Caribou Help / FAQ
Please look for your question among the >200 questions in our FAQ before emailing us. Caribou aims to be 100% self-service. This helps keep our services affordable.
To use this Help Tree, choose the appropriate category and subcategories. If you are unable to find your question, use the Contact Us form located in the leaves of this tree. Thank you for your help.
Help Tree → COVID Questions
Questions & Answers:
My children normally participate in Caribou at their school, but due to lockdowns their school will be closed during the contest. Can they participate from home?
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My children normally participate in Caribou at their school, but due to lockdowns their school will be closed during the contest. Can they participate from home?
Answer:
Yes, we encourage students to participate from home if they cannot write the contest at school due to school closures.
To help your child participate from home, you will need to know:
- Your child’s name and Access Code to sign in on the Caribou website
- Your school’s Contest Time Window within which students can start the contest
- The Contest Rules
- Whether your home devices and internet can run the contest interface and games. To verify this before contest day, Try a Past Contest and the featured interactive Game(s).
If you do not know your child’s Access Code or their Contest Time Window, you should get in touch with your child’s Caribou Coordinator (organizing teacher) who can see this information in their account. The Contest Time Window for schools is by default 7:30am-3:30pm local time, but Caribou Coordinators (teachers organizing the contest for their school) can move the time window to allow students to start earlier or later. Please note, the absolute last time to start the contest is 6:30PM EST.
Some or all students are attending school online. Can they participate from home?
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Some or all students are attending school online. Can they participate from home?
Answer:
Yes, your students can participate from home as needed. If necessary, some can participate from home and others at school.
Please remind students and their parents / guardians of the Contest Rules and make sure they know their Access Codes. Also please ensure students participating outside your school are aware of your school’s contest time window (within which they can begin the test) – this is by default 7:30am-3:30pm, although you can change this at any time, even on contest days, in your Coordinator account with Shift My Contest Time Window. It will also be visible on the Student’s Homepage when they are signed in.
There is no need to alert us that your students will be writing from home. If you are a Caribou Coordinator you will receive alerts saying that your students’ IP address does not match your school’s, but you can ignore these alerts. We cannot disable them.
Can my students participate from home after school hours?
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Can my students participate from home after school hours?
Answer:
Yes, your school’s contest time window is by default 7:30am-3:30pm local time. The test must the started within this time frame. The students’ Caribou Coordinator can shift this time window by up to 4 hours, even on contest days, in your Coordinator account with Shift My Contest Time Window. The time frame is then set, even for future contests.
We just ask that you please remind students and their parents / guardians of the Contest Rules and make sure they know their Access Codes. Also please ensure students participating outside your school are aware of the contest time window when they will be able to start the contest.
There is no need to alert us that your students will be writing from home. If you are a Caribou Coordinator you will receive alerts saying that your students’ IP address does not match your school’s, but you can ignore these alerts. We cannot disable them.
My students are attending school now, but school could be shut down later due to COVID. Can we continue to run Caribou Contests if this happens?
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My students are attending school now, but school could be shut down later due to COVID. Can we continue to run Caribou Contests if this happens?
Answer:
Yes, you can continue to run Caribou Contests in these circumstances. You can allow your students to write the contests from home.
We just ask that you please remind students and their parents / guardians of the Contest Rules and make sure they know their Access Codes. Also please ensure students participating outside your school are aware of your school’s contest time window (within which they can begin the test) – this is by default 7:30am-3:30pm local time, although you can change this at any time, even on contest days, in your Coordinator account with Shift My Contest Time Window.
There is no need to alert us that your students will be writing from home. If you are a Caribou Coordinator you will receive alerts saying that your students’ IP address does not match your school’s, but you can ignore these alerts. We cannot disable them.
If some or all students will be attending a different Virtual School from their normal physical school, their accounts can be moved to their new school. The School’s Caribou Coordinator simply needs to sign in and use the tool Move a Student to my Account, enter the student’s name and Access Code, and submit to move the account and participation information over. Later, the account can always be moved back if needed.
Our school has international students from all over the world with different time zones. How can these students participate with us from abroad?
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Our school has international students from all over the world with different time zones. How can these students participate with us from abroad?
