Bubbles Pod Parents

• Communicating before your first Bubbles day
  Communicating before your first Bubbles day

  We highly recommend families and their teacher to have a 1 hour orientation call before the first day of their Bubble to set expectations.

  Your orientation call should include:

  • Arrival time and end time 
  • Lunch break. It is mandatory for all teachers to take a 30-minute uninterrupted lunch if they are working 5 hours and 1 minute or more a day. They should not be supervising students during this time. You will be invoiced for the cost of their lunch period if they are not provided one, plus the meal break penalty charge (CA) as applicable. 
  • Wifi setup: Make sure your student's computers are all connected and ready to learn. 
  • Distance learning passwords for each child
  • Curriculum from the district, if already provided to parents
  • Please provide the teacher with a list of supplies
  • Reiterate each child's special need or area of focus
  • Discuss each child's preferences, e.g. what do they like to do, what gets them excited and motivated
  • Discuss the learning area
  • Discuss how the teacher will communicate daily learning goals & progress to the parents
  • Preferred communication method: text, email, spreadsheet 

  Remember, setting up your Bubbles teacher for success means they can help your child be successful. Remote learning is stressful for everyone involved, being prepared will allow our teachers to focus on the students and not the logistics.

• I Need a New Teacher for my Bubble
  I Need a New Teacher for my Bubble

  • I need to end our contract: Per the Swing Bubbles Family Agreement signed by all parents in the pod, you must give Swing and your Bubble teacher 28 days notice to end your agreement and stop weekly payments. To do so, please contact us here.
    
    
  • My teacher is not working out; we need a replacement: We understand that there may be rare situations in which you discover that your Bubbles teacher is not a good fit for your group. If this is the case, please contact us here so that we can assist you in finding another teacher immediately. You may decide to keep your current teacher while we work to find you a replacement. If you decline a replacement teacher or choose to let your teacher go before a replacement is found, you will still be obligated to cover your weekly payments. 
    
    
  • My teacher is not working out, and we do not need a replacement: If there is a situation in which your teacher is not working out, per the Swing Bubbles Family Agreement, you must give Swing the opportunity to find you a replacement teacher. If you decline the replacement, you will still be obligated to cover the weekly payments for the 28 days following your notice of request to end your contract (unless the other party breached the contract). Please contact us here
• I Need to Change the Schedule for My Bubble
  I Need to Change the Schedule for My Bubble

  • I need to end our contract: Per the Swing Bubbles Family Agreement signed by all parents in the pod, you must give Swing and your Bubble teacher 28 days notice to end your agreement and stop weekly payments. 
    
    
  • I need to TEMPORARILY increase/decrease the weekly hours: Please first check directly with your teacher to ensure they are available. If so, please submit a ticket here and let us know the total hours for the week so we can apply the charge to your invoice. Note: You cannot temporarily decrease the hours for a given week. You will be charged the amount agreed to upon contract signing. 
    
    
  • I need to PERMANENTLY increase or decrease the weekly hours: Please first check directly with your teacher to ensure they are available and allow one week notice for the teacher to adjust their schedule if needed. If they accept, please submit a ticket here and let us know the new total weekly hours so we can adjust your schedule and weekly invoices. Note: If you are attempting to permanently decrease hours, your teacher will have the opportunity to decline this change and end their contract with you if they need more hours than are being provided under the new schedule. 
    
    
  • Holiday schedule and pay: To maintain consistent pay for teachers throughout the pod commitment, and especially during this difficult and uncertain time, we ask that families continue to pay the weekly tuition amount through breaks and holidays. Please discuss with your teacher and families to align on a holiday and break schedule. 

Billing For Schools

• How do I pay my schools invoice?
  How do I pay my schools invoice?

  Swing school partners have two options to pay their invoices: by ACH or by check. All payments must contain a memo including the school's name and invoice number.

  To pay by ACH, use the following information: 

  Company Name: Swing Education

  Bank Name: Silicon Valley Bank

  Account Number: 3302738865

  Routing Number: 121140399

  Bank Address: Address: 3003 Tasman Drive, Santa Clara, CA 95054, USA

  To pay by check, use the following information:

  Swing Education, Inc

  Dept LA 24916

  Pasadena, CA 91185-4916

  How to view your invoices on the platform

  1. Navigate to  subs.swingeducation.com in your browser.
  2. Select the blue “Sign-in with Google” button, and enter your school’s email address and password when prompted.

