Notice of Ownership

As noted in our Terms of Use and Opportunity Culture® Portal Terms of Use, Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® (“we” or “us”) own or are licensed to provide all of the information in the Opportunity Culture® Portal, including but not limited to written materials, images, photographs, including materials protected by federal copyright law, as well as trademarks and service marks, some of which are federally registered trademarks. As the proprietor of all of the information in the Opportunity Culture® Portal, only Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® can grant the right to use the information and materials in the Opportunity Culture® Portal. We value our intellectual property and seek to protect it and control the manner in which it is used.

This policy (“Intellectual Property Policy”) summarizes parameters for accessing and using information, materials and trademarks involving intellectual property rights owned by Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® and must be strictly followed for compliance with our Terms of Use and Opportunity Culture® Portal Terms of Use.

Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® reserve all the rights to our intellectual property and proprietary information, which may be used only as licensed according to our Terms of Use and Opportunity Culture® Portal Terms of Use, and only for the duration specified therein or as otherwise determined at the sole discretion of Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture®.

License Granted to Authorized Users

Under our Terms of Use and Opportunity Culture® Portal Terms of use, access to the Opportunity Culture® Portal is granted by Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® on a subscription basis only to authorized individuals, entities, and organizations (“Users”). Such authorized Users are granted a limited, revocable license to access and use the information and materials in the Opportunity Culture® Portal solely in accord with the Opportunity Culture® Portal Terms of Use in order to provide for the development of educational skills and facilitate certification and/or validation.

Only persons, institutions and organizations that have been authorized as Users may access and use information and materials in the Opportunity Culture® Portal and only in accordance with the express purposes permitted, including use in the manner described in this Intellectual Property policy. Any use of the information, materials and trademarks that is not expressly provided as an authorized use is prohibited.

Only authorized Users are permitted to access and use the information and materials in the Opportunity Culture® Portal and no User may copy or distribute any of the materials on the Opportunity Culture® Portal to others who are not authorized Users.

The duration of the limited license which provides Users access to the materials and information in the Opportunity Culture® Portal is based on a subscription to the Opportunity Culture® Portal. Once a subscription has ended, the license and all associated accounts are automatically terminated. Once the license has terminated, no further use of the material may be made, even if Opportunity Culture® Portal account access has not been deactivated.

Trademark Policy

As the owner of many trademarks and service marks, Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® have the right to ensure that they are used properly. A trademark, service mark (or simply, “mark”) can be any word, name, image, drawing, or symbol that is used to identify and distinguish goods or services. Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® use a variety of terminology to identify different aspects of our proprietary models and methods and to explain how to comply with our guidelines and participate in our programs.  This special terminology, which is unique to our programs, comprise proprietary marks that are owned by Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture®.

Marks are protected by laws that have particular rules for how they should be used in order to function as distinguishing identifiers and continue to be protected. Accordingly, it is important that the marks owned by Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® are used in ways that comply with these legal requirements. Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® therefore monitors the use of its marks. The guidelines in this policy are designed to help people permitted to use our marks understand the rules for proper use of our marks.

Our Communication Guidelines below provide guidance for the appropriate use of our marks. Each User has the responsibility to check the required format before using any of the marks owned by Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® to ensure that the mark is used in the appropriate manner. Each User agrees not to use any mark in a manner that is not in compliance with our Communications Guidelines. Each User agrees to respect the value of each mark and not to misuse any of the marks owned by Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture®.

Users may not imply, say, or otherwise indicate that they own any of the marks owned or used by Public Impact® and/or Opportunity Culture®.

Another important reference for the proper use of our marks is our Certification Standards, which describe the requirements for achieving and using the titles, roles and statuses that correspond with many of our marks.  Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® license these marks to be used only in accord with the qualifications prescribed by the Certification Standards. Each User is required to use these marks appropriately, so as not to create any false or misleading impression about the User’s certification status, role, or the User’s relationship with Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® or our programs.

Licensed Trademarks

The following is a list of several of the trademarks owned and used by Public Impact® and Opportunity Culture®, including those most relevant to participation in the Opportunity Culture® Portal and some of which are federally registered:

• OPPORTUNITY CULTURE®
• PUBLIC IMPACT®
• CERTIFIED OPPORTUNITY SCHOOL™
• CERTIFIED OPPORTUNITY SCHOOL SYSTEM™
• EXTENDED-REACH TEACHER™
• ERT™
• MULTI-CLASSROOM LEADER™
• MCL™
• TEAM REACH™
• TEAM REACH TEACHER™
• TRT™
• MASTER TEAM REACH TEACHER™
• REACH ASSOCIATE™

Communications Guidelines

Our goal is for communications about Opportunity Culture® schools and roles to benefit students, families, and educators and to celebrate the many thousands of educators and volunteers who work hard every day to serve students in Opportunity Culture® systems and schools.

