Classica Hub -- Operations Specification
Course Templates, Online Materials & Competitive Analysis
Author: Steward ️ (Business Operations)
Date: 2026-02-10
Status: Draft for Ian's Review
1. Course Template System
1.1 What Is a Course Template?
A course template is a reusable, school-year-agnostic snapshot of a course's structure -- everything a teacher needs to run the course minus the students and their data.
Template Data Model
CourseTemplate
metadata
title ("Logic-Stage Latin II")
subject / department
grade_level_range (e.g. 5-8)
trivium_stage: Grammar | Logic | Rhetoric
description (rich text, markdown)
tags ["Latin", "Classical Languages", "Henle"]
author_school / author_teacher
version (semver: 1.0.0)
license (open / attribution / premium)
schedule_blueprint
term_structure (semesters, trimesters, quarters)
weekly_meeting_pattern (MWF, TTh, daily)
total_weeks
unit_sequence[]
unit_title
week_range
learning_objectives[]
trivium_alignment (which skills: memorization, argument, expression)
topic_outline
assignment_structure[]
type (essay, exam, recitation, Socratic seminar, quiz, project)
title / description
unit_association
rubric_template (optional)
suggested_due_offset (e.g. "Unit 3, Week 2, Friday")
attachment_refs[] → MaterialAsset IDs
grading_schema
weight_categories [{name: "Exams", weight: 30}, ...]
grading_scale (A/B/C or mastery-based)
gpa_mapping
reading_list[]
library_ref → ClassicalLiteratureLibrary ID or ChristianMasterworks ID
external_ref (ISBN, publisher link)
required | supplementary
unit_association
curriculum_refs[]
textbook_ref → CurriculumLibrary ID
chapter_range
publisher_link
materials[] → MaterialAsset IDs (attached PDFs, worksheets, etc.)
1.2 Publishing a Template from Live Course Data
Flow: School Admin → Template
- Select source course -- Admin picks a live course (e.g. "Latin II -- 2025-26, Mrs. Henderson")
- Auto-extract -- System generates a template draft by stripping:
- Student enrollments, grades, submissions, attendance
- Teacher-specific scheduling (actual calendar dates → relative offsets)
- Any PII or FERPA-covered data
- Review & edit -- Admin/teacher reviews the draft:
- Clean up assignment descriptions
- Confirm reading list links resolve to Classica libraries
- Add learning objectives if missing
- Tag trivium stage alignment
- Set visibility:
- private -- only this school can reuse it
- shared -- visible in the Classica Template Library
- premium -- listed with a price (future marketplace)
- Publish -- Template gets a version number (1.0.0) and enters the library
Saints Migration Path (existing data):
- Build an admin tool: "Export Course as Template" button on every active course
- For Saints' ~15-20 courses, batch-extract templates at end of 2025-26 year
- Teachers review during summer, publish by August
- These become the seed catalog for the Classica Template Library
- Brand them: "Saints Classical Academy Originals" -- first-mover credibility
1.3 Adopting a Template
Flow: New School → Browse → Adopt → Customize → Go
- Browse -- School admin opens Classica Template Library
- Filter by: subject, grade, trivium stage, school of origin, rating
- Preview: full structure, reading list, assignment types (no materials unless adopted)
- Adopt -- Click "Use This Template"
- Template is forked (copied) into the school's account
- Original link is preserved for update notifications
- Customize -- School's copy is fully editable:
- Swap textbook references for their preferred editions
- Adjust schedule to their term structure
- Modify grading weights to match school policy
- Add/remove assignments
- Instantiate -- "Create Course from Template" for a specific school year
- Assigns actual calendar dates from relative offsets
- Teacher is assigned; students are enrolled
- Course is live
1.4 Versioning
| Scenario | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Original school updates template | New version published (1.0.0 → 1.1.0) |
| Adopting school notified? | Yes -- "Update available" badge, changelog shown |
| Auto-update? | Never. Adopters pull updates manually |
| Merge conflicts? | Diff view: show what changed, let adopter cherry-pick |
| Breaking changes (major version)? | Treated as a new template; adopters keep their fork |
Principle: Adopters own their fork. Updates are suggestions, never forced.
1.5 Marketplace Potential
Phase 1 (Launch): All templates are free. Build the library, build trust.
Phase 2 (When library has 50+ templates):
- Schools can list templates as "Premium" with a one-time adoption fee
- Classica takes a platform cut (suggested: 20%)
- Premium templates include bundled materials (worksheets, rubrics, lesson plans)
- Revenue goes to the publishing school -- incentivizes quality contributions
Phase 3 (Scale):
- Verified "Master Templates" curated by Classica editorial team
- Subscription bundles: "Complete Grammar Stage Package" (all subjects, one price)
- Publisher partnerships: textbook companies sponsor templates aligned to their materials
Revenue model matters here: This turns Classica from a SaaS tool into a platform with network effects. Every school that publishes makes the platform more valuable for every other school.