  Once you’re logged in, click on your profile at the top right and select “View Invoices” from the drop-down menu.

   

• What Are My Payment Options?
  What Are My Payment Options?

  At Swing, we have two different billing options. These options are discussed at the time of signing your contract with Swing. Please contact us and let us know if you would like to make any changes.

  To view your invoices, check out our help article on viewing invoices.

  PrePaid Deposit (PPPD)

  Example:

   

  • ABC School agrees to the Pre-Payment Plan of a top-up amount of $20,000. (amount varies by school)
  • The school is invoiced its prepayment amount of $20,000 and their Prepaid Draw Down (PDDD) is automatically topped-up. All top-up invoices are expected to be paid upon receipt. 
  • Once the school starts requesting subs, the usage invoices are created. These usage invoices are automatically paid and applied via the PPDD balance. 
  • As the PPDD balance reaches a set, low balance a top-up invoice is automatically issued and then the PPDD balance is topped-up another $20,000. 

   Pay as you go

  • Pay as you go allows you to pay your invoices as you use Swing Subs. You only pay for what you have used, and all invoices are expected to be paid upon receipt. 

  To view invoices on the platform, you must be a billing admin. If you wish to become a billing admin please have your accounting department contact us with your name and email address. 

Using the Swing Platform

• How do I leave feedback for a Sub?
  How do I leave feedback for a Sub?

   

  To leave feedback for a sub, you can use our helpful video as a guide. Once you hit submit feedback, the feedback will be recorded on the request page for any admin at your school to see. If you need to make changes please contact us. 

  Note: The sub will not be able to see the feedback you leave. They will get an email notifying them of the positive or negative feedback; positive feedback will congratulate them, while negative feedback will send them pointers and ways to improve. Positive feedback will also be shown on their sub profile for other admins to see.  

  You can only leave feedback once the request has ended. If you wish to send the sub home and leave negative feedback, please contact us so we can end the request at the time the sub left your campus. If you are sending the sub home because you no longer need them, please wait until the end of the day to leave feedback as we cannot end the request early.

   

   

• Making Edits To Your Filled Request
  Making Edits To Your Filled Request

  After a request has been filled, you can edit certain fields. The fields that can be edited are teacher, contact, and notes to sub. Here’s how:

  • Pull up your request on the platform.
  • Click the “Edit Request” button and make your edits.
  • Accept your edits, by clicking “Submit Edit”

  

  If you need to make additional edits outside the ones listed above please click the box "Do you have additional edits?" and type your request in the text box. Please be as specific as possible. (see diagram below)

  

  Looking to edit an unfilled request? Check out our help article for how to edit unfilled requests.

  Note: Additional edits requested within 24 hours of the start time, that reduces the confirmed subs pay, will not be accommodated.

• How Do I Block a Sub?
  How Do I Block a Sub?

  If you had a sub at your school and would prefer that they do not return, you can block that sub.  First, provide a reason for blocking the sub, then block the sub on the request page. We maintain a record of all sub performance feedback to help us improve future sub performance. 

  How to block a sub:

  1. Type your reasons for blocking the sub in the text box on the request page.
  2. Click "negative" when rating your experience.
  3. Toggle the "unlink" button to block the sub from your school.
  4. Select the reason for unlinking the substitute and share details.
  5. Submit your feedback.

  
  

  What happens with my feedback?

  Each time a sub gets negative feedback, we provide them with guidance, resources and other materials that can help them improve their performance. In extreme cases, a sub can be removed from the platform. 

  How can I block a sub from our entire district?

  If you're authorized to make such decisions for your district, please contact us, and ask for the sub to be blocked from the district. At this time, you can only block a sub from one individual school on the platform. 

   

   

   

• My Sub is a No Show
  My Sub is a No Show

  We know no shows are disruptive to the school day and we want to show you the fastest way to get ahold of your sub when you need to reach them, or request a replacement sub if necessary. We'll also show you how to ensure you aren't charged for a request when your sub did not show up. 

