Educators make room for AI in the classroom

Ian Strever (left), listened as Richard Davis spoke at the Salisbury Forum’s discussion of artifical intelligence Friday, Sept. 27.
Patrick L. Sullivan
Ian Strever (left), listened as Richard Davis spoke at the Salisbury Forum’s discussion of artifical intelligence Friday, Sept. 27.
SALISBURY — Artificial intelligence (AI) is here to stay, and educators are gingerly adapting.
That was the message from the Salisbury Forum’s panel at Salisbury School Friday, Sept. 27.
The panel included Ian Strever, Principal of Housatonic Valley Regional High School (HVRHS); Richard Davis, Dean of Academic Life at The Hotchkiss School; Sarah Mulrooney, Dean of Academic Life at Salisbury School; and Matt Mervis, Director of AI Strategy at EdAdvance.
Jonathan Costa, Executive Director at EdAdvance, moderated.
“AI is suddenly everywhere,” Costa began. “ChatGPT is the tip of the iceberg.”
Cotsa described generative AI as “giant synthesizing machines” that “crawl” through enormous amounts of data.
“It takes your prompt and is really good at predicting what you want to see.”
Costa said the advent of AI is “the final curtain for rote learning.” AI will reduce the time it takes to complete a task, combined with a “higher order of engagement.”
And AI works at incredible speeds.
“My fear is that schools won’t change fast enough.”
“The implications are endless,” Costa said, with “great benefits” and “dark corners.”
He asked the panelists how AI is being used in their schools. Salisbury School’s Mulrooney said she first heard “rumblings” about ChatGPT in November of 2022, and the immediate concern was cheating or plagiarism.
“We spent some time on prevention,” she said, and then moved into finding more about AI and how it was being used elsewhere.
For the 2023-24 school year, the attitude was one of “curiosity and discernment.”
In the current school year, Mulrooney asked teachers for their opinions and was immediately met with resistance. “‘ I don’t touch it, and I dont let my students touch it’ were the first responses.”
Davis, from The Hotchkiss School, said he started hearing about AI during the winter holiday break in 2022.
Hotchkiss has not banned AI. Davis said the emphasis has been one of exploration.
He noted one immediate consequence of the rise of AI.
“Evidence of learning changed overnight for the written word.”
“We’re trying to get people to use it to see what it can do,” he continued. “We’re still in that place.”
“It’s pretty exciting — and terrifying.”
Strever, from HVRHS, said, “I’m pretty sure it gave at least one English teacher a coronary” when the AI issue surfaced. “We have it as a brainstorming tool, an idea generator.”
The current attitude is that AI “is not the best thing, not the worst thing. We’re somewhere in the middle.”
Costa noted that New York City public schools tried a ban on the use of AI (since modified) and asked the educators if their schools have considered going that route.
Mulrooney said Salisbury School won’t ban AI, but will police it. “The onus is more on teachers on what the boundaries are.”
Davis said AI can be used by students to “bypass or enhance.”
“So it’s about clarity,” with teachers setting clear rules on AI use.
Strever agreed, and said that AI cannot replace passion.
“When a student is passionate about a topic, they will write reams about it.”
Costa said that many technologies act as “intensifiers,” and that AI will make good teachers better while alarming lazy teachers.
Mervis used the example of a regular newsletter put out by a teacher. Much of the work that goes into the newsletter is repetitive and time-consuming. A teacher using AI could get the tedious work done in a fraction of the time, and use that saved time “to do something useful.”
Jonathan Costa (at left) moderated a Salisbury Forum panel on artifical intelligence Friday, Sept. 27. The panelists were (from left) Ian Strever, Richard Davis, Matt Mervis and Sarah Mulrooney.Patrick L. Sullivan
Costa asked how AI can be used in instruction. Mulrooney gave an example. In a unit involving debate, the class could let AI have the actual debate, and then, using their own critical thinking skills, “analyze the arguments and discourse.”
Davis, who teaches ancient Greek, said he typically spends a lot of time coming up with sentences and paragraphs for his students to work on after they’ve exhausted the material in the textbook.
An initial attempt at using ChatGPT to come up with samples wasn’t successful, but a subsequent try with another program “worked pretty well.”
“It was the first time AI was a time-saver.”
Strever said he was interested to see how HVRHS photography students caught on to AI’s possibilities and began using it in production.
Costa asked the panel about their hopes and fears for AI.
“Neuralink,” said Strever, referring to Elon Musk’s neurotechnology company. “The possibility this ends up embedded in your head is terrifying.”
Davis said AI’s potential for personalized learning is “super-exciting.”
On the downside, he said he worries about “the human element,” particularly gullibility and a propensity to take short cuts.
Mulrooney said she is worried about the pace of change, but she is seeing the utility of AI in real-life situations.
Mervis said making dire comparisons to dystopian science fiction works is “a way to avoid talking about bias, energy consumption” and other AI issues.
