News/media coverage and awards about the FreshGrade company and suite of apps.
April 8, 2021
Higher Ground Education Raises $30M Series D and Acquires Award-Winning FreshGrade Platform to Accelerate ‘Montessori Everywhere’ Mission
Higher Ground Education, Inc., the leading network of schools dedicated to Montessori education, today announced it has raised $30M USD in Series D funding and acquired the award-winning digital portfolio and assessment platform, FreshGrade. The new financing, led by Learn Capital, will fund the next phase of Higher Ground’s “Montessori Everywhere” strategy by enabling continued investments in curriculum development, training, technology, and global growth.
April, 2019 -EdTech Digest
EdTech Cool Tool Awards
FreshGrade is thrilled to have been selected as the winner of the EdTech Digest Cool Tool Award for Best Communication Solution. The Awards shine a spotlight on cool tools, inspiring leaders and innovative trendsetters across the K-12, Higher Education, and Skills and Workforce sectors.
Mar 26, 2019 – eSchool News
How we turned around our students’ confidence and scores
Gaila Sanders, a high school English teacher, explains how she uses digital portfolios in her classroom to help students feel more comfortable with trying, failing, and, most importantly, improving.
Mar, 2019 – EdTech Digest
Top 100 Influencers in EdTech
Lane Merrifield, FreshGrade co-founder and CEO, was selected as one of the Top 100 Influencers in Edtech. This list recognizes people who are making the world a better place through their work in education technology. Also, FreshGrade was named to its EdTech 1000 Companies Transforming Education! Go to full report.
Feb 22, 2019 – eSchool News
5 strategies for becoming an effective, present teacher
Cari Wilson, innovation and technology lead teacher at West Vancouver School District, BC, explains how she continually evaluates her instruction to improve her impact on students’ learning.
Jan 31, 2019 – Teachers With Apps
TWA Certification Awards
Teachers With Apps Certification Awards was designed to recognize and applaud outstanding developers in the digital education industry. FreshGrade was selected for being exemplary in content, presentation execution and overall user experience.
Jan 29, 2019 – SmartBrief
Closing the loop
Kathy Rogers, a teacher in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, explains how she promotes feedback-loop-conversations using FreshGrade.
Jan 01, 2019 – eSchool News
What are your edtech resolutions?
Teachers and administrators share their new year’s goals.
Jan 01, 2019 – eSchool News
96 edtech predictions for K12 in 2019
Edtech specialists share their thoughts about what will happen in 2019. Lee Wilson, President of FreshGrade, points out a new trend of assessing student performance.
Dec 20, 2018 – EdScoop
How the growth mindset helped one educator stop teaching to the middle
Peter Briggs, a music teacher in Tacoma, Washington, started to use student digital portfolios to manage and support growth for all skills levels.
Dec 10, 2018 – The Learning Counsel
FreshGrade Helps Teachers, Parents and Students Converse About Learning
With FreshGrade, educators can capture evidence, give feedback and track progression through standards and custom objectives.
Dec 06, 2018 – eSchool News
4 things you should know about digital portfolios
Digital portfolios are a great way to help students learn to reflect on their actions and make positive changes.
Nov 15, 2018 – CBC
Rise of classroom management apps makes hiding your report card obsolete
Apps allow teachers to post assignments, adapt the lesson to individual students and share feedback.
Oct 13, 2018 – Getting Smart
Active Parent Engagement and the Role of Digital Portfolios
Encouraging parents to comment on their child’s digital portfolio helps reinforce the learning process and increase growth.
Sep 03, 2018 – Tri-City News
8 things to know for back-to-school in SD43
Around 12,000 Tri-Cities elementary and middle school students are using FreshGrade portfolios that show what they are doing in class with photos, notes and videos uploaded by their teacher.
Jul 27, 2018 – Tech & Learning
What’s New: New Tools for Schools
FreshGrade announced the upcoming release of FreshGrade for Schools.
Jul 19, 2018 – Teachers With Apps
FreshGrade — The Portfolio & Assessment Platform that Makes Learning Visible
This application is designed to give teachers the ability to create and individualize assignments for different students’ needs as well as record progress over time.
