Seymour Middle School spotlights AI pilot in school improvement plan
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Summary
Seymour Middle School presented a school improvement plan that spotlights a controlled AI pilot and sets targets for social-emotional learning, academic growth and family engagement; administrators cited ethics lessons, teacher-led AI tools and measurable attendance and growth goals.
Seymour Middle School leaders presented a school improvement plan at the Seymour School District Board of Education’s November meeting that centers on three goals: social-emotional learning (SEL), academic growth and family/community engagement.
The principal told the board the middle school has been part of a statewide artificial intelligence pilot since January and showed a Connecticut Department of Education video produced with Seymour students and teachers. The principal said teachers developed chatbots, tutor bots and writing-feedback bots and “the very first lesson that we teach for the use of AI in the classroom is huge. We go through an entire ethics… that teaches the kids the appropriate use of AI, that teaches them, like, you know, remember, it is just a robot.”
District leaders said the AI tools are teacher-created and teacher-supervised. The principal emphasized that staff continue to conference with students about tool output and that “you are still very much needed to guide their instruction.” He described the AI used as a “very controlled form of artificial intelligence” and said the pilot aims to boost student engagement and skills.
The plan includes measurable targets: training 90% of certified staff in the Yale RULER social-emotional framework, getting 80% of students to report feeling respected by peers and adults, and increasing math cohort growth roughly 10% overall (with a 22% target for eighth grade). The principal also said the district aims to reduce chronic absenteeism by 2.3 percentage points from a prior 13.8% rate.
Board members asked for more disaggregated data on which grades and student groups show the greatest challenges; the principal and superintendent agreed to provide more detailed breakdowns and to carry five years of placement and outplacement data forward so trend lines are visible.
Administrators described complementary strategies: restorative practices in classrooms, targeted professional development, vertical-alignment work between grades to smooth transitions (particularly from fifth to sixth grade), and outreach events to improve family engagement. The principal said the counseling department maintains caseload knowledge for every student and that the school uses recognition events and attendance incentives to support engagement.
The presentation concluded with administrators urging the board to support ongoing professional development and data tracking so the district can evaluate the impact of AI-supported instruction and the broader improvement plan. The board signaled general support and requested further data for future monitoring.