Approved for What?

StoryLabs sold HEART, an online sex education course. A May 2022 sales page called it “USBE approved.” State reviewers rejected it that August, but later saved pages kept the claim. Follow why a seal for student data privacy did not approve the course for class use.

What was approved? What did the state reject?

The platform and the curriculum

2016–2026; formations 2018/2020/2021 · California; New Jersey; Utah; national

S&S Apps, the company behind StoryLabs and later the National Book Rating Index, incorporated in California on January 24, 2018. Aaron Stephens had released The Resource Queue, a tool for organizing teaching resources, on November 14, 2017.

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StoryLabs registered storylabs.online on July 20, 2018 and storylabs.app on September 3. S&S Apps registered the STORYLABS trademark for foreign-language learning apps on April 30, 2019; its application claimed first use on July 11, 2018.

On June 8, 2020, iKeepSafe announced StoryLabs' FERPA and California student-privacy certifications and quoted Brooke Stephens as cofounder. The HEART curriculum also names her on its advisory board and identifies S&S Apps as its digital provider.

S&S Apps registered in New Jersey as a foreign LLC on August 21, 2020 (entity 0600468934). Its stated business purpose is "Online Delivery of K-12 Curricula: World Language Reading & Sex Education." It moved its registration to Utah on January 13, 2021 (entity 12115414-0160).

A fall 2021 conference program lists a StoryLabs subscription among its 2020–2021 resource grants. It gives no amount or exact subscription dates.

On July 8, 2026, S&S Apps registered SCHOLAR'S LAB as a Utah assumed name (Business ID 14713126-0151), with Stephens as registered agent.

Documented

16 sources for 2016–2026; formations 2018/2020/2021

Full record

Approval claims and the state review

2019–2026; August/September 2022 review · Utah; national curriculum platform

On May 24, 2022, a saved Utah-edition StoryLabs page marketed HEART as "USBE approved" at a price of $100, reduced to $50. The August 5, 2022 state instructional-materials report lists HEART as "Reviewed–Not Recommended" and also labels it "Rejected," recommending that the denial be upheld and HEART removed as a teacher resource.

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Reviewers found gaps in Utah standards coverage, conflicts with state standards and law, and inaccurate or biased information. The full board adopted the report on September 8, 2022, with Cline and Earl opposed. It separately labels 1776 Unites "Rejected."

On November 20, 2019, the earliest saved HEART product page priced digital access at $3 per student, $15 per teacher and $25 per classroom. The underlying curriculum is offered free; the digital version is paid.

On June 8, 2020, iKeepSafe announced StoryLabs’ FERPA and California student-privacy certifications. Those certifications addressed privacy, separate from the 2022 state curriculum review.

On September 29, 2023, a saved page showed Freedom in Education's curriculum portal on the StoryLabs platform. On January 12, 2024, Utah Parents United linked an Introduction to HEART Sex Ed class whose resource sheet directs participants to StoryLabs with a class code.

On August 20, 2025, Stephens promoted Exemplars of Liberty, a 15-week course priced at $100 or free to Moms for America members.

On August 18, 2026, the live HEART store displayed certification badges and approval wording. A later state approval has not been verified.

Documented

18 sources for 2019–2026; August/September 2022 review

Full record

Open questions

Was this edition approved later? What supports the continued approval wording? Contracts and actual classroom use also remain unverified.