CoLab Pilot Opportunity
Join a pioneering community of Ontario independent schools transforming professional collaboration with CoLab in the 2025/26 school year!
What is CoLab?
CoLab is a collaboration platform designed to transform how teachers plan, upskill, and teach through a professional community. As a growing Canadian education technology company with first-hand experience teaching within CIS Ontario schools, we understand the challenges schools face in fostering meaningful collaboration across schools and departments.
What is the pilot objective?
The objective isn't to collaborate, but how to make it meaningful, sustainable, and impactful.
Looking at how software teams seamlessly collaborate across continents on complex projects, or how global consultancy firms co-create revolutionary solutions, we see what's possible when the connected teams meet the right tools.
This pilot program will bring together a minimum of 5 innovative independent schools to demonstrate how strategic collaboration can drive your most critical initiatives - from learning innovation and teacher wellness to professional development and future-ready education. Over 8 weeks, participating schools will employ and shape CoLab to transform how educators connect, create, and grow together.
By focusing on meaningful professional relationships and communities of practice, CoLab connects educators and administrators working on similar projects across different schools, enabling knowledge sharing and personalized professional development at scale. This strategic partnership provides early adopter benefits to participating schools while informing CoLab's growth and development.
Pilot Internal & Cross-School Collaboration Tools
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Professional Networking
Connect with educators across CISO schools
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Resource Hub
Share, create, and iterate on materials together
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Collaborator Matching
Connect based on interests & goals
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Discussion Groups
Exchange ideas and best practices
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Project Launch Pad
Initiate and scale cross-school initiatives
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Personalized Learning
AI-recommended growth pathways
Demo it
Why us?
CoLab brings together educators and technologists who deeply understand the unique needs of independent schools. Founded by Ariella Racco, an Appleby College alumna who went on to teach at both Appleby and The York School, our team combines direct CIS Ontario experience with enterprise software expertise.
We're led by Kevin Birch, who managed multi-million dollar data integration at Toronto General Hospital and directed mobile applications for Kobo's 15+ million users, along with our Head of UX Design, Jaclyn Collins, and our in-house development team.
This blend of independent school insight and technical capability positions us uniquely to partner with you in reimagining teacher collaboration through a platform built specifically for educators.
Why now?
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In a competitive hiring landscape, showcase your commitment to innovative professional growth. Pilot schools will provide teachers with best-in-class collaboration tools and meaningful connections across Ontario's top independent schools.
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Transform how your teachers collaborate and innovate without adding to their workload. CoLab's intelligent matching connects educators already working on similar initiatives across CISO schools, naturally fostering innovation through shared interests that align with your strategic goals.
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Move beyond traditional workshop-based PD. Give your teachers access to a curated network of independent school educators, enabling them to build meaningful professional connections and access high-quality resources aligned with independent school standards and expectations.
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Support teacher wellbeing by making collaboration effortless. CoLab connects your educators with like-minded peers across CISO schools who share their subject passion, career stage, or innovative interests – creating natural support systems that extend beyond your campus.
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Show prospective families how your investment in faculty excellence sets you apart. Early adoption of CoLab demonstrates your commitment to innovative teacher support, directly connecting to enhanced classroom experiences and student outcomes.
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Join a select group of forward-thinking schools in defining the future of independent school teacher collaboration. Pilot partners will help shape platform development while securing preferred pricing and priority access to new features.
The Opportunity
✺ Shape the Future: Be part of the first cohort of Ontario independent schools revolutionizing teacher collaboration
✺ Full Enterprise Access: Get unlimited teacher seats and all premium features during the pilot period
✺ Custom Implementation: Receive dedicated support to enhance your school's existing initiatives through CoLab
✺ Network Power: Connect your teachers with like-minded peers across participating schools
✺ Direct Platform Influence: Help shape CoLab's development for independent schools through regular feedback sessions
✺ Early Adopter Benefits: Access exclusive features and future pricing advantages as a founding partner
Join the pilot for $1,500 CAD per school
Pilot Interest Form
Please submit the form below to indicate your interest in the pilot. After completing this interest form, a member of our team will reach out to you to answer any of your questions, provide more information, and plan our next steps together.
✺ Frequently asked questions ✺
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Our team will provide a custom onboarding experience for all CISO member schools in addition to any individual training and strategy sessions needed by your school.
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The pilot's success metrics will be established through two complementary approaches:
Collaborative CISO Network Metrics We'll work together in our initial onboarding meeting, with representatives from all participating schools, to define shared success metrics for cross-school collaboration.
School-Specific Goals Each school will have the opportunity to set custom metrics aligned with their unique collaboration objectives and internal initiatives.
This dual approach ensures we measure both network-wide impact and school-specific value throughout the pilot period.
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CoLab requires no specific IT setup. Most schools are up and running within one hour of our initial tech meeting. All you need are user names and emails to invite them into your space. We also offer Google single sign-on.
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All content and connections created during the pilot remain accessible to your school. If you choose to continue with CoLab, everything transfers seamlessly. If not, we ensure your school's resources and data are removed securely.
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We prioritize data security through a comprehensive approach: our platform never stores student information, and we employ strict privacy controls for teacher and administrative data - displaying only chosen display names to other users rather than full names or emails. All data is encrypted both in transit to and at rest in the AWS cloud environment, with enterprise-level network security protocols in place. We can provide detailed documentation and work with your IT team to address specific security requirements for your school.
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Each pilot school receives:
Dedicated implementation specialist
Weekly drop-in hours for teachers
Priority technical support
Regular check-ins to gather feedback and optimize usage
Custom training sessions based on your school's needs
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We know teachers are busy, so we focus on enhancing existing initiatives rather than creating new obligations. Our approach includes:
Working alongside your staff to identify meaningful collaboration opportunities
Making strategic connections across CISO schools based on shared interests
Providing hands-on support to help teachers easily explore the platform's potential
Letting natural champions emerge as they discover value in cross-school collaboration
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This pilot introduces the first professional networking platform exclusively for educators to independent schools, offering:
Private collaboration spaces that bridge CISO schools while maintaining each school's unique initiatives
Tools that make teaching innovation visible and shareable across the network
Meaningful professional connections beyond your campus, matched by shared interests and goals
The perfect balance: your private school space, the trusted CISO network, and the broader CoLab community
Early adopter benefits including preferred pricing and platform development input
As pilot partners, you'll help shape a new era of collaboration across independent schools while maintaining the high standards and close-knit feel that make your school special.