   

  If the start time of your assignment has just passed and your teacher hasn't arrived, navigate to the request page to locate the teacher's phone number. Give them a call to see what their ETA is. If you can't reach them, select 'No Show' and then 'No, I don't know where my sub is' and leave us your best contact number.

  We'll attempt to get ahold of the teacher and reach out to you to follow up.

  If you happen to hear from your teacher, you can update the status to 'arrived late' or 'Yes' if you've confirmed they can't come in. 

  

   

  If your teacher informs you they can't make it to their assignment, navigate to the request page and select 'No Show' and then select 'Yes' that you have confirmed the teacher is not coming.

  This will ensure that you are not charged for this request, and that this no show is reflected on the teacher's account. Poor reliability can lead to removal from the platform.

  If you still need coverage for the day, click 'Request a Sub' at the top of the page to issue a new request.

   

  

   

  If you'd like to block a no show sub from accepting future requests at your school: First fill out the no show information, then click 'Save'.  Once the request has ended for the day, you can fill out the feedback section of the form below and be sure to toggle the 'Block from School' button.

  Don't forget to press Submit. 

  

   

  Tip: We strongly encourage that you report all no shows as soon as your hear of them, and at minimum within the week that they occur (before Friday at 3pm) so that Swing can ensure your no-show teachers are not paid for days they did not work, and your school is not charged for teachers that did not show up. 

   

   

• Why Can't I Select 'Students On Campus' for Requests?
  Why Can't I Select 'Students On Campus' for Requests?

  Due to COVID-19 safety precautions, when posting a request you may not be able to select "On Campus" for the student location while you have also selected "On Campus" for the substitute's location. This means that you are in an area where we currently only offer distance learning requests (where either the teacher is remote or the students are remote) and in-person small group instruction (8 students or less) based on recommendations from the CDC and other agencies.

  

  To post a small group in-person request:

  • Under Classroom Arrangement, Select "Sub on Campus" for the Sub Location and "Students Remote" for the Student Location
  • Find the "Teacher" field and select "Teacher Vacancy" or type in your teacher’s name, then select "Create Option"
  • In the "Subject" field type in "IN-PERSON SMALL GROUP REQUEST"
  • Write "N/A" for Online Platforms Used if you are not using online platforms for the small group instruction

   

• How Do I Request A Specific Sub?
  How Do I Request A Specific Sub?

  You can request a specific sub, for any request, as long as they are linked to your school. 

  You will do so by selecting the amount of time you want to give them to accept the request and then click on the 'Choose Subs' button. If the request is less than 48 hours from the start time, you will only be allowed to give them up to 12 hours. 

  

  Once you click 'Choose Subs' you will see a list of your favorite subs, and all subs who are linked to your school. You can choose any sub who is not greyed out; With this example, Candice would be your only choice. Why can't you choose a sub who is greyed out? See our help article for more information. 

  

COVID-19

• COVID-19 (Coronavirus) FAQs for School Partners
  COVID-19 (Coronavirus) FAQs for School Partners

   

  Does Swing Education provide subs to help with distance learning?  How does that work?

  We can support schools with distance learning in two ways. First, we will support schools that wish to retain existing long-term subs and transition them to distance learning. If you would like to transition any of your long-term subs to distance learning, please let us know. 

  Second, we are now accepting new distance learning requests. If you wish to issue a new distance learning request, go to the "Request a Sub" section and turn on the "Distance Learning Request" slider, as shown below. Be sure to include any important details under the "Notes for Sub" section, such as login or download information for Zoom, Google Classroom, or any other online tools used by your school. 

  Please note: the school is responsible for communicating distance learning expectations to the sub, and for providing any necessary resources, such as access to the school's online learning platforms.

  

   

  How and when should I notify Swing Education if there will be a school closure?

  • If you have any closures due to COVID-19 concerns, please contact our support team immediately and cancel any upcoming requests for the duration of the expected closure. 
  • In cases where school is cancelled due to public health concerns, Swing will waive any cancellation penalties. However, you must inform Swing Education before canceling in order to waive any penalties.

   

  What is Swing Education doing to proactively keep sick subs out of schools?