2. Online Course Materials System
2.1 Material Assets
Teachers can upload and manage materials attached to courses, units, or assignments.
MaterialAsset
id
type: pdf | presentation | worksheet | image | video | audio | link
title
file_url (S3/R2 storage)
mime_type
size_bytes
uploaded_by (teacher)
school_id
visibility: class_only | school | template_shared
tags[]
created_at / updated_at
Storage: Cloudflare R2 (S3-compatible, no egress fees). Per-school storage quotas tied to plan tier.
Sharing rules:
- class_only -- only enrolled students/parents see it
- school -- any teacher in the school can reuse it
- template_shared -- bundled when template is published
2.2 Library Integrations
Classical Literature Library (127 works) & Christian Masterworks (54 works)
These are Classica's crown jewels. Integration:
- Assign from library -- Teacher creates a reading assignment → search/browse the library → select work + passage range (Book, Chapter, Line)
- In-app reader -- Students read assigned passages inside Classica (no external links to break)
- Annotation layer -- Students can highlight and annotate; teacher sees annotations
- Discussion prompts -- Teacher attaches discussion questions to a passage; feeds into Socratic seminar board
- Progress tracking -- "Has the student opened/completed the reading?"
Curriculum Library (Textbooks & Publisher Links)
- Teachers link course units to specific textbook chapters
- Classica maintains a curated database of classical education textbooks (Memoria Press, Veritas, Classical Academic Press, etc.)
- Affiliate/partnership links where applicable
- Students see: "This week: Henle Latin I, Chapters 12-14" with a link to purchase if they don't have it
2.3 Video Content
Approach: Embed, don't host.
- Teachers paste YouTube/Vimeo URLs → auto-embed with thumbnail preview
- Videos are assigned to units/lessons like any other material
- Future: support for Loom-style screen recordings (record directly in Classica)
- No hosting video ourselves at this stage -- storage and bandwidth costs are prohibitive
2.4 Socratic Seminar / Discussion Boards
This is a major differentiator. No other LMS is built for Socratic method.
DiscussionBoard
id
course_id
type: socratic_seminar | general | reading_response
title
linked_reading (LibraryWork + passage range)
opening_question (teacher sets the prompt)
settings
require_textual_evidence: boolean
min_responses_before_reply: number (must read N peers before responding)
anonymous_mode: boolean (for sensitive topics)
ai_moderation: boolean (flag off-topic, suggest deeper questions)
posts[]
author (student)
body (rich text with passage citations)
parent_post_id (threading)
citations[] (linked to specific library passages)
teacher_feedback (private or public)
rubric (participation quality, not just quantity)
Key features:
- Citation requirement -- Students must link to the text when making claims. "Where does Homer say that?"
- Socratic AI assistant -- Optional: AI asks follow-up questions to deepen student thinking (never gives answers, only asks questions -- true Socratic method)
- Seminar scoring -- Teacher rates contributions on depth, textual support, engagement with peers
2.5 Living Documents / Collaborative Notes
- Per-class shared document space (simple rich text editor, not Google Docs)
- Use case: class notes, collaborative outlines, group project spaces
- Teacher controls edit permissions (view all / edit assigned group / full collaboration)
- Version history for accountability
- Keep it simple. This is not our core differentiator -- don't over-invest here.
3. Competitive Gap Analysis
3.1 What We MUST Have (Table Stakes)
These features are non-negotiable for any school to take us seriously:
| Feature | Canvas | Google Classroom | PowerSchool | Classica Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade book with weighted categories | Built | |||
| Assignment creation & submission | Built | |||
| Parent portal (view grades, attendance) | ️ Limited | Built | ||
| Calendar / schedule view | Built | |||
| Attendance tracking | Built | |||
| Report cards / transcripts | ️ Plugin | Needed | ||
| File upload for assignments | ️ | Needed | ||
| Mobile-friendly / responsive | Priority | |||
| Notifications (email, push) | Needed | |||
| API / integrations | Later |
Gaps to close immediately: File uploads, notifications, mobile responsiveness, report cards.
