How to Create an Account (Students Ages 2-13)
Learn how families can create a Color account for take-home kits for students ages 2-13.
Translated captions (cc) now available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Samoan.
How to Create an Account (Students Ages 14+)
Learn how to create a Color account for take-home kits for students age 14 and up.
Translated captions (cc) now available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Samoan.
Activating the Test Kit (Students Ages 2-13)
Learn how families can activate take-home kits for students ages 2-13.
Translated captions (cc) now available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Samoan.
Activating the Test Kit (Students Ages 14+)
Learn how to activate take-home kits for students age 14 and up.
Translated captions (cc) now available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Samoan.
Student Self-Swab Kits
Get an overview of the different types of COVID-19 tests we offer.
Take-home self-swab molecular test kits from Color are available at school sites for SFUSD students who are:
- Identified as a close contact to a person who tested positive for COVID-19
- Experiencing COVID-19-like symptoms while at school
Students and families can pick up self-swab kits at any school site, any mobile testing site, or any central office drop-off location.
Color's lab uses RT-LAMP technology. LAMP, just like PCR, is a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT). Color uses LAMP technology because of supply chain robustness and scalability.
Results:
- Available in 1-4 days
- Will be sent to the email address and phone number used to register
Registering, Activating, and Using the Kit
Students that are between the age of:
- Age 2 to 13: Parent/guardian must create an account, activate the kit, and help collect the sample.
- Age 14 to 18: Student can create their own account, activate kits on their own, but the sample must be collected with adult assistance.
- Age 18 & up: Student can create their own account, activate kits on their own, and collect a sample on their own.
Instructions
- Set up a Color account. Watch video instructions for students ages 2-13 and students age 14 and up.
- Get the student's SFUSD Student Number by asking your school site/office or finding it on ParentVUE.
- Register with Color (you only need to do this once) using the Student Number.
- If you have trouble creating your account, call Color for support at 844-352-6567. If you don't receive the first-time confirmation email, double check the email address to make sure it is correct and check your junk or spam folder.
- If the Student Number does not work, call the Student Family Resource Link for support in adding the student to a Color account file. You will need to give them the student number, your email address (if student is a dependent), and the school they attend
- Collect a sample based on the following timeline. Self-swab kits are for students to use at home. SFUSD staff are not authorized to collect student samples. Watch video instructions for students ages 2-13 and students age 14 and up.
- Symptomatic students can use the test kit immediately
- Close contacts:
- Vaccinated students: test on day 5-7 (updated as of Nov. 10, 2021)
- Unvaccinated students: quarantine and test on day 5
- Use the Color test kit. All instructions and materials are included within the kit. Translated instructions are also available.
- Drop off the kit at:
- Any school site before 10 a.m.
- Any of the mobile testing site
- Any central office drop-off locations from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- 135 Van Ness (Civic Center)
- 555 Franklin (Civic Center)
- 1515 Quintara (Outer Sunset)
- 3045 Santiago (Outer Sunset)
- 20 Cook Street (Inner Richmond)
- 750 25th Avenue (Outer Richmond)
- 834 Toland Street (Bayview)
Additional Resources
- Slide deck about self-swab kits from Color
- Printable directions to set up an account (translated versions)
Dropping Off Your Sample
You can drop your sample off at:
- Any SFUSD school site before 10 a.m.
- Any SFUSD mobile testing site
- Any central office drop-off location from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.:
- 135 Van Ness (Civic Center)
- 555 Franklin (Civic Center)
- 1515 Quintara (Outer Sunset)
- 3045 Santiago (Outer Sunset)
- 20 Cook Street (Inner Richmond)
- 750 25th Avenue (Outer Richmond)
- 834 Toland Street (Bayview)
Samples must be dropped off at an SFUSD Color testing collection site. Samples dropped off at a non-SFUSD Color site will not be processed.
This page was last updated on March 3, 2022