In that spirit, we strongly encourage schools, systems and educators to communicate:

• • frequently about their Opportunity Culture® school programs and roles using a variety of media; and
  • with accuracy and positivity in support of the educators and schools striving for excellence for students.

All communications about involvement in Opportunity Culture® programs must properly use the terminology that refers to official Opportunity Culture® roles, status and certification and must adhere to the guidelines that appear in these communications standards and in related guidance materials elsewhere in the Opportunity Culture® Portal, in compliance with our Terms of Use and Opportunity Culture® Portal Terms of Use.

A listing of the official Opportunity Culture® terminology and related definitions can be found in our Definitions page.

Additional guidance on graphical representation of terms, including downloadable graphic materials, can be found in our Brand Guidelines.

How to Communicate Opportunity Culture® Certification and Validation Status

You will be notified in the Opportunity Culture® Portal or by email from the Opportunity Culture® team of your certification and validation status, and you will be provided with a badge matching your level and year. You may use this badge online or on a banner ordered through the Opportunity Culture® initiative. You may also use the language outlined below associated with your level of certification and validation. Standards for certification and validation are determined solely by the Opportunity Culture® initiative.

A Certified Opportunity Culture School™, Certified Opportunity Culture School System™, or other Certified Opportunity Culture™ entity must use the appropriate terminology, based on the certification status indicated in their Opportunity Culture® Portal account, using the format described below. To refer to your entity, you may say: “Our school, or system (or other allowed entity, as indicated in the Opportunity Culture® Portal) is a…

• For schools, the following alternatives are permitted, depending on the level achieved:
  • Certified Opportunity Culture School™, Level X, 20XX-XX (school year) (using the level and year indicated in the Opportunity Culture® Portal)
  • Certified Opportunity Culture School™, Provisional Level, 20XX-XX (school year)(using the level and year indicated in the Opportunity Culture® Portal)
  • Example: “Certified Opportunity Culture School™, Level 1, 2024-25”
• For school systems, the following alternatives are permitted, depending on the level achieved:
  • Certified Opportunity Culture School System™, Level X, 20XX-XX (school year) (using the correct level and year indicated in the Opportunity Culture® Portal)
  • Certified Opportunity Culture School System™, Provisional Level, 20XX-XX (school year) (using the correct level and year indicated in the Opportunity Culture® Portal)
  • Example: “Certified Opportunity Culture School System™, Level 1, 2024-25”
• For other entities awarded certification, the specific designation indicated in the Opportunity Culture® Portal account is permitted to be used as follows:
  • Certified Opportunity Culture™ (designated entity term), Level X, 20XX-XX (school year) (using the correct entity term, level and year indicated in the Opportunity Culture® Portal)
  • Certified Opportunity Culture™ (designated entity term), Provisional Level, 20XX-XX (school year) (using the correct entity term, level and year indicated in the Opportunity Culture® Portal)
  • Examples:
    • “Certified Opportunity Culture™ State, Level 1, 2024-25”
    • “Certified Opportunity Culture™ Design Consultant, Level 1, 2024-25”

As indicated above, each statement regarding Opportunity Culture® certification must always be followed directly by the year of certification to avoid misrepresentation.

No one is permitted to use any Opportunity Culture® certification terminology other than in the manner indicated above and in accordance with the status indicated in the designated Opportunity Culture® Portal account.

Schools and school systems that completed their Opportunity Culture® design process before December 1, 2023 have limited permission to use the terminology that previously was approved for their participation in “Opportunity Culture®^” programs during this time before certified status was offered.

No one is permitted to use Opportunity Culture® or similar terminology, whether alone or with any other words, to refer to any entity, program, approach, design, method or other service, product, organization, status or certification, that has not been provided by or affiliated with Opportunity Culture®.

The term “Validated” may be added to an Opportunity Culture® certified status designation when a School, School System^™ or designated entity has completed the Opportunity Culture® Validation process. Then the Opportunity Culture® name or official badge is permitted to be used as follows: “Our school, or system (or other allowed entity, as indicated in the Opportunity Culture® Portal) is a…

• For Schools:
  • Certified Opportunity Culture School™, Level X, Validated 20XX-XX (school year) (using the appropriate level and year, as indicated in the Opportunity Culture® Portal)
  • Certified Opportunity Culture School™, Provisional Level, Validated 20XX-XX (school year) (using the appropriate level and year, as indicated in the Opportunity Culture® Portal)
  • Example: Certified Opportunity Culture School™, Level 1, Validated 2024-25.
• For School Systems:
  • Certified Opportunity Culture School System™, Level X, Validated 20XX-XX (school year) (using the appropriate level and year, as indicated in the Opportunity Culture® Portal)
  • Certified Opportunity Culture School System™, Provisional Level, Validated 20XX-XX (school year) (using the appropriate level and year, as indicated in the Opportunity Culture® Portal)
  • Example: Certified Opportunity Culture School System™, Level 1, Validated 2024-25.
• For other entities achieving an Opportunity Culture® status, as indicated in their respective Opportunity Culture® Portal account:
  • Certified Opportunity Culture™ (designated entity term), Level X, Validated 20XX-XX (school year) (using the appropriate entity term, level and year, as indicated in the Opportunity Culture® Portal)
  • Certified Opportunity Culture™ (designated entity term), Provisional Level, Validated 20XX-XX (school year) (using the appropriate entity term, level and year, as indicated in the Opportunity Culture® Portal)
  • Example: “Certified Opportunity Culture™ State, Level 1, Validated 2024-25”

Each reference to validation must always include the appropriate year and level.

