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Colonial SD will run an "Hour of AI" for elementary students; district outlines safeguards and family outreach
Summary
District staff described an elementary "Hour of AI" adaptation of Hour of Code for grades 2—5 to teach computational thinking and basic AI concepts, said K—5 will not participate under current AI policy, and announced family tech night and letters to families explaining activities.
Instructional technology staff told the committee that the district will run a revised Hour of Code this winter under the label "Hour of AI," aimed at students in grades 2 through 5. Staff said the activities repurpose existing, scaffolded coding exercises to illustrate how AI systems learn from human input and to teach students how to ask questions about algorithmic decisions.
A presenter emphasized equity and age-appropriateness: under the district—s current AI policy, students in kindergarten through Grade 1 will not participate in AI activities. "AI is everywhere as we know in our lives and in our younger students' lives," the presenter said, adding that the tools are used to promote critical thinking, creativity and collaboration. Examples given included an activity in which students teach a system to distinguish trash from sea life to practice labeling and iterative improvement.
Staff said the Hour of AI activities begin in second grade, are short (45 minutes per session), and will be available across December in expanded time slots to accommodate the district schedule. The district will send letters to families, post resources on the district website, and host a family tech night on Dec. 11 where families can try the activities with their children. Staff also said teachers can access archived Hour of Code materials and that many activities are repackaged rather than entirely new.
Committee members asked whether parents had ever opted students out in previous years; staff said historically they did not recall opt-outs from prior Hour of Code events but will send information and provide building principals as points of contact for families with questions.
