Click for Code 
Building a safe EdTech platform for young writers
Published on January 1, 2022
Business challenge
Elizabeth Slavitt came to the project after years at McKinsey, then Khan Academy, where she led teams working on educational content and learning tools. In 2014 she was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in Education. Shakespeers started from a simple idea: kids write more when they have a place that feels encouraging, social, and safe.
The hard part was not only building the product. Families had to trust it enough to actually use it, and Elizabeth needed a fast way to see if the idea worked with real customers. Parents needed confidence before inviting their kids in. Kids needed a reason to come back and write. And the first version had to get into production quickly, without cutting corners on safety.
Those goals can fight each other. Make the community too open and parents worry. Make it too locked down and kids stop writing. The product had to hold both.
Delivering the product
From the start, the product had to work for four personas: first-time visitors, parents, kids, and moderators. They needed different goals and different access. Each role got its own permissions, navigation, and workflows, but they still lived on one platform so parents, kids, and moderators could interact without privacy or access getting messy.
A first-time visitor could look around, pick a plan with Stripe subscriptions, and sign up as a parent. Parents could then invite their children and keep control of who got in. Kids needed writing to feel real, so we customized an established rich text editor instead of building one ourselves. Daily prompts, a 7-day submission flow, browsing by topic, and emoji reactions gave them something to do every day. Image uploads were left out on purpose. That kept the space cleaner and lowered privacy risk for a young audience.
Moderators were there from day one too. Kids could report content, and the team got moderation alerts when something needed a look. A kids community cannot run on trust alone.
Parents stay in control while kids get into writing.
Reports and alerts, so the team does not have to watch every post.
Our approach
We did not leave moderation for later. It sat in the product from the beginning. When we designed onboarding or content creation, we kept asking how kids, parents, and moderators would meet in the same place. Safety had to feel built in, not bolted on.
Existing services covered authentication, Stripe subscriptions, and serverless infrastructure. That left more room for the work that was unique to Shakespeers: the writing experience, parent confidence, role-based access for moderators, and a notification system when reports came in.
The first production release stayed small enough to ship, but still covered the path from parent signup to a child writing in a moderated space.
Business value
Families could use the platform for real: subscribe, invite kids, write, and stay in a moderated community. Moderation alerts cut down on constant manual checking. Serverless infrastructure meant less time spent running servers, so the founder could spend more time growing the product. The first version was solid enough to learn from users and add features later without starting over.
Why this stack
Redwood kept the app in one framework. Stripe handled subscriptions. AWS covered serverless infrastructure and moderation alerts. That mix saved time and still left room for the product to grow.
The result
Parents could manage subscriptions. Kids could write in a moderated community. The founding team had a launch-ready platform in 3 months with room to grow from there.
Got a clear picture so far?
If you're wondering whether we are a good fit for your project, a quick 15-minute call can help clarify the next steps. Book a Quick Call NowWrite To Us At Your Own Convenience
What People Say
Shaped by years of experience, our stack includes React, Next.js, TypeScript, Node.js, Python, robust databases, and top-tier cloud services - chosen for stability, scalability, and clean engineering practices.
“It’s been such a pleasure working with Parmeet. We’ve been impressed by the quality of his code, his communicativeness, his work ethic, and his passion for making the product intuitive and delightful. We’d recommend him enthusiastically to others and hope to work together again in the future.”
“I worked with Parmeet for half a year, and I can highly recommend him as an experienced front-end developer and a responsible team member. He can quickly understand an issue or a new codebase and provide a solution.”
“I got the chance to briefly work with Parmeet and I must say that I enjoyed every single second of that. He is one of the few people (I’ve worked with) who have a zeal to learn more, can quickly adapt to new technology, is a fast learner, highly productive and more important is honest and humble.
He has got a very pleasing personality and is very presentable.
Parmeet is self disciplined, can manage and plan his time very efficiently and can deliver tasks on time.
I would like to recommend him as a Full Stack Developer (JavaScript) who can deliver polished front end applications on ReactJs that are backed by equally capable backend developed in NodeJs (deployed on AWS Cloud)
People like him are an asset to any team.”
“He is a hard working individual with good insight into what makes UX work for the end user. A joy to work with.”
“We brought Parmeet onto our team to accelerate development of a new product, and he definitely delivered. Parmeet immediately took ownership over all the stories we assigned to him, thinking carefully about the user experience and ensuring that the components he built would function well on both desktop and mobile. He was also an excellent collaborator, eager to share ideas for how we could improve the product and receptive to feedback on his work. Thanks to Parmeet, our MVP release was smooth and on schedule. We will definitely keep him in mind for future projects!”