Jun 25, 2018 – District Administration
FreshGrade Expands Offering with School-based Platform
FreshGrade for Schools extends portfolio and assessment features while simplifying building-level use of the platform.
Jun 29, 2018 – eSchool News
More than 40 New Things We Saw at ISTE
FreshGrade‘s portfolio and assessment platform showcases students’ learning artifacts—including videos, pictures, audio recordings, links, and documents.
Mar, 2018 – EdTech Digest
EdTech Cool Tool Awards
EdTech Digest Awards recognize, acknowledge, honour, and celebrate the biggest names in edtech and newer talents shaping the future of edtech. In 2018, FreshGrade was the Winner of the Cool Tool Awards, being considered the best-personalized learning solution app.
Feb 12, 2018 – Credit Donkey
Best in K-12 Education 2018: Top Industry Experts
CreditDonkey Best in K-12 Education Award announced FreshGrade as one of the best educational resources for students. Founded in 2012, FreshGrade was developed by a group of dedicated individuals who saw a better way to communicate a child’s progress at school.
No Date – The Learning Counsel
A Learning Portfolio Platform that Promotes Student Ownership and Parent Engagement
FreshGrade app captures learning in real-time while encouraging student ownership and increasing parent engagement.
Jan 24, 2018 – EduTechGuys
Andrea Keith – FETC 2018
The different types of technology tools not only engage parents but also the entire community in what students are learning.
Jan 16, 2018 – edCircuit
FETC 2018: Expert Strategies to Improve Learning and Leading
Technology use gives students more ways to showcase their learning and demonstrate their understanding.
Jan 15, 2018 – edCircuit
FETC 2018: EdTech – Thoughts and Strategies
Digital portfolios let students and teachers capture evidence of learning through images, video and audio, and make it much easier to provide visibility into every child’s experiences and achievement.
Aug 18, 2017 – Sooke News Mirror
Technology increasingly being used to track students progress in SD62
An increasing number of teachers in the Sooke School District are jumping on board with technology as a way of updating parents on a child’s progress on an on-going basis.
Aug 16, 2017 – edCircuit
FreshGrade Integrates with Google Translate to Enhance Engagement
Google Translate is now integrated into the comment and announcement features within the FreshGrade app for all new and existing school and district partners.
Aug 06, 2017 – Getting Smart
Engaging Parents to Engage Learners: Digital Portfolios Can Make it Happen
Digital portfolios push updates to parents, connecting them with what is happening in the classroom, and start conversations about learning with their children.
No Date – The Learning Counsel
How Digital Portfolios Improve Teaching
Combining different assessment tools into a digital portfolio platform, saves teacher’s time, allowing them to engage in professional development, plan an innovative new lesson, and make sure each student learns.
Aug, 2017 – National School Board Association
Online Only: Digital Portfolio Assessments
Digital portfolios allow educators to combine a traditional approach with ongoing feedback in a way that shifts assessment from a snapshot to an ongoing conversation.
Jun 13, 2017 – EdTech Digest
To Leap Ahead
Digital portfolios have made it easy for teachers to capture learning and provide personalized feedback on the go.
May 30, 2017 – Education Week
What Is the Future of the Individualized Education Program?
Digital portfolios and assessment platforms allow teachers to set relevant and individualized goals, capture and share progression in real time with both the student and the parent,and help IEP goals don’t get lost in the day-to-day running of the classroom.
May 17, 2017 – edCircuit
A Conversation with Chris Besse, President and COO of FreshGrade
FreshGrade is a portfolio and assessment platform designed to make the learning process visible and therefore more accessible to students, teachers and parents.
No Date – The Learning Counsel
Ditching the Report Card
Technology has been allowing teachers to capture learning and provide feedback on the go, rather than waiting until the end of term to communicate learning via report cards.
Mar 03, 2017 – Ready to Rocket
Ready to Rocket ICT List
FreshGrade was selected for the 2017 ICT Ready to Rocket list as a top technology company that is well positioned to capitalize on the largest growth trends in the technology industry. Ready to Rocket is a business recognition program for British Columbia’s tech sector that showcases the Revenue Growth Leaders of Tomorrow.
