IP address.

  • All children are put into a waiting room prior to the class, then our teachers will individually check participants' video and audio settings prior to letting each child into the class to ensure only registered students are allowed in.

  • All meetings are recorded, and a copy is saved for safety and internal training purposes only.

  • Our maximum instructor: student ratio is 1:6, which allows us to monitor each child's activity.

  • All classes are led by our best Apollo instructors from around the country, with years of experience making learning fun. Each instructor is trained on quickly troubleshooting all of the most common setup and technical issues.

I know we’re at home, but kids are… kids. What if we’re late to our scheduled class?

If you will be more than 15 minutes late for a scheduled class, then you would need to get in touch with our Customer Service department so they can reschedule you for a different session. You paid for an hour – we want you to get your money’s worth! If you contact us before the class has begun, we will probably be able to reschedule you, but if you contact us after the class has already begun, you may not be eligible for a refund. If you are less than 15 minutes late, you can still get in touch with a customer service representative and they will attempt to connect you. Please understand that it might take a few minutes for someone to connect you… if you’re running late, there are always other classes you can join.

I have more than one child – can they both attend?

Our policy is one child, per device. We’d like each student to have the best experience possible, which isn’t possible with two students jostling for attention and control on the same computer. It’s totally cool for another student to watch – they just cannot interact with the rest of the class.

Can a parent attend the class?

You can say hello to the instructor when you sign in and you’re helping your child get set up and logged in. During the actual class, we ask that you not be on screen and not participate, as this would distract the other students. Of course, you can watch off screen and talk to your child off screen, but we ask that you not engage with any of the other children, and not distract your child from the class. Thank you!

How many times can I reschedule a class?

If you are experiencing technical difficulties, or a need to reschedule for another reason, you will only be able to reschedule your class once. If you will not be able to attend a class, we do ask that you try to notify us in advance so we can make the necessary adjustments and open your spot to another student.

What topics will you teach?

When you register, you must select a class theme for your child. Information on each of our themes is available from our main registration page, as a drop-down menu. The instructor will start the class with a main project. It’s important that you have all supplies ready at the beginning of the class. We don’t want everyone waiting around while kids scramble to get their supplies. Don’t worry, we send the supply list in advance and it’s primarily things you probably already have in your cabinets! We teach arts, crafts, science, storytelling. We will continue to expand out as the year goes on. Check our listing for all the great classes.

Will we have the same instructor each class?

Only our best, most experienced Apollo instructors are eligible to teach online classes, and each of them has been trained on sharing information online. It is possible depending on the type of registration that you opt to sign up for, but is not always guaranteed. Please reach out to our customer service team to find out more information!

Do you offer classes in other time zones besides Eastern Standard Time?

Currently we are scheduling all of our classes in Eastern Standard Time to avoid any confusion in our administrative process. We’re a national program, and it’s easy to get things confused! Here is a helpful tool to help you with conversions from your local time: https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/

What is the cost per class?

The cost of a class is $15.00 and they are 1 hour long. You can see our range of classes here.

Can we get a refund if we no longer want to participate?

You will only be charged after you have confirmed the day, time, and age level of your class, but once you do, payments are final and will not be refunded. We are happy to give you a credit for a future class.

Can we get a refund if we did not have a good experience?

Absolutely. It’s important to us that you and your child have a great experience with our class and we want you to be happy you registered. If you did not have a good experience with the content of the class, we’ll ask you to fill out our feedback survey and first try to reschedule you for a class or an instructor that better fits your needs. In the unlikely event an instructor or student violates our Apollo Online! Instructor or Student Code of Conducts, we will ask for your feedback, and be happy to refund you if you are uncomfortable rescheduling. If a class is canceled due to a technical issue on our end, we will offer you credit towards a future class.

Please check out our Student and Instructor Code of Conduct here.

Please send us your feedback - good, bad, or amazing - using this survey.

When will regular Apollo classes start up again?

Since the return date for kids going back to school is so fluid right now, it’s hard to say. We’re talking to principals and coordinators during the shut-down, and trying to resume classes as soon as possible. Either Apollo, or the school or organization you registered with, will be sending out more information as soon as it is available.

I registered for a class today that's scheduled later on, how come I haven't gotten a meeting invite?

We encourage parents to register at least 24 hours before the start of the class. This will give our administrative staff enough time to ensure that all the necessary set up has been completed for your child's upcoming class.