Tredyffrin-Easttown board approves 2025–26 district goals, including Bear Hill planning and AI guidance

Tredyffrin-Easttown School District Board of School Directors on Aug. 25 approved the district-level goals for the 2025–26 school year, voting unanimously to adopt a goals document that emphasizes Bear Hill Elementary School planning, guidelines for artificial intelligence in classrooms, expansion of STEM programming and a shift in device strategy at middle and high schools.

The board approved the motion to adopt the goals after a presentation by Dr. Guzik, who outlined highlights from the prior year and points of emphasis for 2025–26. “I’m pleased to speak with you this evening about district goals for the 2526 school year,” Dr. Guzik told the board, noting the goals document appears in the agenda materials beginning on page 44.

The goals map to the district strategic plan and include: completing and evaluating year one of the new middle school schedule and associated math-acceleration pathway; developing guidelines for meaningful classroom use of artificial intelligence; creating a framework for a full-day kindergarten program in advance of Bear Hill Elementary School’s opening; implementing STEM programming in grades K–8; carrying forward an ad hoc redistricting committee to address attendance boundaries for Bear Hill; testing a new online assessment tool from the Pennsylvania Department of Education called Firefly; and migrating middle-school devices from PCs to Chromebooks while moving the high school away from a bring-your-own-device model to a common platform.

Dr. Guzik summarized last year’s work that informed the goals, including a first-phase middle school pathway for math acceleration, implementation of math benchmarks in grades 1–2, a pilot rollout of STEM, and initial staffing and construction steps for Bear Hill Elementary School. She said the goals document is intentionally a set of points of emphasis rather than an exhaustive work plan. “The goals report and the goals for the 2526 school year do not present an all encompassing work of all things done in the district,” Dr. Guzik said.

During her presentation, Dr. Guzik also described administrative and personnel priorities: implementing the state-required second year of induction for new teachers, piloting a recruitment screening tool called Vidcruder, expanding dual‑enrollment opportunities at the high school, and continuing partnerships with first responders on safety and reunification protocols. Facilities priorities named in the goals include continuing work on athletic fields and Bear Hill construction and reviewing infrastructure and energy-efficiency practices across the district’s nine schools.

President Kentorsick then called for public comment on the item; no members of the public spoke during that opportunity. The board voted to approve the 2025–26 district-level goals; the president announced the result as “Ayes have it. 9 0.”

The approved goals will be used as annual priorities to align with the district’s broader strategic plan; the administration said the full goals document and related project updates (including a public-facing Bear Hill project web page) are included in the meeting packet and will be updated on the district website.

The meeting earlier approved the consent agenda by voice vote before the goals presentation, and the board also acknowledged recent gifts to Valley Forge School from the Valley Forge Elementary PTO (see related items in the agenda).