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Northwestern Lehigh outlines year-one AI rollout for staff and students
Summary
District technology staff described a year-one AI initiative that emphasized differentiated professional development, classroom pilots using vetted tools, and student-facing panels; staff said they will evaluate outcomes before expanding to elementary grades.
Mrs. Russell, the district's technology integrator, gave a detailed update on Northwestern Lehigh School District's first-year AI initiative, saying the work has focused on teacher training and building student capacity to use AI responsibly.
"How to use AI to enhance learning" was central to the district's planning, Mrs. Russell said, describing two main goals: continued professional development for staff and building students' understanding and critical use of AI. The district developed guiding documents — including an AI philosophy, an AI integrity scale and AI use guidelines — that Mrs. Russell said are now part of staff resources.
Staff piloted AI lessons during October and followed up in November with targeted, readiness-based sessions. Mrs. Russell summarized one model in which teacher groups analyzed ninth-grade history lessons that used AI in different ways, ranked them for learning impact and distilled shared best practices and pitfalls for classroom application.
Teachers also led interest-based sessions and a recent middle-school "AI show-and-tell" in which 10 teachers rotated through short stations demonstrating classroom uses of AI. The district has deployed vetted tools such as Google Gemini (managed through the district Google domain) and a platform called Magic School; Mrs. Russell said these tools provide transparency into student-AI interactions and built-in reminders about appropriate use.
On the student side, the district held panel discussions for grades 6 through 12 that solicited student questions in advance; staff then used those panels to introduce common language and foundational skills. Mrs. Russell said elementary-level rollout will be more cautious and will follow full evaluation of year-one feedback from teachers and library/media specialists who are leading grade-appropriate lessons.
The district intends to continue differentiated professional development through the remainder of the year and to gather formal feedback to inform the next phase. "This has been a hugely positive initiative," Mrs. Russell said, and staff will assess what to scale for year two based on teacher and student responses.
Next steps outlined by staff include formal year-one evaluation with library/media specialists, additional teacher-driven PD sessions this spring, and a plan to refine elementary approaches before extending student-facing AI instruction more broadly.
