Stratford board approves K–12 digital literacy curriculum with AI component
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Summary
The Stratford Board of Education approved a K–12 digital literacy course that uses Common Sense Education and Day of AI resources and a controlled AI platform for staff and later students. The program is cost-free to the district and will roll out next school year.
The Stratford Board of Education approved a K–12 digital literacy curriculum designed to teach digital citizenship, information literacy and age-appropriate AI awareness across all grades.
The curriculum, presented by Dr. Michelle Eckler, draws on two free resources — Common Sense Education and Day of AI — and will use a controlled AI platform (Magic School AI) for teacher-led classroom work. "Our digital literacy program will be designed to support student development at every level, early digital habits through elementary school, and to a AI literacy by graduation," Dr. Eckler told the board during the presentation.
The course aims to combine practical skills and ethics: lessons on online safety and privacy, media and information literacy, computational thinking and a sequenced introduction to AI concepts and AI oversight. Dr. Eckler said the state has already adopted Common Sense Education as an official digital citizenship curriculum and that Common Sense materials are "highly turnkey," meaning teachers receive lesson plans, videos and materials ready to use. She told the board the district's internal AI readiness survey flagged teacher concerns about student misuse of AI tools and student privacy as top priorities.
Implementation details the board heard: elementary lessons will be taught during scheduled library/media time by the district's library media specialists (now reframed as technology integration specialists), middle- and high-school lessons will be delivered during advisory or advanced periods, and the district expects to pilot full implementation in the coming school year. Dr. Eckler said the district plans a modest instructional footprint — approximately five or six lessons per year at each grade level — to avoid displacing core instruction.
Board members asked about staffing and delivery. Dr. Eckler said the district will initially use its current technology integration staff, with plans to expand those roles in future budgets. She said the Magic School AI platform restricts students’ access to teacher-created bots rather than open internet AI tools, a measure the district selected to reduce privacy and safety risks. The presentation emphasized the program carries no direct cost: "The financial impact is 0. 0 dollar financial impact. Common Sense Media is free. The Day of AI is also free," Dr. Eckler said.
The board discussed teacher training and family communication; Dr. Eckler said teacher training will be brief and focused and that the district will inform families over the summer ahead of a fall rollout.
The digital literacy course was placed on the consent/approval calendar during the meeting and recorded among the night’s formal approvals.