Answer:
If your students are participating from multiple time zones across the world, they should be registered at different schools to simplify participation, since a school has an associated time zone which determines when students can write the contests. By default, the Contest Time Window (within which students can begin the contest) is 7:30AM-3:30PM local time of the school, although Caribou Coordinators can move this window to a certain extent. See Can our students write the contest before 7:30am or after 3:30pm? for detailed instructions.
For example, if your school is in Toronto, your Contest Time Window is by default 7:30AM-3:30PM EST. This will not be a good time for your students in Japan to write the contest. You should register these students under a different school with the appropriate time zone. Or, if you only have one or two students in a different time zone, you could have them sign up with the Caribou Virtual School which does not require setting up a school or Caribou Coordinator account.
Students in China and Pakistan must register through our representatives in those countries. For their Contact information, please see How do I contact Caribou?.
My child’s school cannot organize Caribou Contests for their students this year. Can we run them at home?
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My child’s school cannot organize Caribou Contests for their students this year. Can we run them at home?
Answer:
Yes, you can run the contests at home separately from your child’s school.
You can either register as a home school and create a free Caribou Coordinator (teacher / proctor) account, or register your child with the Caribou Virtual School. For information on these options, please see the page Caribou Cup Participation – Home Schooling & Distance Learning.
If in the future it becomes possible to participate from school, your child’s account can be moved to your school’s account. The School’s Caribou Coordinator simply needs to sign in and use the tool Move a Student to my Account, enter the student’s name and Access Code, and submit to move the account and participation information over.
My child is distance learning from home and participating in Caribou from home right now, but they might go back to physically attending school later in the year. If this happens, will they be able to participate with their school?
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My child is distance learning from home and participating in Caribou from home right now, but they might go back to physically attending school later in the year. If this happens, will they be able to participate with their school?
Answer:
Yes, if your child begins attending physical school again, and their physical school would like to organize participation at school, your child’s account can be moved to the school’s account. The School’s Caribou Coordinator simply needs to sign in and use the tool Move a Student to my Account, enter the student’s name and Access Code, and submit to move the account and participation information over.
My school is running Caribou Contests, but only for those attending physical school, while we are distance learning. Can we run them at home?
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My school is running Caribou Contests, but only for those attending physical school, while we are distance learning. Can we run them at home?
Answer:
Yes, you can run the contests at home separately from your child’s school.
You can either register as a home school and create a free Caribou Coordinator (teacher / proctor) account, or register your child with the Caribou Virtual School. For information on these options, please see the page Caribou Cup Participation – Home Schooling & Distance Learning.
If in the future it becomes possible to participate from school, your child’s account can be moved to your school’s account. The School’s Caribou Coordinator simply needs to sign in and use the tool Move a Student to my Account, enter the student’s name and Access Code, and submit to move the account and participation information over.
Are Virtual Schools eligible to use School Wide Contest Access?
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Are Virtual Schools eligible to use School Wide Contest Access?
Answer:
No, not typically. However, we do offer other pricing options that might suit your virtual school.
We offer School-Wide products, such as School Wide Contest Access, at a discounted price so that it is easier for physical schools to encourage participation from all students, even those who otherwise would not be interested. As such, School-Wide products are intended solely for physical institutions in a single location.
A physical school which offers hybrid or blended learning alongside their regular in-person classes may be eligible for School Wide Products if ALL of their virtual students would typically attend the school's physical location under normal circumstances.
Virtual Schools / Online Schools / Distance Education Centres:
1) Virtual schools which are specialized (e.g. math-focused tutoring centres or schools only for gifted students) and/or which have students participating in many locations (across multiple cities/states/countries):- These schools are not eligible for a School Wide Product. Student participation must be paid for via individual Contest Participation. Depending on how widespread the participants are, it may be better to create multiple schools in the system or sign students up with the Caribou Virtual School to accommodate different time zones.
- These schools are not eligible for a School Wide product. There are 2 options:
- A) a purchase of individual Contest Participation for each participating student,
- B) a payment based on the number of students in a school, NOT the number of actually participating, at a rate of $1 per student (not per contest but for all 6 contests in the Caribou Cup). This option is only open to those virtual schools with over 300 students total, and payment must be made via cheque or transfer to qualify for this special price. Please Contact Us to confirm your eligibility for this offer and to organize payment. We provide the second option to introduce students to math who would otherwise not participate.
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