“I had the pleasure of working with Parmeet on the same team at Meltwater, and I can confidently say that he is one of the best engineers I’ve worked with. Parmeet brings an exceptional level of attention to detail, a deep understanding of software engineering, and a curiosity that inspires overall team improvements.
He approaches every sprint with a holistic mindset, considering not just the immediate implementation but also the broader product impact. Parmeet consistently contributes thoughtful design suggestions and explores alternative approaches, clearly outlining trade-offs and helping the team make informed decisions.
He’s not one to shy away from challenges and frequently demonstrates leadership through initiative, insight, and collaboration. His ability to balance technical depth with product thinking makes him an invaluable asset to any engineering team.”
“Parmeet is an all-star frontend developer and a great teammate. I’ve worked with him on multiple features, and he consistently delivers thoughtful ideas, timely solutions, and pixel-perfect, scalable UI. I’d gladly work with him again!”
“I worked with Parmeet at Jiffy, and he is a dependable frontend developer who delivers high-quality work. He writes clean and easy-to-maintain code and always focuses on good user experience and performance. Parmeet is skilled in JavaScript, TypeScript, React, and modern CSS (SCSS, Tailwind). He works well with the team, takes ownership of his tasks, and can be trusted to deliver. He would be a strong addition to any frontend team.”
“I really enjoyed working with Parmeet. Highly recommended for React-based web development projects with the rich user interfaces.
He is eager to learn and improve in all areas. He has excellent communication and technical skills. He is hard-working, ensures deadlines are duly met, and never compromises with product quality.”
“It was our pleasure to work with Parmeet. He worked on creating the online identity of our business. He got not just the development of the website done but got the copywriting and product photography work done as well. The website created by him is fast and responsive. It has helped us land many new international clients and increase our sales by a whopping 25%. I would strongly recommend hiring him.”
“It was a pleasure to work with Parmeet, an honest and reliable Dev!”
“Parmeet was my junior at classic informatics and we have worked closely on numerous task alongside. His attention to detail and eagerness to learn sets him apart from anyone that I have worked with.
Parmeet’s ability to handle any challenge thrown at him with utmost level of calmness and sincerity makes him an asset for organisation. When it comes to front end I have never seen someone so excited about the things they are developing, Parmeet is keen to make a noticeable impact on anything he picks up.
He was an remarkable colleague and I still miss working with him. As a lead, Parmeet earns my highest recommendation.”
“Parmeet is an excellent developer and a great friend, he is really good in React and has been a real gem to our last company. His technical skills are impressive as per his experience. He always makes sure to meet all the deadlines within a given time frame & with the top standards. He is hardworking & dedicated in his work. It is a pleasure and honor to recommend Parmeet to anyone who wants to hire him.”
“I am pleased to write a letter of recommendation for Parmeet Singh. I highly recommend Parmeet Singh to your organization.
I have known Parmeet Singh for the past 3 years as he was working with me in the same project at Classic informatics. During our time together, his collaboration and leadership skills were truely impressive, and his UI & design work on a project won glowing reviews from peers and client both.
Parmeet Singh is well equipped to grow from challenges that he is presented with. His strong computer programming skills prepare him beautifully for your company. I strongly endorse making Parmeet Singh a member of your team.”
“There is no better colleague than Parmeet. He is one of the most dedicated professionals I’ve worked with and is willing to put that extra help whenever you need it. His expertise as a developer is considerable, and it helped our team come up with more efficient solutions on different projects. He is a great asset to our company.”
“Parmeet is a good and technical sound is his work. I worked with him on 2 projects and he developed the project proficiently on frontend and backend. I hope to get work opportunities with him in future so we can connect the world together for the betterment.”
“I worked with Parmeet in Credit Culture. He possesses great abilities in UI/UX. He always brings new ideas to the table and shows great dedication to work. He’ll be a good addition to any team.”
“I’ve worked with Parmeet for short period of time. He is very skillful frontend developer. He don’t limit himself to one thing always love to explore new things and share with others.”
“He is a good coder and has a humble attitude. His work quality is really good. I got a chance to work with him and we both learnt a lot.”
“Parmeet is a creative developer with fantastic eye for unique and innovative designs in addition to his great problem solving skills and zeal to be acquainted with new inclusions to JS.
He is an excellent team player who can outshine independently as well.”
Let's Bring Your Next
Big Idea to Life
Whether you're brainstorming ideas, looking to bolster capabilities, rapidly expanding your team, or delegating
projects, count on us to meet your needs effectively any or every step of the way
OR
Write To Us At Your Own Convenience