Dear NWEC Family,

We are writing to make you aware of a recent cybersecurity incident involving PowerSchool, a software vendor which provides our Student Information System (SIS).

On Tuesday, January 7, 2025, PowerSchool informed our leadership team that they experienced a cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to certain PowerSchool SIS customer data. Unfortunately, they have confirmed that the information belongs to some of New World Educational Center’s families and educators.

PowerSchool informed us that the taken data primarily includes parent and student contact information with data elements such as name and address information. Across their customer base, they have determined that for a portion of individuals, some personally identifiable information (PII), such as medical information, was impacted. They are working with urgency to complete their investigation and determine whether PII belonging to our students was included.

Protecting our students is something we take seriously. With PowerSchool’s help, the following information and resources (including credit monitoring or identity protection services if applicable) will be provided to you as it becomes available.

• Identity Protection and Credit Monitoring Services: PowerSchool has engaged Experian, a trusted credit reporting agency, to offer two years of complimentary identity protection services for all students and educators whose information from our PowerSchool SIS was involved. This offer will also include two years of complimentary credit monitoring services for all adult students and educators whose information was involved. 

• Notification to Individuals Involved: Starting in the next few weeks, in collaboration with Experian, PowerSchool will provide notice to students (or their parents / guardians if the student is under 18) and educators whose information was involved, as well as a phone number to answer any questions you may have about the incident. The notice will include the identity protection and credit monitoring services offer (as applicable). 

• As soon as PowerSchool learned of the incident, they engaged cybersecurity response protocols and mobilized senior leadership and third-party cybersecurity experts to conduct a forensic investigation of the scope of the incident and to monitor for signs of information misuse. PowerSchool is not aware of any identity theft attributable to this incident.

• New World is currently working to add Cyber Security Insurance to our school to help in case we have a data breach with our systems.

We encourage you to visit https://www.powerschool.com/security/sis-incident/  for up-to-date information on the cybersecurity incident.  We care deeply about the welfare of our families and will continue to do everything we can to support you. 

Sincerely,

New World Educational Center