How do ratings work? Does the site link to my USCF (or other international) rating?

ChessKid.com maintains both a chess rating and a puzzles rating for each account. Ratings on the site are independent from any official rating system. However, the more a student plays on the site, the more his/her rating should approximate his/her real rating.
 

Chess ratings start at 800. Your rating will go up and down as you win or lose games. How much your rating changes each time you win or lose a game depends on what your current rating is, what your opponent's rating is, and how many games each of you has completed.
 

As you play more games, your rating won’t change as dramatically as it did in the beginning. Also,if you resign a game before moving (cancel the game because you’ve decided you don’t want to play), your rating will drop!
 

Puzzle ratings also start at 800, and will change as you continue to solve puzzles. Solve a puzzle correctly & you’ll receive a harder puzzle on the next turn!