Straight answers

Yes. The Skool community, the lessons, the quizzes, the live classes, and Junior Neuro Bee all cost nothing. There is no paid tier and no upgrade to buy.

There isn't one. NeuroSpark is run by students and fiscally sponsored by The Hack Foundation, so we have no salaries and no rent. We ask families who can give to donate to the Alzheimer's Association instead of paying us.

We are a fiscally sponsored project of The Hack Foundation (EIN 81-2908499). With no salaries and no rent to cover, we can keep everything free.

Instead of charging families, we invite anyone who is able to give to support the Alzheimer’s Association directly through our fundraiser page. That donation is always optional, and it is never tied to registering or joining anything.

Any 6-12 student who is curious about the brain. There is no application, no fee, and no prior neuroscience background needed.

Parents, teachers, and volunteers are welcome to join and look around too.

Any student in grades 6-8, anywhere. It is virtual, so location and school do not matter, and no prior competition experience is needed.

Saturday, October 17, 2026, 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Pacific Time, on Zoom. Registration is open until October 7, 2026, and it is free to enter. The day runs: welcome and tech check, an auto-graded written round, a guest speaker, the finalist announcement, the verbal final round, and awards.

Run of show, Pacific Time

Brain Facts, chapters 1 to 6. Every registered student also gets a free prep course and free live classes, so nobody has to prepare alone.

You do not have to find the material alone. Every registered student gets free access to a prep course built on the same chapters, plus free live classes, plus the free Skool community where students work through the material together.

A computer or tablet with Zoom, a stable internet connection, and a quiet space. No special equipment, and nothing to print or buy.

The community is run and moderated by our student team, and it stays on neuroscience learning. Our competitions run on Zoom with a live welcome and tech check at the start of the day, so a real person is present from the first minute.

If anything ever feels wrong to you or your student, email us at support@teamneurospark.com and we will deal with it directly.

We do not label photos with a student's name unless we have permission. If you would rather your child not appear in any photo, email support@teamneurospark.com and we will remove them.

Captions on our event photos describe the event, never the people in it.

If you are not comfortable with a photo of your child being public, tell us before the event and we will keep them out of the camera’s way.

We use it to tell you about our programs, upcoming competitions, and the products we are building. We do not sell it, and you can ask us to remove it at any time by emailing support@teamneurospark.com.

We only send email when there is something real to say: a competition opening for registration, a new free resource, or a program launching.

As much or as little as you want. The Skool community is self-paced, and prep for Junior Neuro Bee is optional. Competition day itself is one morning: 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Pacific Time.

Students work through lessons and quizzes when they have time. Prep for the competition helps, but nobody is required to do it.

Yes, and you do not need a neuroscience background. Judges and guest speakers score rounds and talk about their work; volunteers help with registration, rounds, and the running of the day. Training is provided.

Our January 2026 competition was judged by assistant professors from the University of Washington’s neuroscience department.

Tell us you are interested and we will be in touch before the next event.

NeuroSpark is a fiscally sponsored project of The Hack Foundation, EIN 81-2908499. That means we operate under an established 501(c)(3), which is what allows us to accept charitable contributions and in-kind donations.

Fiscal sponsorship is also how a student-run organisation stays accountable for money without hiring a finance team of its own.

Donations go straight to the Alzheimer's Association through our fundraiser page, not to us. Giving is always optional and is never tied to registering for a competition or joining the community.

Across four fundraising efforts our families and team have raised $2,960 for Alzheimer’s research, care, and support.

You can register, join, and take part without spending anything.