Feb 23, 2017 – Connect Charter School
FreshGrade: Commendations, Recommendations & Limitations
FreshGrade provides flexibility in customizing outcomes to include foundational skills and allow for the attachment of specific curricular outcomes to key learning tasks.
Jan 31, 2017 – Castanet
Principal Principals
Through principal’s leadership, students create e-portfolios that give them personalized, targeted support and three-way parent, teacher and student conversations.
Jan 11, 2017 – Connect Charter School
FreshGrade: Emphasizing student autonomy, promoting conversation, and developing metacognition
FreshGrade’s chronological portfolio format and ability to create multiple submission options encouraged students to see their individual assessments as snapshots of growth through time.
2016 – Delloite Technology Fast 50™ Awards
Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 Companies-to-Watch-Award
Companies-to-Watch Award honours early-stage Canadian technology companies in business for less than four years. FreshGrade was recognized with the award as part of Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50™ Awards, for its innovative technology, leadership and early stage growth.
Dec 15, 2016 – Parksville Qualicum Beach News
Quarterly report cards being phased out in Qualicum School District 69
Report cards to track students’ academic progress are being replaced by systems that displays an ongoing input from teachers, students and parents.
Nov 30, 2016 – Cision
FreshGrade Named One of Canada’s Companies-to-Watch in the 2016 Deloitte Technology Fast 50™ Awards
FreshGrade was recognized with a Companies-to-Watch Award, for its innovative technology, leadership and early stage growth.
Nov 17, 2016 – Gunnison Country Times
Tracking Growth, Not Grades
Gunnison High School aims to show growth over the course while promoting authentic learning progress, allowing both students and parents to monitor the work performed, and teachers to provide feedback.
Nov 16, 2016 – Podbean
Parent Communication Apps
Mindy and Jonathan review a number of online sites that are aimed at helping improve classroom communication with parents.
Nov 15, 2016 – Benzinga
FreshGrade Wins EdTech Business Leader of the Year
The 7th Annual Canadian Ed Tech Leadership Summit has awarded FreshGrade its first ever Ed Tech Business Leader of the Year Award.
Nov 03, 2016 – Canadian EdTech Awards
EdTech Business Leader of the Year Award
The 7th Annual Canadian Ed Tech Leadership Summit granted the British Columbia company FreshGrade with the Ed Tech Business Leader of the Year Award. According to FreshGrade CEO Lane Merrifield, the award reflects the hard work of the team, supporters, teachers, parents, educational leaders, and change-makers who are making a difference for students.
Nov 02, 2016 – Entreprise Record
Apps bring parents inside the classroom
Apps allow parents become more involved with their child’s education and allow teachers to communicate with parents.
Oct 26, 2016 – CBC
Report Card Makeover
Parents are now expecting to get a more ongoing evaluation about their children through the new app called FreshGrade.
Oct 23, 2016 – Coast Reporter
Reporting methods could change this year
Five schools on the Sunshine Coast are experimenting with FreshGrade as a replacement for traditional reporting methods.
Oct 21, 2016 – Betakit
FreshGrade COO Says the Traditional Education System is Starting to Embrace Tech
As technology innovation grows in the education space, several schools are starting to adopt new classroom models.
Oct 24, 2016 – Huffpost
What did you do in School Today? How FreshGrade is Changing the Legendary Answer
FreshGrade helps parents and teachers to maintain an ongoing communication during the school year, rather than relying on quarterly or semester based report cards alone.
Oct 20, 2016 – BNN Bloomberg
FreshGrade: The learning disruptor
FreshGrade allows parents to monitor their kids’ progress in real time, changing the traditional learning experience for parents, students and teachers.
Oct 05, 2016 – The EdTech Round Up
Enabling Teachers. Engaging Parents. Empowering Students.
FreshGrade is a free app for students, teachers, and parents that is designed to give teachers and parents a continuous look at student work and progress through their digital portfolio and gradebook.
