School Ambassadors

To facilitate local collective action around our Kids IRL mission, we need people power and boots on the ground in every TK-8 school in Marin County, CA.

Our goal is to have Kids IRL School Ambassadors at each school to help facilitate the hyper-local community action needed to change youth smartphone and social media norms in Marin! 

Why School Ambassadors?

Schools are the local communities that children and families are naturally part of. Parents’ choices around tech adoption (e.g., when to roll out a phone, texting, or social media) are deeply affected by the cultural norms in their respective schools. Cultural change at massive scale can be very slow, whereas local change is swifter because there’s more interpersonal connection, visibility, and accountability.

We believe it’s most effective to mobilize collective action within each school community - at the most intimate and grassroots level possible (e.g., at the grade, classroom, or peer-group level). Ambassadors know their unique school community and how people tend to communicate and connect. School Ambassadors help us determine the best way to bring Kids IRL’s mission to their unique school.

Marin County is just north of San Francisco. Its more than 250,000 residents are clustered in towns and cities amidst vast public land. Public schools are divided into 17 local school districts rather than unified countywide. Independent and parochial schools are peppered throughout the county, as well. Each educational community has distinct needs and characteristics, requiring a hyperlocal approach to collective action.

So far we have Kids IRL Ambassadors at the following schools:

Corte Madera | Larkspur:
The Cove School | Neil Cummins Elementary | Hall Middle School | Marin Country Day School | St Patrick Parochial School | Marin Montessori School

Fairfax | San Anselmo:
Brookside School | Hidden Valley School | Manor School | Ross Valley Charter School | Wade Thomas Elementary | White Hill Middle School | San Domenico | St Anselm

Kentfield:
Bacich Elementary School | Kent Middle School

Mill Valley:
Edna Maguire Elementary | Marin Horizon | Mill Valley Middle School | Mount Tamalpais School | North Bridge Academy | Old Mill Elementary | Park School | Strawberry Point Elementary | Tam Valley Elementary

Novato:
Olive Elementary | Loma Verde Elementary | Rancho Elementary

Miller Creek:
Vallecito Elementary

San Rafael:
Coleman Elementary | Glenwood Elementary | Sun Valley Elementary | Davidson Middle School | Mark Day School | Brandeis Marin

Sausalito | Marin City | Tiburon:
MLK Academy | Saint Hilary School

Shoreline Unified | Point Reyes:
West Marin-Inverness School

Updated: October 2026

Ambassadors build community at their schools by bringing together parents who want to slow down tech. Our School Ambassadors are the grassroots leaders and conduits of Kids IRL in their respective schools and are part of the growth and success of this community-based effort in Marin County.

Although many of our ambassadors are parents, anyone from a school community can be an ambassador - including a teacher, school counselor, librarian, support staff, administrator, etc.

Being part of the county-wide ambassador squad! 

This means attending a montly Zoom with Kids IRL HQ and other School Ambassadors, and joining the School Ambassador WhatsApp group where we informally exchange ideas and get feedback. Find our upcoming zoom meeting dates on this online events calendar. We meet during the school year and hope to make this a rewarding community to be part of! 

Collaborating as a team at your school!

The goal is to connect with other ambassadors across grades to support Kids IRL goals, actions, and sustained commitment to shared norms as you see fit. It’s also helpful to enlist support from key stakeholders at your school whenever possible - e.g., the school administration, PTA/PTO, counselors, librarian, teachers.

Inviting all parents and caregivers in your grade level to sign the Kids IRL Phone Pact.

A goal is to recruit at least 25% of your grade level to sign the pact! It’s also helpful to find organic ways to spread the word schoolwide - e.g., via a school newsletter, PTA meeting, or school event. We share ways to do this!

Connecting those who join the phone pact at your school or grade level.

For ongoing support, community, and commitment to keep digital tech in check and roll it out more slowly to our children. HQ provides ambassadors with a list of those at your respective school who have joined the phone pact.

Support for School Ambassadors

ScreenSense is Kids IRL HQ! We provide outreach and support for school ambassadors in Marin via these channels:

Our ScreenSense website is full of accessible and free content to share with parents and school administrators - like our downloadable Healthy Tech Use Guidelines. We also offer our ”One Step” blog, Marin-wide parent ed events, and quarterly Kids IRL community updates!

For schools in Marin County, we offer free intro presentations (15-20 min long - virtually or in-person) that can be added to PTO/PTA meetings, staff meetings, school board meetings, or parent events like Coffee Cart. We offer these short presentations as a way to help bring Kids IRL to each school community, and we can introduce your school ambassadors or encourage new school ambassadors to join! We also offer parent ed programs for a fee typically covered by PTA or parent education budgets - this is another great way to launch Kids IRL at your school. For information about our free mini-talks or parent ed events you can bring to your school, please email us.

We'd love to have you join our team of 75+ ambassadors from over 35 schools in Marin. The time commitment is very flexible - it's all about helping build momentum, social support, and reinforcement among parents at your school. It's engaging and impactful work!

Next step: Register for an upcoming orientation session to get onboarded to our ambassador program. We'll walk you through the school ambassador role, answer your questions, and get you looped in. Ambassadors each get access to the list of parents who have joined the phone pact at their child's school so you can jumpstart collective action!

Not ready to join but want to learn more? That’s fine - you can register for an orientation and bring your questions. No pressure to join.