District presents global citizenship, AI guidance and expanded teacher professional learning

Presenters from the Somers Central School District learning office outlined a package of professional learning and curriculum-alignment efforts aimed at strengthening students’ critical thinking, technology fluency and digital citizenship.

Liz Turner, introduced by the board as a lead presenter, said the district convened a K–12 teacher committee to develop guiding principles and best practices for classroom use of artificial intelligence, and that teachers have access to a district AI platform designed for age-appropriate instructional use. Turner also said district teacher representatives shared the district’s AI work with regional peers through the Tri-State Consortium.

Tara Karns described K–5 practices, saying leaders balance paper-and-pencil foundational work with developmentally appropriate tech activities and that Primrose teachers are participating in in-house training on effective technology integration. Karns said fifth graders receive focused assemblies about online presence before moving to middle school.

Stacy Alcan outlined work on executive-functioning supports and inclusive practices. The district has created K–12 study groups, designated a point person in each building (paid a stipend) to support executive-functioning interventions, and expanded training for paraprofessionals and monitors on positive behavioral intervention supports. The district is piloting a reporting approach that currently counts some executive-function measures in student reporting; presenters said middle-school students have completed one cycle of feedback and high-school surveys are planned.

The learning office also described efforts to expand professional learning communities (PLCs) for K–12 curricular alignment, strengthen its MTSS coordination across buildings, and roll out a customized data platform (referred to in the presentation as Link It) to help teams analyze student data and support interventions.

On secondary alignment, presenters said the district is deepening collaboration between the middle and high school and has entered a formal IB Middle Years Programme partnership for grades 6–10 to foster a shared language around instruction, assessment and feedback. Finally, the presenters described a four-phase curriculum/program review cycle (review, pilot, professional learning/implementation, monitoring) that will guide core-subject work over several years.

Board members asked about student and parent feedback on the pilot reporting changes; presenters said they had one cycle of middle-school student feedback and a parent survey and will expand feedback collection to high-school students.

The presentation concluded with board appreciation and plans to continue community communication as the district pilots reporting and grading changes tied to the state’s Portrait of a Graduate work.