Sep 13, 2016 – North Shore News
Education Minister Explains Changes to Report Cards
Students at Canyon Heights are piloting an app called FreshGrade, which provides a report card with more comments from teachers on key ideas and skills, and fewer letter grades.
Sep 09, 2016 – Emerging Ed Tech
Decoding the Lack of Parent Engagement with FreshGrade
FreshGrade is a powerful strategy to ignite parental involvement by connecting them in real time through the use of digital portfolios and assessment tools,giving parents a window into the classroom.
Sep 08, 2016 – Education World
Parent Engagement: 5 Modern Ways to Communicate with Parents
Teachers now have plenty of modern ways to look into better engaging with parents and keep grading for their students.
Aug 23, 2016 – Fox Business
How FreshGrade is Changing the Traditional Classroom
The co-founders of FreshGrade reveal how technology is blending your child’s progress inside and outside of school.
Aug 12, 2016 – Common Sense Education
Create a Feedback Loop for Students’ Work with FreshGrade
FreshGrade’s dashboard makes it easy to manage students’ work and offer great feedback, whether teacher works in paperless classroom or is just moving in that direction.
Aug 18, 2016 – EdSurge
FreshGrade, ScreenCastify, Quizlet Live
A Middle School teacher in British Columbia, Canada, explains how he used FreshGrade to create portfolios, assess students and comunicate with parents.
Aug 15, 2016 – EdTechTimes
FreshGrade Looks to Boost Parent Engagement in Classroom
FreshGrade is an education resource for teachers, parents, and administrators that mirrors how people communicate and use technology today, opening a window into the classroom to ensure maximum student engagement and progress.
Aug 08, 2016 – HuffPost
Entrepreneurs are Everywhere Show No. 38: Ryan Smith and Lane Merrifield
The program examines the DNA of entrepreneurs: what makes them tick, how they came up with their ideas; and explores the habits that make them successful, and the highs and lows that pushed them forward.
Aug 05, 2016 – Really Good Stuff
Making Home-School Connections Through Technology
A 3rd grade teacher in Monroe, Connecticut, explains how she uses FreshGrade to creates private, individual student portfolios where teachers can post photos, voice recordings, videos, downloads, messages, and grades.
Aug 01, 2016 – Shaw TV Okanagan
FreshGrade
An educational platform called FreshGrade seems to be a hit at Mar Jok Elementary in West Kelowna.
Jun 23, 2016 – TVO
Should Ontario schools get rid of paper report cards?
Digital platforms that allow teachers to record, evaluate and share evidence of learning are transforming communication between Ontario homes and schools.
Jun 15, 2016 – Osoyoos Times
Take-a-Risk grants making world of difference for students, teachers
Teachers in School District 53 are taking a risk in the classroom and it’s making a world of difference for many students.
Jun 14, 2016 – Yahoo Finance
This startup wants to transform the way we think of report cards
The Kelowna, B.C.-based education tech startup, offers a web and mobile tool that allows teachers to assign, grade and share students’ work via digital portfolios.
Jun 09, 2016 – Tri-City News
Freshgrade portfolio tells student stories
FreshGrade, developed by a Kelowna company, is being touted as a “transformative” tool that will make communicating between home and school easier and more meaningful.
May 26, 2016 – The Daily Courier
Curriculum changes allow for more flexibility, says supt.
Decreasing the number of provincial exams students are required to write, and changing the way they are assessed will allow more flexibility in the classroom.
May 18, 2016 – District Administration
Portfolios Hold New Promise for Schools
New digital tools let teachers and students assess work more comprehensively.
May 11, 2016 – The Ed Tech Round Up
FreshGrade raises an additional $11.6 Million to Connect Teachers, Parents and Students
The additional funding will help fuel the success of FreshGrade’s customers and growth for FreshGrade in the U.S.
Mar 10, 2016 – Coast Reporter
School Briefs — SD46
Five schools in SD46 have been awarded K-12 Innovation Partnership project funding from the Ministry of Education, and will have FreshGrade as a pilot assessment tool.
