Large network of Montessori schools buys Kelowna's FreshGrade

Photo: Facebook

Lane Merrifield

Kelowna’s FreshGrade has been sold to the California company behind the world’s largest network of Montessori schools.

Higher Ground Education acquired the digital portfolio and assessment platform for an undisclosed sum last week. FreshGrade was co-founded in 2011 by Lane Merrifield and Steve Wandler, and Higher Ground Education has assumed control of both the company’s tech product and team.

“FreshGrade was always built as the answer for people looking for more than what traditional education can offer,” Merrifield, who is FreshGrade’s CEO, said in a press release. “Part of its charm and success is due to its ease of use, but it’s FreshGrade’s ability to capture both qualitative and quantitative learning outcomes that make it a natural fit with a Montessori curriculum.

“We’re excited to grow the team within Higher Ground and to allow even more families to see the benefits of FreshGrade across North America and the world.”

More than 18 million FreshGrade portfolios have been created since 2011, and there 85,000 teachers and 1.8 million parents using the platform, which offers a more transparent view of student progress.

“Our philosophical commitment is to be both pedagogically uncompromising in the programming we offer to children, and to find ways to fully include parents in the education of their children,” Higher Ground CEO Ray Girn said. “FreshGrade is an expression of that commitment. Excellent communication with parents and parent-school relationships are inextricably linked to quality education—especially given that we believe quality in education is driven by doing something quite different.”