Organization Profile
The Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l'Est ontarien (CSDCEO) is a school board supporting over 11,000 students across multiple communities in Eastern Ontario. Within this board, sits École élémentaire catholique Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire (NDR), a Catholic elementary school located in Crysler, Ontario. Around 180 students from Kindergarten to Grade 6 attend the school, where they’re supported by approximately 18 educators and support staff.
NDR upholds a philosophy of entrepreneurial-conscious pedagogy. This approach celebrates student autonomy and ownership of learning, creating environments where students can independently showcase their progress. As an EcoSchool, NDR prioritizes ecological practices. To them, this means reducing paper usage while keeping communication channels flowing between school and home.
Challenge
Streamlining documentation and family engagement while encouraging independence in early learners
Before adopting SpacesEDU, NDR used email communication and paper-based documentation. Weekly communication packs sent home included assessments that parents had to sign and return. “There was certainly a lot less evidence of learning being shared,” recalls Katia Lemieux, a Grade 1 teacher and pedagogical leader at NDR. “It was mainly summative assessments.”
The school’s previous methods limited the quantity and quality of learning documentation shared with families. Teachers experimented with other apps and email, but found them inconsistent and cumbersome. Plus, the school’s identity as an EcoSchool made reducing paper use a priority, driving its need for a digital solution.
Another key challenge was cultivating student independence in documenting their learning starting in Kindergarten. NDR’s philosophy focuses on students taking ownership, but they needed a platform that young learners could navigate easily. They were also seeking a Canadian solution that could meet their data privacy requirements, with the board requiring that student information be stored in Canada.
“We were looking for a digital portfolio that stored data in Canada and would be easy for our youngest learners to use.” – Katia Lemieux
An early learner using SpacesEDU’s video feature to document and work through an activity
Solution
A unified, easy-to-use platform designed for student ownership
After weighing their options, CSDCEO chose SpacesEDU as its digital documentation and assessment platform. SpacesEDU’s Canadian data storage gave the board peace of mind, while its design aligned with NDR’s goals of encouraging ownership in even their youngest learners. Today, approximately 100 staff members are using the platform across the board, with plans to continue expanding its adoption.
NDR’s QR code station for their Kindergarten students: “It's about finding an effective way to organize things and making the process easy so that the child is autonomous.” – Katia Lemieux
Ease of use was a huge determining factor in their decision. “The QR code login option makes it much easier, especially for Kindergarten and first grade,” Katia shares. “We wanted a platform where children could independently document their learning.”
Katia and her colleague, Shanna, led the SpacesEDU proof of concept classes for the board. Recounting her students’ experiences, Katia shared that “after a few tries, they got it. My grade one students who used it in Kindergarten last year are now teaching their peers.” To instill confidence in their early learners and help them feel comfortable documenting their learning independently, NDR implemented a walkthrough sheet.
NDR’s walkthrough sheet.
“We took screenshots of how to use it with step-by-step instructions. You go to your account to use your QR code. Take a photo of your QR code. Go to the plus sign. Go to publish. There’s a sheet with all the steps. It's very clear, with pictures showing the steps to follow. All they have to do is follow them.” – Katia Lemieux
Students now post their work in the Class Space almost daily, with Katia using the Curriculum Tags feature to categorize submissions. The plan is for students to keep taking initiative and build their confidence.
Élaine Lucas, Coordinator of K-12 Entrepreneurial Conscious Pedagogy at CSDCEO, shares the importance of NDR’s leadership in the implementation. “Katia and her team became a model for others in our board. Their school is the one we direct teachers to when they have questions.” Katia and Shanna’s role in the implementation process demonstrates the value of having champion teachers who can support other teachers in their district to ensure implementation goes as seamlessly as possible.
"We wanted a platform that was easy enough for little ones to use independently — even our youngest students in Kindergarten, some of whom are only three years old until December, are capable of using SpacesEDU to capture their learning. That’s something we emphasize to teachers: if the little ones can do it, anyone can!" – Katia Lemieux
A young learner documenting their work with SpacesEDU’s camera feature and adding it to their Class Space.
Result & Next Steps
Creating a collaborative learning community and strengthening home-to-school engagement
SpacesEDU has helped learning documentation at NDR become second nature and more transparent for all stakeholders. Students can independently capture their moments of learning and tie them to curriculum expectations, which parents can access quickly and at any time.
This transparency has brought out incredibly positive feedback from parents. They love seeing how photos, videos, and audio recordings are bringing their child’s learning to life. Katia shares that “they can even leave reactions or comments, which our students love.”
Plus, SpacesEDU’s messaging feature allows teachers to share instructional videos and updates with families, giving them a bigger window into their children’s progress and giving them more opportunities to support at home.
“Most parents tell us they love it because they can see their child's learning in real time. Additionally, with the messaging system, I can send parents things like, ‘Here are the reading strategies we worked on this week.’ I'll film myself demonstrating these strategies, and then if they want to reinforce them at home during homework, they have a video to refer to. There's a strong connection between home and school, whether it's through sharing learning artifacts or lessons.” - Katia Lemieux
SpacesEDU’s features have enhanced teacher workflows as well. The tagging function helps teachers connect student work with curriculum expectations, assisting them with streamlining assessment. “When I’m doing report cards, I can easily look at specific expectations and see all related evidence,” Katia explains.
“With SpacesEDU, I can film what’s happening in the classroom, take photos of student work, and record conversations. It allows us to collect different types of evidence – observations, conversations, and student work – everything we’re asked to do as teachers to evaluate using triangulation.” - Katia Lemieux
Élaine notes that this shift isn’t just about tools but about mindsets. “We’re working to help teachers empower students to take ownership of their learning. Once that change happens, SpacesEDU becomes a natural part of the classroom routine.”
A student documenting their math work and getting ready to add it to their Class Space.
Cross-grade entrepreneurial consciousness blocks are another area that has seen growth at NDR. During these sessions, students from different grades collaborate on projects, and the school is exploring ways to document and share this work through SpacesEDU. The goal is to create a connected learning community that goes beyond individual classrooms.
The Physical Education department at NDR has already begun using the platform to track progress, and the school plans to expand documentation in Science, Visual Arts, and other subjects. “We want parents to see evidence of learning from not just the homeroom teacher but from every teacher who works with their child — creating a deeper, more complete picture of student progress at any point in the school day,” Katia shares.
As Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien reflects on the impact of SpacesEDU, the district looks ahead to big plans. The success of their digital portfolio implementation with SpacesEDU has opened up new possibilities for learning documentation, student autonomy, and community engagement. Moving forward, the district is planning to expand and deepen its approach by building on its earlier progress, such as:
- Full adoption of SpacesEDU across all K-6 classes
- Expanding cross-class and multi-subject integration
- Continued focus on cultivating student autonomy and entrepreneurial learning
SpacesEDU is not just a tool for documentation, it’s a catalyst for student agency, stronger family engagement, and a more holistic view of learning.
When we asked Katia what advice she would share with schools thinking about adopting SpacesEDU, she said:
“Just try it for a week or a month. You'll see the benefits for yourself. You'll quickly realize how easily students take ownership of it and how simple it is for teachers to use.
You just have to take the plunge. You have nothing to lose by trying it. It just makes things better. Everything is so much easier and more tangible. When a parent can hear their child explaining something in a video, it's more meaningful than just looking at a piece of paper. It adds a richer layer to the learning experience.”