  • Substitute teachers have been advised to stay home for at least 2 weeks if they have traveled to a Level 3 Travel Health Notice country. 
  • If any of our substitute teachers have been exposed to or tested positive for COVID-19, they are asked to tell us immediately. Once we are notified, we will inform any schools that may have been exposed.  
  • As always, any substitute teachers experiencing symptoms of a communicable illness, such as fever or vomiting, are expected to cancel their requests with as much notice as possible. We will do our best to help find an alternate teacher to fill the request. 
  • Additionally, we have reminded all subs of CDC recommended hygiene habits to prevent the spread of illness.

   

  Will I be charged if a sub appears sick and I send them home?

  • No, you will not be charged a fee if a substitute teacher is sent home for displaying symptoms of a communicable illness. If this does happen, please contact our support team, and we will waive the fees associated with the request.

   

  What to do if you receive last minute cancellations from Swing substitute teachers?

  • If you receive a cancellation, the Swing platform automatically searches for a replacement until the assignment start time.
  • If the start time passes and a replacement is still not secured, contact us to secure a replacement and push back the start time.

   

FAQs

• How Can I Become a School Partner?
  How Can I Become a School Partner?

  Hello and welcome! We would love to chat about you becoming a school partner.

  Please fill out our contact form here and a member our Sales team will reach out to you shortly to discuss your needs. 

• What Positions Can Swing Help Cover?
  What Positions Can Swing Help Cover?

  Swing Education supports K-12 schools and districts with staffing needs beyond certificated/permitted substitute teachers. In many regions, we work with classified/support staff who are happy to assist your school/district with a range of vacancies. These include roles like:

  • Paraeducators
  • Instructional aides
  • Front-desk staff
  • One-on-one supports
  • Library assistants

  All of Swing's support staff must pass the same background/screening process as our certificated substitute teachers, and the vast majority hold bachelor's degrees. Your school or district also has the option to set a non-certificated pay rate to apply to support staff request.

  If your school or district is interested in learning more about using Swing Education to fill support staff roles, please reach out to Swing's school partnerships team.

• What schools should do in the case of an emergency closing (snow, fire, etc.)
  What schools should do in the case of an emergency closing (snow, fire, etc.)

  When a school is closed or set to close due to a natural disaster, emergency, or something out of the school's control, you'll need to cancel your substitute assignments so that sub is aware you're closed. 

  Please cancel your assignments on the platform by going to "Active Requests" and canceling any assignments on that given day/period of time. Provide a short note about the emergency in the text box.

  

  To ensure you are not charged for these cancellations, please contact us to let us know why you have canceled the request so we can waive the cancellation penalties.

• I forgot to post a sub's work on the Swing platform
  I forgot to post a sub's work on the Swing platform

  We love it when Swing’s school partners have great working relationships with specific substitute teachers! Sometimes it’s easy to call a sub into work and forget to post the request to the Swing platform but this can create a problem for the sub.

  It is imperative to post the request to the platform or the sub will not be paid for the days they worked. Remember to utilize the  "request the specific sub" button to request a specific sub.

  If you forget to post the request to the platform, here’s what to do:

  Reach out to our support team ASAP with the following request information:

  • Date worked
  • Time range worked
  • Teacher name
  • Grade-level taught
  • Subject taught

  CC the substitute teacher on the email to keep everyone on the same page. Swing will then work to update the request and ensure the sub is paid for time worked.

• How Do I Hire A Swing Sub For Our School?
  How Do I Hire A Swing Sub For Our School?

  We are thrilled when you love the SwingSubs you found through Swing Education! Part of Swing’s mission is to help our subs find full-time positions with our school partners.

  Below is the portion of our Terms of Service that discusses recruitment costs:

  “If you want to hire or contract directly with a SwingSub, you agree to pay Swing a $2,500 finder’s fee to cover costs associated with finding, screening and onboarding the sub, and anticipated loss of revenue.”

  Please contact us if you're interested in hiring one of our SwingSubs, and include the subs start date. 

   

• How can I add an admin to my school?
  How can I add an admin to my school?

  You can add a new admin by following the steps in our video

   

  FAQ's

  1. I want to remove an admin from our school
     1. If you want to remove an admin from your school site, please contact us with their information so we can deactivate their account. 
  2. I want my new admin to be able to request subs but it looks like they are defaulted to receiving emails only.
     1. Please use the 'Request Edits' button to let us know and we will be happy to make those changes.