How to Communicate about Opportunity Culture® Certificates Achieved by Individuals

In the Learn room, Users may take professional learning modules and earn certificates after passing one or more quizzes per module at the required pass rates.

Certificates may be used to obtain CEUs if allowed by the school system.

Individuals who have earned certificates are encouraged to post each certificate, and CEUs if desired, on social media, their resumes, their school or classroom websites, and other professional material.

Each and every communication of an Opportunity Culture® certificate must state:

• the precise title of the individual module;
• the level achieved, using the precise terminology provided in the Opportunity Culture® Portal;
• the year the certificate was obtained;
• the full name of the certificate, precisely as stated in the Opportunity Culture® Portal, including the term “Certificate”.

No use may imply that the individual is endorsed by the Opportunity Culture® initiative or Public Impact for services, teaching, or similar work.

Copyright Policy

Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® is a copyright owner or licensee for all of the material in the Opportunity Culture® Portal.  A copyright is a property interest in a creative work such as written material, music, images, drawings, audiovisual material, that is given under federal copyright law to the author of the work, which gives that author exclusive rights to control how the works exist in the world.  The author can license or transfer all or some of these exclusive rights to others. It is not necessary for the work to be registered in order to be protected under copyright law.

Under the law, copyright provides the author with a variety of exclusive rights in a protected work for the duration of the copyright. These exclusive rights include:

• Reproduction: The right to control when and by whom a work is copied, to prevent others from copying the work and also give permission to copy the work.
• Adaptation: The right to control if a work is used to create another work.
• Distribution: The right to control if and how copies of a work are shared with the public.
• Public performance: For works that can be performed, the right to control when a work is performed or replayed in public.
• Public display: For works that can displayed, the right to control when and how the work is displayed in public.

For more information about the different types of works and exclusive rights protected by copyright law, see Copyright.gov.

Licensed Rights

Users are granted a limited, revocable license to access the information and materials in the Opportunity Culture® Portal. Only persons, institutions and organizations that have been authorized as Users may access and use information in the Opportunity Culture® Portal and only in accordance with the instructions therein and for the express purposes permitted thereby. Any use of the materials that is not expressly provided as an authorized use is prohibited.

Only Users are permitted to access and use the information and materials in the Opportunity Culture® Portal and no User may copy or distribute any of the materials on the Opportunity Culture® Portal to others who are not Users.

No User has the right to adapt, alter, or create another work based upon any of the material in the Opportunity Culture® Portal. No User has the right to distribute or display any of the material to anyone who is not a User.

Each User agrees to not use the material in any manner that does not comply with our Intellectual Property Policy. Each User agrees to not use the material in such a manner as to create the false impression that the material does not belong to Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture®.

Users may quote materials owned by Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® for the purpose of teaching and providing information to their school community and may include such quotes within their own documents. All material quoted must be acknowledged as being covered by the copyright of the Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® in accord with the copyright notice appearing on or with that material. 

Reservation of Rights

Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® retain ownership rights over the information and materials in the Opportunity Culture® Portal, granting only a limited license to Users, as described in our Terms of Use, Opportunity Culture® Portal Terms of Use and this Intellectual Property Policy.

Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® retain the right to monitor use of the licensed works. If the terms of this policy have been violated, whether intentionally or by accident, Users agree to take any necessary actions to remedy the breach, as determined by Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture®.

Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® have sole discretion to terminate the license to access and use the material in the Opportunity Culture® Portal.

Duration of License

The license to access and use the material owned by and licensed to Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® is limited by the term of the subscription to the Opportunity Culture® Portal. The license may be terminated if the terms of the license have been violated. This determination is made at the sole discretion of Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture®.

License Granted by Authorized Users

Terms of User License Grant

Users may be permitted by Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® to submit information and materials to the Opportunity Culture® Portal, including but not limited to written materials, images or audiovisual materials.  Users retain any copyright that they may own in all of the material they submit to Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® via the Opportunity Culture® Portal.  In submitting material, each User grants Public Impact®/Opportunity Culture® a perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license in such material, for the duration of the applicable copyright protection, which includes the right to reproduce and alter any submitted materials.

Representations & Warranties

Users must submit only materials that they own or are authorized to submit via the Opportunity Culture® Portal. Users agree to comply with all applicable laws and regulations. Users agree to provide only electronic content that is free of viruses and other malicious code that could damage the Opportunity Culture® Portal.