3.2 What We Should Deliberately NOT Copy
| Feature | Why They Have It | Why We Skip It |
|---|---|---|
| Complex LTI/plugin ecosystem | Enterprise schools need 50 integrations | Our schools need 5. Keep it lean. |
| AI essay writing tools | Trend-chasing | Classical ed values human composition. Offer AI as a tutor, not a writer. |
| Gamification (badges, leaderboards) | Engagement hacking | Classical ed cultivates intrinsic motivation. Virtue > points. |
| Social media-style feeds | Student engagement | Distraction. We're a school, not Instagram. |
| Bloated admin dashboards | Enterprise compliance | Our admin UX should be radically simple. |
| Google/Microsoft SSO dependency | Convenience | We offer it optionally, but don't require Big Tech accounts. Privacy-first. |
| Ad-supported free tier | Growth hacking | Never. Schools are not ad inventory. |
- Trivium Alignment Engine
- Every course, unit, and assignment tagged to Grammar / Logic / Rhetoric stage
- Dashboard: "Is my 7th grader getting enough Logic-stage work across all subjects?"
- No competitor even has this concept in their data model
- Great Books Integration
- 127 classical works + 54 Christian masterworks, built into the platform
- Assign passages directly; students read in-app
- Cross-reference: "Every course at your school that assigns The Republic"
- Canvas has... a file upload button.
- Latin Tools
- Vocabulary tracking across years
- Declension/conjugation practice integrated into assignments
- Parse Latin passages with inline glossary
- No mainstream LMS has any Latin support whatsoever
- Socratic Seminar Engine
- Purpose-built discussion boards requiring textual evidence
- AI that asks questions (Socratic method) instead of giving answers
- Google Classroom's "discussion" is a flat comment thread
FERPA Compliance as a Feature
| Big Tech LMS | Classica | |
|---|---|---|
| Data ownership | Platform owns data, school licenses it back | School owns data. Period. |
| Data location | Global cloud, opaque | Transparent, US-hosted |
| Ad targeting | "We don't use student data for ads" (terms change) | No ads. No tracking. No data sales. Ever. |
| AI training | Student data may train models (opt-out buried) | Student data never trains AI. Written guarantee. |
| Compliance burden | School must audit Big Tech's practices | We hand you the compliance docs. |
Marketing angle: "Your students' data is not a product."
School Community Features
Things no general-purpose LMS can do because they don't understand classical schools:
- House System -- Points, competitions, inter-house events, house identity
- Chapel / Assembly tracking -- Attendance, participation, liturgical calendar integration
- Service Hours -- Log, verify, report for graduation requirements
- Virtue/Character tracking -- Teacher notes on character development (private, formative)
- School traditions -- Custom events calendar (Founders Day, Latin recitation competitions)
Parent Engagement (Beyond Grades)
Canvas parents see: grades.
Classica parents see:
- What their child is reading this week (with context: "This is a Logic-stage exercise in identifying Aristotle's argument structure")
- How their child participates in Socratic seminars
- Trivium progress: "Your child is developing strong Grammar-stage foundations in Latin and progressing to Logic-stage work in History"
- Service hour progress toward graduation
- House standings and upcoming community events
- Weekly digest email -- human-readable summary, not a data dump
AI That Understands Classical Pedagogy
- Socratic Tutor -- Asks questions, never gives answers. "What would Aquinas say about that?"
- Trivium-aware recommendations -- "This student is ready for Logic-stage Latin based on their Grammar mastery"
- Reading difficulty analysis -- Calibrated to classical texts, not Lexile scores designed for modern YA fiction
- Essay feedback -- Trained on classical rhetoric (ethos, logos, pathos), not five-paragraph-essay templates
- Teacher assistant -- "Generate 10 discussion questions about Book VII of The Republic appropriate for 10th-grade Rhetoric-stage students"
4. Strategic Summary
The Moat
General LMS (Canvas, Google) → serves everyone → delights no one deeply
Classica → serves classical schools → becomes indispensable
Three layers of competitive advantage:
- Product-market fit -- Features that only matter to classical schools (Trivium, Great Books, Latin, Houses). Competitors won't build these because the market is "too small" for them.
- Network effects via templates -- Every school that publishes a template makes the platform more valuable. Classical schools share pedagogy more than secular schools do -- they're a natural community.
- Trust via privacy -- Classical schools are disproportionately skeptical of Big Tech. FERPA-first positioning wins hearts before features win minds.
Recommended Build Order
| Priority | System | Why |
|---|---|---|
| P0 | Close table-stakes gaps (file uploads, notifications, mobile) | Can't sell without these |
| P1 | Course Template System (private mode first) | Saints needs year-over-year rollover for 2026-27 |
| P1 | Material uploads + library integration | Teachers need this daily |
| P2 | Socratic Discussion Boards | Major differentiator, demo-worthy |
| P2 | Template Library (shared/public) | Network effects begin |
| P3 | Template Marketplace (premium) | Revenue diversification |
| P3 | AI Socratic Tutor | Wow factor, PR, long-term moat |
Prepared by Steward ️ -- Classica Hub Business Operations
For review by Ian Kime