updates to readme

README.md

@@ -1,17 +1,41 @@
 # EndsideOut LMS
 
-## Mission
+## Mission 💖
 
-[EndsideOut](https://endsideout.org/) is a non-profit organization dedicated to combatting obesity and chronic health conditions by building health literacy and fostering behavior change in underserved communities.
-They currently run programs in Baltimore, Maryland and some surrounding counties as well as a remote program in Liberia. 
+[EndsideOut](https://endsideout.org/) is a non-profit dedicated to combatting obesity and chronic health conditions by building health literacy and fostering behavior change in underserved communities.
 
-## This Application
-This application serves as an LMS tool for EndsideOut to deliver their health literacy curriculum to students and parents in their programs, as well as track statistics and trends. 
+This application is a Learning Management System (LMS) that helps EndsideOut deliver its health literacy curriculum, schedule that curriculum across schools and classrooms, and track participation and trends over time.
+
+## Reach 🌟
+
+EndsideOut currently runs programs in **Baltimore, Maryland** and surrounding counties, plus a **remote program in Liberia**. This LMS is the tool that will let a small team deliver curriculum consistently across every one of those classrooms.
 
 ## Ruby for Good
-EndsideOut is one of many projects initiated and run by Ruby for Good. You can find out more about Ruby for Good at https://rubyforgood.org
 
-## Current Status
-This project is currently in active early development and is not yet ready for open source contributors. 
-We are currently working with the organization to determine exactly what the application needs to do and how it should work. 
-Once the requirements are more clearly defined, we will be opening the project up for contributions.
+EndsideOut LMS is one of many projects initiated and run by Ruby for Good. You can find out more at https://rubyforgood.org.
+
+## Status ⚠️
+
+This project is in **active early development** and is **not yet open to outside contributors**. We are still defining what the application needs to do. Once requirements are settled, we will open it up and publish contribution guidelines here.
+
+## How It Works
+
+EndsideOut staff build a **curriculum** as a set of **programs**. Each program is broken into ordered **content modules** at different **levels**, and every module holds the videos, documents, and resources that make up the lesson.
+
+Curriculum is delivered through **schools** and their **classrooms**. A classroom enrolls in a program at a given level, and modules are scheduled to publish on specific dates. **Students** belong to a classroom, and their participation is recorded through **student sessions** — giving the organization the statistics and trends it needs to measure impact.
+
+See [DESIGN.md](DESIGN.md) for the full data model and workflow.
+
+## Getting Started 🛠️
+
+Built on **Ruby on Rails 8** with Hotwire, Tailwind, SQLite, and the Solid stack (Queue/Cache/Cable), deployed with Kamal. See [DESIGN.md](DESIGN.md) for the full tech stack.
+
+```sh
+git clone https://github.com/rubyforgood/endsideout.git
+cd endsideout
+bundle install
+bin/rails db:prepare   # create, load schema, seed sample data
+bin/dev                # http://localhost:3000
+```
+
+Seed data is generated with [Faker](https://github.com/faker-ruby/faker); see `db/seeds.rb` for login credentials.