so, why CoLab?

so, why CoLab?

so, why CoLab?

Five reasons leaders choose to build with us.

For districts, networks, associations and PD providers working to strengthen educators and lift student learning.

Hey there,

Tell me if this sounds about right.

Every year you’re responsible for priorities that really matter. A new curriculum to land. New educators to support. Leaders to grow. AI guidance to get right. And what you really want to know is simple: is it working? Are educators growing, and are students learning more?

None of that happens on a PD day alone. It happens in the weeks after, when educators try something with their students, get stuck and need someone who’s been there. But you’ve found that spreading that work across group chats, shared drives, email threads and a survey in May doesn’t hold. You need a system built for it.

Unfortunately, most tools schools and districts use were built for messages, files and logging hours, not for learning from each other. So educators and leaders end up more isolated, without the support they need to solve real problems and deliver the education they got into this work to provide.

I know this one firsthand. I taught K-12 for over a decade, and the answers and support I needed usually existed, in a colleague’s classroom or the next district over. They just couldn’t reach me. Nothing fit. So we built CoLab, with educators from the very first version, and we’ve been improving it alongside our partners ever since.

Today, CoLab supports thousands of educators across North America. Schools, districts, state teams, associations and PD providers rely on it daily to keep their priorities moving all year.

Thanks for checking us out. We’d love to show you how CoLab could work for your team. And ultimately, we’d be honoured to be your partner.

Ariella Racco, founder and CEO of CoLab

Ariella Racco

Founder and CEO, CoLab

Hey there,

Tell me if this sounds about right.

Every year you’re responsible for priorities that really matter. A new curriculum to land. New educators to support. Leaders to grow. AI guidance to get right. And what you really want to know is simple: is it working? Are educators growing, and are students learning more?

None of that happens on a PD day alone. It happens in the weeks after, when educators try something with their students, get stuck and need someone who’s been there. But you’ve found that spreading that work across group chats, shared drives, email threads and a survey in May doesn’t hold. You need a system built for it.

Unfortunately, most tools schools and districts use were built for messages, files and logging hours, not for learning from each other. So educators and leaders end up more isolated, without the support they need to solve real problems and deliver the education they got into this work to provide.

I know this one firsthand. I taught K-12 for over a decade, and the answers and support I needed usually existed, in a colleague’s classroom or the next district over. They just couldn’t reach me. Nothing fit. So we built CoLab, with educators from the very first version, and we’ve been improving it alongside our partners ever since.

Today, CoLab supports thousands of educators across North America. Schools, districts, state teams, associations and PD providers rely on it daily to keep their priorities moving all year.

Thanks for checking us out. We’d love to show you how CoLab could work for your team. And ultimately, we’d be honoured to be your partner.

Ariella Racco, founder and CEO of CoLab

Ariella Racco

Founder and CEO, CoLab

A strategic partner, not a help desk.

We are strategic advisors who help your initiatives stick, with hands-on support every step of the way. We measure success the way you do: educators who feel supported, and stronger learning for students.

"Working with CoLab feels like having a strategic partner, not just a platform. Ariella and her team bring big-picture thinking and real care for educators…every conversation has helped Deschool think bigger and more clearly about where we can grow. What makes CoLab different from a typical edtech vendor is their belief that the best ideas come from collaboration across schools and organizations."
Ritu, founder and CEO of Deschool

Ritu

Founder & CEO, Deschool Online Inc.

What we do for you:

What we do for you:

✓ design your community around your priorities

✓ move your resources in and seed it

✓ onboard your leads and facilitators

✓ co-build actionable insights reports

✓ stay with you, unlimited support

Tip: Hover over or tap a column for more context.

What you need

CoLab

Teams or Google

Community platforms

PD days, email, chats

Built for educators learning together

Yes

No

Partly

No

Connects people across schools and organizations

Yes

Partly

Yes

Partly

Resources adapted and credited across schools

Yes

Partly

No

No

Insights on what’s taking hold

Yes

No

Partly

No

Set up and supported by the CoLab team

Yes

No

No

No

Effective professional learning is…

Sustained

Collaborative

Job-embedded

Coached

Built on great models

CoLab helps you deliver all five, every week of the year, not just on PD days.

Why it matters

Schools where teachers collaborate well in instructional teams see stronger student achievement gains.

Ronfeldt, Farmer, McQueen and Grissom, 2015 · Darling-Hammond, Hyler and Gardner, LPI, 2017