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A Conversation on AI with Head of School and Assistant Head of School for K-12 Programs
As we launch a new school year, we thought it would be helpful to revisit a few leadership reflections on AI at The Bush School from last year, including information from Parent University, as well as divisional policies on AI use by our students. We thought it would also be informative to share a handful of recent examples from the Upper School on how our faculty are using AI in their classrooms.
As AI continues to dominate the national, and global conversation, K-12 education leaders are considering how to balance foundational learning with AI readiness. At The Bush School, we continue to prioritize students developing the skills and attributes that have defined a Bush education for over a century: critical thinking, analysis, coherent and expressive writing, agile thinking, consideration of multiple perspectives, communication, collaboration, problem-solving, curiosity, inquiry, risk-taking, and exploration.
During last year’s Parent University panel discussion on AI, a participant noted that human-centered skills of empathy, humility, resilience, compassion, and kindness are more essential than ever. We could not agree more.
Bush students are curious, self-directed learners with the ability to think critically and lead. In a world where answers are increasingly accessible, it is critical for students to ask better questions, pursue deeper understanding, and engage more meaningfully with the material they are addressing. We have long focused on ensuring that students are resilient in the face of uncertainty, and perhaps never before has this trait been so important.
It is also important to acknowledge that our students are, given their generational identity, in many ways, already AI literate. It is also important to acknowledge that our students are growing up alongside these tools and often bring a level of familiarity and curiosity that can enrich our collective learning. Our goal is not simply to introduce students to AI, but to help them develop the skills and habits needed to engage with it well.
Two years ago, we developed divisional AI policies for students. These frameworks have guided teacher and student engagement with generative AI, and we will continue to review and update them as the landscape evolves. Our goal is to support our students to use technology to deepen learning and prepare them to lead purposeful lives while ensuring they understand the educational, social, and environmental implications of extensive AI use.
To ground this goal, we thought it would be helpful to share a few examples of how Upper School faculty are using AI in a variety of ways in their courses, with an eye on how AI can deepen engagement and learning rather than replace critical thinking and key skills. Upper School Science Faculty Grace Hayek shares:
“In Advanced Chemistry, I use a platform called Snorkl for formative assessment to monitor student learning and provide real-time feedback. Students film short tutorial videos explaining a concept, and AI grades them against a rubric I set, giving instant, timestamped feedback. It's low-stakes and lets students think out loud while I get quick, meaningful feedback to act on.
Last year, I used AI mostly in my Engineering Your World class. We used it as part of the design thinking process, especially in the synthesizing phase. I incorporated a number of prompt-writing techniques to help students use AI to quickly distill large sets of interview data into themes and patterns. Before AI, we used to do traditional affinity mapping with sticky notes, so I had the students complete it both ways so they could compare the two methods and decide what worked best for them. We also used AI during prototyping to generate ideas and produce professional-looking renderings, even for students without strong drawing or 3D modeling skills. That leveled the playing field and let more students bring their ideas to life.”
Upper School French Faculty Mark Leuning shares:
“The efficacy of utilizing an AI foreign-language conversation partner lies in its ability to supplement and extend the target-language interaction that takes place in the classroom. While meaningful interpersonal communication is an essential component of language learning, opportunities for sustained conversation are at times inherently limited in a classroom setting, where instructional time must also be devoted to vocabulary development, grammar, reading, and writing. An AI conversation partner can significantly amplify these communicative opportunities by allowing students to engage in extended, individualized target-language practice beyond what classroom time alone can reasonably provide.
In principle, this format can also reduce some of the anxiety associated with spontaneous oral communication. Students are able to take the time they need to formulate and refine their responses without the immediate social pressure that can accompany speaking in front of a teacher or peers. At the same time, an AI conversation can provide immediate, constructive feedback—reinforcing effective and successful use of the target language while offering real-time linguistic correction and redirection when needed. Over time, we are beginning to see the benefits of this additional practice reflected in students’ improved conversational capacity across a range of proficiency levels.”
Upper School CED Faculty Gayathri Rajagopal shares how she incorporated an AI and machine learning unit into her Fundamentals of Computing class:
“In this unit, students are introduced to the foundations of artificial intelligence and explore how AI is being used to solve problems and make decisions in the real world. They learn about different types of machine learning and get hands-on experience understanding how machine learning models are trained using data. We also discuss the limitations of AI, including bias, ethics, privacy, and the possible consequences of AI technologies.
At the end of the unit, students work on an AI Innovation and Ethics Research Project. They research an AI innovation and investigate what problem it is designed to solve, what data it uses, and how users interact with it. They then examine potential ethical concerns, including who may be affected, what unintended consequences could arise, and what principles could help guide the responsible use of the technology.”
Please follow-up with us on any questions or wonderings you might have. We are committed to exploring and addressing AI use and learning at Bush to achieve our mission and ensure that our students are prepared to move into the world with the courage needed to ask big questions and the confidence to pursue answers.
In partnership,
Sarah Smith, Head of School
Matt Lai, Assistant Head of School for K-12 Programs
The Bush School is an independent day school located in Seattle, WA enrolling 775 students in grades K–12. The mission of The Bush School is to spark in students of diverse backgrounds and talents a passion for learning, accomplishment, and contribution to their communities
3400 East Harrison Street, Seattle WA 98112 (206) 322-7978
The Bush School does not discriminate in matters of employment, recruitment, admissions, or administration of any of its programs on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, disability, gender, or sexual orientation. In addition, The Bush School does not discriminate in matters of employment on the basis of age or marital status