Solutions / Custom solutions

Your program gets its own engineering team

Pencil Spaces gives organizations that teach at scale two teams. That includes tutoring programs, school districts, online schools and training teams. Forward-deployed engineers learn how your organization teaches and build what it needs into the product. Our professional services team sets it up and trains your staff.

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言語

Two teams for your program

Most large programs use both. The engineers and the services team work from the same plan and launch date.

Builds it

Forward-Deployed Engineering

Engineers who learn your program and build what it needs.

A named engineering team works on your program. They sit in on your planning calls and real lessons, then build what your teachers and admins need into Pencil Spaces itself.

A named engineering lead and team for your program
In your planning calls and a shared Slack channel
A design document with mockups before any code
Scope and date agreed up front, with tests the build must pass
Working demos as we build, then a pilot with your teachers
Every build in the core product, maintained by us
APIs and webhooks your own engineers can build on

Ask about a custom build

Launches and runs it

Professional Services

The team that launches it and supports your staff.

Our services team handles the work around the software, so your staff can focus on running the program.

Setup of sites, roles, single sign-on, rostering and network allowlisting
Migration from Zoom or your current classroom, with support for your teachers
Your curriculum loaded into Spaces as ready-to-teach templates
Training for teachers, coaches and admins, live and on demand
Dashboards on your own measures, with data your team can query
DPAs, state privacy agreements, security reviews and accessibility documentation
A named contact and regular reviews with your team

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How we compare with the usual vendor

What it covers

The usual vendor

ペンシル・スペース

Who you work with

The usual vendorAn account manager and a support queue

Pencil SpacesThe engineers who build Pencil Spaces, with our co-founders involved

A feature you need

The usual vendorAn API for your developers, or a services quote

Pencil SpacesOur engineers build it, with scope and date agreed up front

Where it lives

The usual vendorCustom code you maintain, beside the product

Pencil SpacesInside Pencil Spaces, maintained and improved by us

Before anything is built

The usual vendorA statement of work

Pencil SpacesA design document with mockups and your questions answered in it

リリース

The usual vendorOnboarding calls

Pencil SpacesSetup, migration, lesson content and training through rollout

After launch

The usual vendorA service-level agreement

Pencil SpacesRegular reviews with the same team and a plan for the next phase

Your data

The usual vendorExports

Pencil SpacesDashboards on your measures, webhooks and an MCP connection for AI tools

What our engineers build

Most requests start with something that breaks at scale, like a class left waiting when a teacher is out, or a district that won’t allow recording.

Scheduling and operations

Run a full term without a spreadsheet.

Programs and cohorts that schedule every group for a term in one step
One link that takes each learner and teacher to the right Space at the right time
Reassigning a class in one click when a teacher is out
An Alert Center that flags teacher no-shows and declines

Sign-in, data and your systems

Fit the systems your team already runs.

Single sign-on through your identity provider
Rostering through Edlink
Accounts created and opened from your own app through our API
Webhooks for schedule, attendance, cohort and program changes
Pencil Spaces embedded inside your own platform

Safety and control

Set the rules once, for every Space.

Waiting rooms on by default
Observer Mode, so admins can watch a live lesson without joining it as a participant
Only your organization’s accounts can be added to your Spaces
Recording rules set by district that teachers can’t overrideCustom build

The classroom itself

Shape it around how you teach.

Child Mode, a simpler toolbar for young learners
Guides that keep your lesson script beside the boardCustom build
In-person lessons recorded on one device without interruptionsCustom build

Coaching and reporting

See teaching quality the way you measure it.

AI Coach scored on your rubric and performance labels
Site dashboards that drill down to each teacher
Scheduled and delivered teaching minutes for each program
Transcripts with personal information removedCustom build

Something that isn’t here?

Tell us what breaks at your scale, and we’ll tell you what we would build and when it could be live.

Ask about this build

Each of these started as one program’s request. Many are now part of Pencil Spaces for everyone.

How an engagement runs

1
See how your program runs
Our engineers and services team talk with your staff and sit in on real lessons. They map every role in the program, including the people who sign off on attendance.
2
Write it down before we build
You get a design document with mockups. It spells out how each part works for each role, including the edge cases, with your team’s questions answered in the document.
3
Agree on scope and date
A statement of work sets what we’ll deliver and when it’s live. It also lists the tests the build has to pass before you accept it.
4
Build, set up and train
Engineers share working demos as they build. Meanwhile our services team sets up your sites and lessons and trains your staff. A small group of your teachers tries it first.
5
Roll out and keep building
We roll out across your program, then review the results with you and plan the next phase.

Built into the product

Your build stays current

We build your features into Pencil Spaces itself, so they update along with everything else. There is no separate version to patch or upgrade, and every improvement we make to the platform reaches your program too.

Child Mode began as a build for one literacy program. Today any organization on Pencil Spaces can turn it on.

Partners for the long run

Working together over the years

Most of our partners started with one problem and kept building with us. A first build might get every learner into the right Space on time. A year later it’s scheduling a full term in one step, then coaching every teacher against the organization’s own standards.

We meet with your team regularly to review what’s working and agree on what to build next.

Results

Results at ALP Charlotte

The Augustine Literacy Project in Charlotte runs its volunteer literacy tutoring on Pencil Spaces. In an independent UNC Charlotte evaluation (Dec 2025), first graders’ gain in at-or-above grade level on DIBELS was 46.1 points vs 23.7 for matched peers.

“These results would not have been possible without our partnership with Pencil Spaces.”
Steve Hall, Executive Director, ALP Charlotte

Read ALP Charlotte’s story

Gain in first graders at or above grade level on DIBELS

Percentage points, one school year

ALP Charlotte on Pencil Spaces46.1

Matched peers23.7

Source: independent evaluation by UNC Charlotte, December 2025

Questions people ask

What is forward-deployed engineering?

It means engineers who work on your program rather than behind a support desk. A named Pencil Spaces engineering team learns how your program runs and joins your planning calls. They build what you need into Pencil Spaces, with a design document, an agreed date and tests the build must pass.

How is it different from professional services?

Forward-deployed engineering builds what Pencil Spaces doesn’t do yet. Professional services gets everything working for your people: setup, sign-in, migration, lesson content, training, reporting and compliance reviews. Most large programs use both, and the two teams work from one plan.

What counts as a custom build?

Anything your program needs that Pencil Spaces doesn’t do today: a new setting, a connection to your systems, a report, a workflow for your admins or a new tool in the classroom. If a setting or our API already covers it, we’ll tell you, and there’s nothing to build.

How long does a custom build take?

It depends on the scope. A new setting can be live in about five weeks, and a larger piece of work, like scheduling a full term with its own API, runs over a few months. Your statement of work sets the date, and you see working demos along the way.

How is a custom build priced?

Every build is scoped and priced up front in its own statement of work, with a fixed delivery date. Because what we build becomes part of Pencil Spaces, you never pay to maintain it, and it keeps improving after launch.

Will other organizations get the features we ask for?

Often, yes, and it works in your favor. You get the build first, shaped around your program, and it keeps improving as more teachers use it and tell us what they need. Your content, your data and your brand stay yours and are never shared.