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Background
Rockford Public Schools serves nearly 29,000 students—many of whom are newcomers, speak one of over 80 different languages, and come from under-resourced communities. In this diverse and dynamic environment, Susan Uram, Director of Educational Technology, and her team recognized early on that AI wasn't a passing trend—it was a shift that demanded intention, structure, and purpose.
Rather than jumping straight into tools, their journey began in October 2022 with a question:
"How do we build AI literacy among educators so they can guide students effectively in an AI-powered world?"
Challenges
Teachers in the district were encountering the same dilemma seen in schools across the country—AI tools were arriving fast and furiously, and there was little time or guidance on how to use them meaningfully.
“We weren’t specifically focused on a tool,” Susan explains. “It was about helping teachers process what is this—and ensuring we weren’t left behind.”
She compared giving teachers open access to general-purpose AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini to “jumping into the whole ocean” instead of learning how to swim in a pool first. The rapid emergence of AI created both curiosity and confusion, and without structured support, many educators felt overwhelmed.
In parallel, there was a growing concern around student use of AI. With students experimenting on platforms like Character.AI and Snapchat, teachers were left with questions like:
- Should we block it?
- How do we manage academic integrity?
- Is this something we guide—or something we avoid?
Solutions
The district responded with a clear and forward-thinking plan: build AI literacy first. They launched a three-day immersive AI experience for teachers focused on the fundamentals:
- What is generative AI?
- How does it make decisions?
- What are the ethics, privacy concerns, and security implications?
Educators participated in offline simulations that demystified how AI generates responses. The experience emphasized thinking—not just doing—and laid a foundation of critical understanding.
“If I can show a teacher the cognitive load it takes to use AI well, that directly transfers to how they teach students to use it too,” Susan explained.
From there, MagicSchool emerged as the ideal platform to help bridge the gap between theory and practice. Teachers explored the free version and found that its education-first design reduced the need for extensive prompting and felt intuitive for classroom use.
By January 2024, the district entered a six-month premium trial, and the results were immediate.
“It just made sense. MagicSchool was responsive to what teachers needed, not just in features but in how easy it was to use.”
Teachers who had once struggled to imagine incorporating AI into their lesson planning were suddenly creating full, personalized units—with rubrics, materials, and follow-ups—on student-friendly themes like Minecraft, pizza, and sock monkeys.
The magic wasn’t just in saving time—it was what teachers could now do with that time:
- Infuse creativity into lessons
- Build stronger student relationships
- Focus on the why behind student learning
“Before, they wouldn’t have even attempted this kind of personalization because it was out of the realm of possibility. Now, it’s part of their everyday.”
From empowering teachers to engage in deep critical thinking about AI to opening the door for thoughtful student conversations, Rockford Public Schools is leading by example. As Susan put it:
“We’re not in awe of the speed of AI anymore—we’re focused on its utility and impact.”
As the district moves forward, the goal remains the same: continue weaving AI literacy into curriculum, instruction, and assessment, while modeling ethical and powerful usage for students.
