PAN-AMERICAN SCHOOL

Dear Pan-American School Community,

I hope this message finds you well as we come to the end of our third week of learning of the 2024-2025 academic year. It has been a very busy, yet rewarding, start to the school year as we look to establish the routines and focus that will guide us over the coming months.

As we continue to evolve and adapt to the rapidly changing educational landscape, we have been working on a range of initiatives regarding the systematic integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into learning, and I wanted to share some of these important developments with you all.

RAIL Endorsement from Middle Schools Association: A Global First

I am proud to announce that Pan-American School has been accepted to the cohort of the “RAIL Founding Fifty,” a highly select group of schools who are leading the way in delivering AI in Learning. This first-of-its-kind global endorsement recognizes our commitment to the responsible use of AI in education. Being part of this pioneering group puts us at the forefront of educational innovation and ethical technology use; our AI Advisory Team will be working from August to November to deliver on this endorsement, ensuring that what we do aligns with this important framework.

Why were we chosen for this?

In his communication accepting our candidacy, President & CEO of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA), one of the world’s original school accreditors, highlighted how our “application stood out in a highly competitive pool of applicants from Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Latin America, and North America.” Among “an overwhelming volume of applications … our commitment to AI literacy, safety, and ethics resonates with our vision for great learning experiences supported by the responsible adoption of AI.”

Why the RAIL Endorsement?

The RAIL Endorsement is the first AI endorsement offered by K-12 school accreditation agencies. It has just been launched by MSA and provides schools with a framework for safe, ethical and responsible use of genAI, as well as access to best practices and trustworthy resources for AI integration. By collaborating in this initiative, we will be able to align our use of genAI to deliver transformative learning experiences for our students.

What does the RAIL Endorsement focus on?

The RAIL Endorsement focuses on 3 core concepts:

• Understanding and experiencing AI
• Critical evaluation of AI and
• Ethical use and safety in AI

We will be working through each of these core concepts, providing evidence to show how we are meeting their indicators over the coming semester.

Why the Middle Schools Association Accreditation, and not NEASC?

Pan-American School is proud to be accredited by NEASC, most recently re-accredited following our October 2023 visit. We are proud to be a NEASC school, and this RAIL Endorsement will not impact this. However, the Middle Schools Association is the first accreditation body in the world to offer an accreditation specific to AI. This, coupled with MSA’s status as one of the most well-recognized accreditation agencies in the world, led us to pursue this endorsement specific to AI.

New AI Guidelines in Academic Integrity Policy

We have updated our academic integrity policy to include comprehensive guidelines on the responsible use of AI in academic work. These guidelines aim to ensure that our students learn to harness the power of AI tools ethically and effectively, preparing them for the technology-driven world they will enter after graduation.

You can see the Guidelines in our updated Academic Integrity Policy here.  We will publish this to SIPAS and our Student Parent Handbook next week.

Integrating AI Principles Across Grade Levels

We are systematically working to embed our 7 AI Principles into our curriculum from Grade 2 through Grade 12. We aim to guide the thoughtful implementation of AI to enhance and support student learning, and support the critical engagement with AI concepts, applications, and implications as students progress through their educational journey at Pan-American School.  Our 7 Principles are:

1. Ensure Human Agency through AI. 
2. Empower Through AI Literacy and Lifelong Learning.
3. Advance Equity and Inclusion.
4. Foster Ethical Understanding and Critical Thinking
5. Develop a Connected AI Learning Community
6. Prioritize Safe and Responsible AI Citizenship
7. Innovate Through AI

AASCA Leadership Conference: "AI-Powered Service: Leading with Innovation and Integrity"

In September, 6 Secondary Students will participate in the AASCA Leadership Conference under the guidance of Ms Mariela Herrera and Mr Henry Gutiérrez.  Following the conference, we will invite these students to collaborate with our AI Advisory Team to help inform AI development across the community, and school initiatives.

Educator’s Focus on AI

Since July, faculty have been collaborating to reflect on how to effectively use AI to enhance student learning across the school.  We have been developing an understanding of the stages of AI implementation in our classrooms, sharing best practice and experiences, and exploring how to effectively integrate AI into teaching methods and to guide students in its responsible use.  This will continue to be an important focus over the coming year, shared learning sessions taking place at least once a month.  

Facilitating and leading some of the work in this space, will be our AI Advisory Team which includes the following faculty:

Looking Ahead 

As we continue to prepare our students for success in an ever changing world, readying them to embark on a journey into a yet to be defined future, we remain committed to providing our students with a forward-thinking education that prepares them for the challenges and opportunities of the future. We believe that by embracing AI responsibly, we are opening doors to unprecedented learning experiences and career possibilities for our students.

At the same time, we are cognizant of the need to continue to do the core work that is so essential to our children’s learning: 

• Ensuring a safe, secure and welcoming learning environment.
• Developing those skills (Self-Management, Social. Communication, Research, and Thinking Skills) that will set them up for success in life.
• Developing happy and healthy young people, who face the future with optimism, joy and resilience.
  

We value your support and partnership in this endeavor. In the coming weeks, we will be organizing information sessions for parents and guardians to learn more about these initiatives and how they will benefit our students.

Thank you for your continued trust in Pan-American School. Together, we are shaping a future where our students are not just consumers of technology, but ethical, informed, and skilled creators and innovators of the future.

Warm regards,

Alan Wrafter

General Director