Mar 15, 2016 – EdTech Digest
EdTech Cool Tool Award
The EdTech Digest Awards acknowledge people in and around education for outstanding contributions in transforming education through technology to enrich the lives of learners everywhere. FreshGrade won the Cool Tool Award 2016 as the best parent/student solution app.
Mar 15, 2016 – The Journal
Ditch Grades Now, Focus on Student Learning
Teaching without grades, tests and homework is the message from a growing number of educators who are making substantial changes in their classroom practices.
Mar 06, 2016 – Vernon Morning Star
Exploring Culture with Technology
Students in Aaron Hoffman’s Grade 5/6 class at Okanagan Landing Elementary School explore aboriginal history and culture using technology.
Mar 02, 2016 – Ottawa Citizen
How Digital Report Cards Are Changing Schooling
Instead of using the old report cards model, teachers, students and parents now can have an ongoing conversation about a student’s learning, much of which takes place online.
Jan 20, 2016 – Los Altos Town Crier
BCS Uses Digital Portfolio Technology to Improve Communication
The new digital tool implemented at Bullis Charter School, provides parents a window into the classroom and helps create an open dialogue about how students’ work is developing.
2015 – CIO Review Award
CIO 20 Most Promising K-12 Technology Solution Providers
The technology magazine CIO Review evaluated and selected the 20 Most Promising K-12 Technology Solutions Providers in 2015. FreshGrade was awarded for its ability to provide technology solutions that will add value to the entire educational ecosystem.
Dec 06, 2015 – CIO Review
FreshGrade: Capturing Learning as it Happens
By capturing learning as it happens, FreshGrade brings an evidence based approach which allows teachers, students, and parents to view and share student documentation seamlessly.
Oct 25, 2015 – The West Australian
Class Project Screened Home
North Cottesloe Primary School kindergarten and pre-primary teacher began testing FreshGrade — a Canadian app which allows teachers to share students’ learning with parents instantly.
Oct 23, 2015 – Tri-City News
Anmore School Pioneering New Curriculum
A middle school in Anmore may be a model for changes in B.C.’s education system as it pioneers the province’s new curriculum using the latest in technology, flexible classroom spaces and teaching strategies.
Sep 24, 2015 – CNN Business
Why Teachers Are Ditching Report Cards
Child’s progress is more complex than a single grade. FreshGrade helps to create a private virtual report card for each student, which teachers update throughout the year.
Sep 11, 2015 – Techvibes
New York Public School Selects FreshGrade for Student Pilot
The platform acts as a connection point to support teachers, engage parents and empower students to bring more visibility and real-time interaction to the process of learning.
Sep 14, 2015 – CBC Radio West
CBC Radio West Talks with FreshGrade
Fresh Grade founder Lane Merrifield explains how the software is helping parents get a first hand look at their child’s school day.
Feb 05, 2015 – Vancouver Sun
BC Report Cards Enter the Age of Social Media
Report cards are entering the social media age as new software called FreshGrade allows real-time sharing and reporting on student progress.
Aug 19, 2014 – Kelowna Now
FreshGrade Continues to Make Strides in Education Technology
FreshGrade, a local education tech company, has received a big financial boost that has co-founder Steve Wandler excited about what’s in store for the future.
Aug 15, 2014 – Venture Beat
FreshGrade Takes in $4.3M to Get More Teachers to Take Schoolwork Digital
The software is supposed to connect teachers, parents, and students to a network where teachers can organize lesson planning and assessments, and communicate with teachers and students.
Apr 04, 2014 – The Globe and Mail
Why Some Schools Are Giving Letter Grades a Fail
The Surrey Board of Education pioneered a pilot program eliminating letter grades in several elementary schools. More than 40 classes at 13 elementary and six secondary schools have joined the experiment.
May 23, 2013 – Fast Company
The Perks and Perils of Launching a Massively Successful Startup
Merrifield discusses the challenges of launching, running, and selling a startup, and finally figuring out how to be an entrepreneur without totally losing your mind.
No Date – Education World
New App, FreshGrade, Facilitates Real Time Learning Collaboration
FreshGrade, a Learning Collaboration System for teachers, has released a new mobile app that gives teachers more freedom to work in a busy classroom.
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