Sconce

A coach that keeps track of schoolwork, so your kid doesn't have to.

Sconce knows what a student has due, helps them pick what to do next, and helps them start. It works over web chat, text, and WhatsApp. All three reach the same coach and the same history.

What it is

Sconce is a private AI coach a student can talk to about school. It keeps track of classes, assignments, and whatever the student or family has told it. A student can move between web chat, text, and WhatsApp without starting over.

Sconce pulls assignments from Canvas, takes updates from parents, and saves useful details that come up in conversation. Parents get a dashboard of what is due and what is done. Each family decides whether parents can also read coach conversations, and the student is part of that decision.

Web, SMS, or WhatsApp

Every channel is a front door to the same coach. A student can ask what is next, send an update, or work through a plan on whichever one is closest to hand. Text and WhatsApp also carry reminders.

An iPhone Messages exchange where Sconce reminds a student to turn in an English essay when class starts — **SMS on iPhone.** Ask for a reminder once. The coach follows up when it helps.

WhatsApp. Ask “what’s next?” and get one real step off the actual pile of work.

Example conversations. No student data is shown.

Web chat and parent view

Kid chat: the coach notices the student doesn't have an address for an upcoming activity, offering to add it or ping a parent

Kid chat. The coach notices a missing address and offers two easy ways to fix it.

Parent dashboard: a daily timeline showing transits, school day, and one item the kid needs help with

Parent dashboard. The day at a glance: rides, school, and the one thing your kid needs help with.

Design mockups. The names (“Zoe,” “Coach Dave’s”) are made up.

Who built it and why

Sconce is built and run by a parent in Washington, DC. He built it for his own family first.

Where the data lives

Storage

One local SQLite database per student. The family owns it.

Hosting

Hardware Sconce owns and runs. Cloudflare protects web traffic. It never holds the student database.

AI model

The coach runs on an AI model. Live data goes only over routes that keep no copy of it and forbid training on it. Which model, and the rest of the detail, is on the privacy page.

Sharing

No advertisers. No analytics resold. No data brokers. No training on student data.

What it doesn't do

No peer features. Students don't message each other through Sconce. There are no public profiles, no leaderboards, no follower counts.
No planner to keep up. A student can add things, but Sconce should never depend on them entering every assignment.
No ads. Sconce will cost money one day. It will never be paid for with your family's data.
No replacing a therapist or a teacher. Sconce does not diagnose, treat, or teach.

For schools and school IT

If you're a school IT admin reviewing this for a network whitelist

The domain to allow is sconce.dev and its subdomains, *.sconce.dev. Sconce is a parent-facing tool for individual families. It does not read from or write to school systems unless a family connects an LMS like Canvas themselves, and that connection lives in the family's own account.

There is no school SSO, no roster sync, and no school-wide database. Each student's records sit in a separate SQLite file. From the school's side, sconce.dev behaves like a personal productivity tool, not a school-managed platform.

For specific questions, write to [email protected]. The operator answers technical questions directly.

What web access does on the school network

Loads sconce.dev in a browser, or installs as a PWA.
Sends and receives web-chat messages with the coach over HTTPS to sconce.dev. Families may also use text or WhatsApp, outside the school network.
Optionally uploads photos of assignment sheets or voice notes. Those go to the family's own storage, not to a central pool.
No video, no peer chat, no streaming.

For families

If someone sent you this page and you want to know more, write to [email protected].

I'm a student. Open the coach. I'm a parent. Open the dashboard. Set up a new student

Privacy and AI disclosure

Sconce uses AI for the coaching conversation. Anything labeled “Coach” is an AI system, not a person. Live data goes only over routes that keep no copy of it and forbid training on it. The full plain-language version, including which model the coach uses, is on the privacy page.