# NovaLink

> NovaLink is a free web platform that connects Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) high school students in Northern Virginia with local nonprofits and community organizations offering volunteer service opportunities. Students browse and apply for service; organizations post opportunities, review applicants, and verify completed hours so students have a trustworthy record for school and scholarship requirements.

NovaLink is account-gated by design. Opportunity listings are visible only to verified members, so the crawlable surface is limited to the pages listed below plus individual opportunity pages that an organization has chosen to share.

Content negotiation: the public pages below also serve a markdown representation. Request one with `Accept: text/markdown` and the response carries `Content-Type: text/markdown; charset=utf-8` and `Vary: Accept, Accept-Encoding`. Unknown paths return a real HTTP 404 (with a markdown body when markdown is requested), not the app shell.

## Pages

- [Home](https://novalink.services/home): What NovaLink does, who it serves, and how students and organizations use it.
- [Privacy Policy](https://novalink.services/privacy): What information NovaLink collects, how it is used and protected, and account holders' choices.
- [Terms of Service](https://novalink.services/terms): Eligibility, acceptable use, hour-verification rules, and organization responsibilities.

## Machine-readable

- [Sitemap](https://novalink.services/sitemap.xml): Crawlable public URLs.
- [Robots policy](https://novalink.services/robots.txt): Which paths crawlers should skip.

## Optional

- [Public opportunity pages](https://novalink.services/opportunity/): Individual shared opportunities live at `/opportunity/{id}`. There is no public index of ids; a page exists only for an opportunity an organization has shared.

## Notes

- Eligibility: NovaLink serves high school students in the Fairfax County, Virginia area. Hosting organizations must be nonprofits, schools, government agencies, or community groups. For-profit businesses cannot post, because FCPS treats work for a for-profit employer as an internship rather than community service.
- Hours are only counted once the hosting organization verifies them; students cannot self-verify.
- Contact: maxwelltang21@gmail.com