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Byram Hills rolls out "Getting Bobcat Ready" kindergarten resources and updates AI guidance
Summary
Staff described a new 16-part newsletter series, videos and a pilot screening to help families prepare incoming kindergarteners, and updated the community on the district's AI toolkit and department-level guidance for acceptable classroom use.
District staff told the board May 5 they will launch "Getting Bobcat Ready for Kindergarten," a summer-to-fall outreach package for families that includes about 16 short newsletters aligned to prekindergarten standards, short how-to videos featuring kindergarten teachers, an online resource page, and a refrigerator-friendly checklist parents can use to track skills like zipping jackets and following directions.
The presenter said the materials are aligned to pre-K standards grouped into independence/self-help, responsibility and routines, social skills and friendships, and academic readiness. The newsletters and videos will be distributed by email and posted on the district website; staff said the website will go live when distribution begins.
A sample video shown to the board featured a kindergarten teacher demonstrating how to zip a jacket: "Slide your arms into the sleeves and pull the jacket around your body. Hold both sides of the zipper near the bottom. Push the pointy end into the bottom of the zipper. Hold the bottom with one hand and pull the zipper up with the other," the teacher said in the clip.
Staff also described a pilot of a revised screening process for incoming kindergarten registration that will be trialed with a small group of families this year and rolled out next school year to provide data on children's readiness and inform classroom supports.
In a separate staff report the board heard an update on the district's AI toolkit and approach. Presenters said the district has studied AI use through focus groups and developed department-specific guidance for acceptable, conditional and unacceptable use (a green/yellow/red model). They noted some departments, such as art, are still refining guidance because external exam and portfolio rules (for example, AP art) limit allowable AI use.
Staff emphasized that AI should be used to support learning rather than to replace the hard work of student learning and said the toolkit will be a living document updated as technology and practice evolve.
