Superintendent Dr. Murray said the district’s summer work centered on curriculum development, teacher professional learning and strengthening social-emotional supports as the new 2025–26 school year began. “Ensuring that every student feels safe, secure, and supported will remain a central priority for this year and beyond,” Dr. Murray told the board during the Aug. 26 meeting.

The district hosted a two-day AI Learning Institute and broader professional-learning offerings that drew 138 teachers this summer, representing about 40% of faculty, district presenters said. Lauren Santa Barbara, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment, described the AI sessions as aimed at helping teachers “use AI in ways that enhance their learning and critical thinking skills, not to replace them.” Santa Barbara said the institute emphasized ethics, the learning process and classroom uses such as AI-powered feedback loops and AI for formative insights.

The board-approved 2025–26 professional learning plan (approved as part of the consent agenda) ties those workshops into larger district priorities. Santa Barbara said sessions were shaped by prior external feedback and included book studies, vocabulary workshops tied to the literacy committee’s phonics work, and classroom technology training on Google Workspace and Promethean boards.

Curriculum updates completed over the summer include: a seventh- and eighth-grade library crosswalk to integrate AI in research and writing; final-stage alignment of high school chemistry and physics to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS); addition of an Advanced 3-D Studio Art course; and completion of AP Research to support the AP Capstone pathway. Santa Barbara reported 6 students enrolled in the IB diploma program and 179 students taking at least one IB course; AP Research launched with 28 students and AP Seminar has 33.

Leaders said professional learning will continue across the year. The district scheduled a secondary-level conference day focused on AI on Nov. 4 with a keynote by author Matt Miller and breakout sessions for varied teacher entry levels. Santa Barbara said department coordinators built departmental goals during a summer retreat that will incorporate AI instruction and student-use guidance.

Special-education staff ran an extended six-week summer program to prevent regression for participating students and hosted a “summer fun day” with community partners. The district also described plans to scale responsive-classroom training for K–5 teachers during the November and March conference days and additional follow-up sessions for teachers already trained.

The professional learning plan itself was on the consent agenda approved by the board (vote recorded as part of the evening’s consent motion). Board members asked about grade-level participation in the AI institute; Santa Barbara said attendance skewed toward elementary teachers but included special-education and ELL staff, and the district is structuring further training and department-level goals to broaden secondary participation.

Ending: District leaders said their summer efforts — from AI ethics and instructional uses to literacy, SEL and course expansions — are intended to support classroom practice this fall and the multi-year strategic planning work on the board’s Sept. 30 agenda.