Whitefish Faculty District school rooms can use the artificial intelligence program Magic Faculty Inc. this faculty yr.
“Magic Faculty is an all-encompassing AI program with a ton of various instruments in it that may be tailor-made to every class and task,” mentioned Jacob Phillips, Whitefish Faculty District director of expertise.
The Whitefish Faculty Board on Aug. 13 authorized a contract for the program.
Phillips mentioned that Magic Faculty is the best choice for AI as a result of the contract is comparatively reasonably priced and features a signed privateness settlement not to share any scholar or workers knowledge.
The Magic Faculty program can provide instantaneous assets and steerage for answering math and writing questions with out doing the work for the scholar.
The program is utilized by over 4,000 districts worldwide. A number of Whitefish academics are already acquainted with the program after utilizing the free model final yr.
“Magic Faculty has guardrails. It’d level a scholar to the place they went improper in a math drawback with out fixing it. It’d provide assets to dig right into a writing matter or suggestions on grammar, however it received’t write the paper for you,” Phillips mentioned.
For academics, they’ll choose and tailor completely different instruments for assignments, and might get assist with grading, adjusting supplies to completely different ranges, and creating quizzes.
Magic Faculty additionally has accountability as a result of it permits academics to see every little thing the scholar requested and acquired assist with.
Faculty board Chair Darcy Schellinger praised the transfer to implement AI within the classroom.
“We should educate our college students to perceive and use AI correctly. It’s being taught and corporations are integrating it. If we don’t use AI, our college students might be left behind and out of the workforce. So, it’s good to have some guardrails in place with this program,” she mentioned.
The price of Magic Faculty AI works out to about $6 per scholar per yr. This compares to various packages reminiscent of Microsoft Copilot or Gemini, that are lots of of {dollars} per scholar per yr. The price of the AI program is popping out of the expertise finances, however Phillips mentioned the district had to make cuts to updating Chromebooks, so “ideally, that’s not the place it can keep.”
The English division is piloting a further AI program referred to as CoGrader, which assists with grading and makes the turnaround for instructor suggestions about 80% faster.
Amongst different expertise agreements, the district authorized a brand new contract with Picture Video Plus, a pictures and video enterprise primarily based in Kalispell. The district will nonetheless be working with Swan Lake Studios, however that they’re “attempting out” Picture Video Plus as effectively, Phillips mentioned.
In the course of the assembly, the board renewed annual transportation agreements with Rocky Mountain Transportation Inc. for each common routes and extracurricular actions with a 4% inflationary improve in prices.
Additionally renewed with no modifications was the annual sublease settlement to hire Memorial Discipline from the Glacier Twins for use as a soccer stadium and observe.
Trustee Katie Clarke mentioned that the sublease is “very limiting” and commented that the bills can be alleviated if the upcoming athletic bond proposal is authorized by voters, enabling the district to construct its personal amenities.
The college district in September is putting earlier than voters two bond requests. One for $26.5 million would develop the highschool constructing and the opposite at $6.1 million would permit for a sports activities complicated.
An annual settlement with Logan Well being & Health was additionally renewed.
Three out-of-district scholar purposes had been denied as a result of including these college students would exceed the allotted cap for his or her respective grades, as outlined by the Whitefish Faculty District Strategic Plan.
“I can publicly say that at the moment, fourth and second grade are full,” Superintendent Dave Means mentioned.