AI Foundations & Leadership
Professional Learning Community
Canadian Independent Schools | February – April 2026
Two tracks. One community. Meet educators where they are.
A 3-month collaborative journey for Canadian independent school educators — whether you're just getting started with AI or ready to lead implementation at your school. Choose the track that fits your experience, learn alongside peers from independent schools across Canada, and walk away with practical skills you can use immediately.
What Participants Value Most:
Dedicated Time: Protected space to learn from peers across schools facing the same challenges.
Cross-School Perspectives: See how other independent schools are approaching AI —accelerate your learning by sharing what's working.
Practical Outcomes: Walk away with tools, resources, and plans you can actually use —not just theory.
Collaborative Mapping: Work together to identify realistic implementation pathways that fit your school's context.
Building on our founding cohort of 40+ educators across Canadian independent schools.
Hear from our founding members!
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"It's allowed me to incorporate AI into scheduling and into scaling back admin workload. I've scaffolded these approaches for my partner and we are now more intentionally using AI going forward and modelling it for staff."
Lindsay Vieira
Vice Principal, Junior School, St. John's-Ravenscourt -
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“Seeing what other schools/teachers/coordinators are doing in this area is invaluable. We are all facing these new opportunities and challenges in real-time. It's not a one-size-fits-all, but it's important to keep engaging and adjusting.”
Lucas Tompkins
Teacher & Coordinator of Learning Technology, Greenwood College -
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“Collaboration allows us to bring our unique strengths and capacities to the the table, providing a richer, more diverse pool of knowledge for everyone to glean from. Collectively, we have a greater chance of staying up to date with the break neck pace of how things are changing!”
Stephanie Stephens
Director of Learning Innovation and Technology, HTS -
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"As a part of this cohort, I have benefitted by hearing how others are grappling with the whole AI thing has opened my eyes to other aspects of this issue. Some things I didn't really consider as I tend to get lost in the big picture and lose sight of how you can pick off smaller aspects of that issue as well, thus making it more manageable for everyone."
Ian Johnston
Senior School Tech Teacher, Pickering College -
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“Collaborating while on my AI journey is important to me because I am evolving in my career along side the evolution of AI resources and tools. Learning from my peers with similar interests is key for mutual growth as it provides greater perspective and insight into what it means to be an educator in the digital era.”
Anna Spotta
French Teacher, Greenwood -
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“Nobody learns deeply on their own!”
Andrew Moore
English Teacher, Bayview Glen -
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“Collaboration is important to me because AI can do a lot, but it can’t replace the ideas, creativity, and encouragement that come from working with other people.”
Barry Panas
Science Teacher
St. John’s Ravenscourt -
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“Working together with other educators puts an emphasis on critical thinking skills so that we can all start to understand the issues and opportunities in the quickly changing world of AI.”
Grace Sheppard
Teacher-Librarian
St. John’s Ravenscourt
Two Tracks to Meet You Where You Are
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New to AI? Start here.
For educators at any stage of AI familiarity who want to build confidence and practical skills.Brand new to AI
Experimenting with tools
Beginning classroom integration
You'll leave with: Confidence using AI for daily tasks, a personal AI toolkit, and strategies to support diverse learners. -
Ready to lead AI at your school?
For educators ready to move beyond personal use to drive meaningful change in their context.Strategic implementation planning
Change management & staff engagement
School-wide or department-level adoption
You'll leave with: A concrete action plan, tested resources, and a deliverable ready to share with your school community.
Past participants have used this track to:Redesign writing assessments to maintain integrity in an AI world
Build custom chatbots to automate scheduling and admin tasks
Develop "AI Toolkits" for specific departments
Create critical reflection tasks for students using AI tools
Program Structure
Monthly learning cycle to account for busy educators:
6 Live Sessions: Scheduled as a cohort (2x/month) to practice, share wins, and troubleshoot challenges. All sessions recorded.
Asynchronous Learning: Flexible independent exploration and collaboration on CoLab—a purpose-built networking and collaboration platform for K12 educators.
1:1 Coaching: Personalized support to set goals and create an implementation plan for your specific context.
Cross-School Collaboration: Structured time for peer exchange—our participants' most valued feature.
Five Focus Areas Across Both Tracks
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AI Foundations & Responsible Use
Build a shared understanding of what AI can (and can't) do, and how to use it ethically in your school context. -
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Teaching & Learning Applications
Explore practical ways to use AI for lesson planning, feedback, communication, and daily workflows that save time. -
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Supporting Diverse Learners
Use AI to differentiate instruction, support multilingual learners, and design assignments. -
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Student Perspectives & Academic Integrity
Understand how students are already using AI and design approaches that maintain integrity while embracing the technology. -
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Implementation & Sustainability
Move from personal practice to lasting change—whether that's building your own toolkit or leading school-wide adoption. -
Want more detail? We're happy to share a full session-by-session breakdown for either track.
Expert Facilitation Team
Peter Siner – AI Professional Learning Support
Active school administrator, Google Certified Innovator, and host of the Teach Smarter Podcast. Peter is a recognized AI for Education Specialist with a decade of experience in instructional leadership and technology integration. He regularly presents at global conferences including MATSOL, ISTE, and FETC, focusing on sustainable AI integration and systems-level planning.
Ariella Racco – Program Design & Community Leadership
CEO of CoLab, the collaboration platform for K12 education. She is a Google Certified Innovator, and former CIS Ontario teacher at Appleby College and The York School. Ariella brings deep understanding of independent school culture and designs professional learning experiences that foster authentic collaboration and practical implementation.
All staff members are encouraged to join—teachers across all divisions/departments, librarians, technology coaches, and school leaders.
We recommend joining with several staff members per school to build internal capacity and establish shared language.
Who Can Participate?
The Opportunity
✺ 3-Month AI Progression: Personal practice → context integration → peer collaboration → leading school change
✺ Year-Round CoLab Platform Access: Ongoing resource sharing and professional networking with CAIS educators
✺ Expert Support: Curated AI content, research, facilitation guides, and 1:1 coaching with AI specialists
✺ Ready-to-Use Resources: Practical, educator-ready materials for immediate school application
Investment: $800 per participant
Group rates and early bird discounts available for those who register before January 23, 2026. Custom school-based PLCs also available for schools with 10+ participants.
AI PLC Interest Form
Please confirm your school's interest and approximate staff count by January 30, 2026. Reach out if you need an extension for any reason.
Program Launch: Week of February 16th or 23rd,
2026 based on participant poll
Contact our team: CEO, Ariella Racco, ariella@colab.education