Ultimately, he hopes AI “will free up teachers to do something meaningful.”
Dozens of people crowded into the courthouse at the Washington Town Hall on Reservoir Drive in Millbrook on Tuesday, Oct. 7, to watch a pre-application meeting between Planning Board members and representatives of Centaur Properties LLC. David Blatt and Henry Hay of Centaur Properties LLC described their plan to build an 18-hole golf course with limited membership and residences on the historic 2,000-acre Hitchcock estate.
"This is nothing like Silo Ridge," said Centaur Properties co-founder Henry Hay. "This is Buckingham Palace to a craphouse. It's completely different. It's much higher quality."
MILLBROOK — Dozens of residents of the Town of Washington packed into the courtroom in Town Hall on Reservoir Drive for a standing-room-only regular meeting of the Planning Board on Tuesday, Oct. 7.
Well over three-quarters of the crowd were there to listen in to a pre-application meeting between Planning Board members and representatives of Centaur Properties LLC, a New York City-based development company that’s proposing an 18-hole golf course, equestrian facilities and luxury residential development on the 2,000-acre Hitchcock estate.
A pre-application meeting, Planning Board Chair Susan Meaney explained before beginning the discussion, allows developers or anyone with a potential project to meet with the Planning Board and ask questions about the planning and zoning process prior to submitting an application.
“This is not a public hearing,” Meaney said. “That doesn’t mean that you can’t let your voices be heard. If you have opinions about what gets said here tonight or what the potential proposal might be you can certainly write letters to the Planning Board.”
Henry Hay and David Blatt are the men behind Centaur Properties’ proposal for the Hitchcock estate. Blatt began the discussion by expressing his and Hay’s desire to have an open dialogue with the community.
“It goes without saying this is an incredible piece of property — an incredibly large piece of property,” Blatt said. “It deserves a responsible and thoughtful steward and our hope is that we can bring that level of stewardship that the property deserves and the level of attention to detail and care that this property needs.”
Following was a description of the project centered around an 18-hole golf course that Blatt and Hay said was essential to the development.
“Our ideas on our project are to create a world class golf course, clubhouse — limited membership,” Blatt said.
Additionally, the developers expressed a desire to construct a spa, equestrian facilities, trails, housing and to conserve a portion of the estate.
Planning Board members then began a back-and-forth with the developers, asking the two men for more specific details about their proposal. One of Meaney’s first questions centered around private membership.
“We’re going to have a very, very small membership,” Hay said. “Maybe 300 people.”
That response prompted board member Nicole Drury to clarify if the proposal is more akin to a private golf club or a gated luxury housing development of the likes of the Discovery Land Company’s Silo Ridge Field Club in Amenia — a gated luxury subdivision in Amenia with an 18-hole golf course and other amenities.
“This is nothing like Silo Ridge,” Hay said in response. “This is Buckingham Palace to a craphouse. It’s completely different. It’s much higher quality.”
Later on in the meeting, Planning Board member Eric Alexander again drew comparisons between Centaur’s proposal and the nearby Silo Ridge Field Club in Amenia, which he called a “bad situation for that community.” He cited a perception of exclusivity within the luxury housing development that has put off the surrounding Amenia community.
But Hay wouldn’t elaborate on the distinctions between the Hitchcock estate proposal and Silo Ridge Field Club. "This is nothing like Silo Ridge," Hay maintained. "We don't want that."
Environmental conservation was central to the board members’ concerns, prompting conflicting responses from Blatt and Hay about the amount of open space that will be left after development.
“At least 50%,” Hay said before Blatt cut him off.
“I think 25 to 50% is kind of a good estimate,” Blatt said, correcting his colleague. “We would love to put aside as much as possible.”
The pre-application meeting ended shortly after input from the Planning Board’s attorney, Hannah Atkinson of Van DeWater & Van DeWater out of Poughkeepsie, and Meaney that not much more could be said about the proposal until something concrete has been submitted to the board.
“There’s a code so you can be working within the framework of what’s expected in these different zones,” Atkinson said of the town’s zoning code, and urged the developers to read the code and use it and the town’s comprehensive plan to guide them in designing the project. “You’re not going to be 180 degrees off what the board is expecting if you follow the provisions of the code.”
As of press time, the sale of the Hitchcock estate has not been finalized. The property was listed for sale in Summer 2024 for $75 million.
Built in 1820, 1168 Bangall Amenia Road sold for $875,000 on July 31 with the transfer recorded in August. It has a Millbrook post office and is located in the Webutuck school district.
STANFORD — The Town of Stanford with nine transfers in two months reached a median price in August of $573,000 for single family homes, still below Stanford’s all-time median high in August 2024 of $640,000.
At the beginning of October there is a large inventory of single-family homes listed for sale with only six of the 18 homes listed for below the median price of $573,000 and seven above $1 million.
July transfers
79 Ernest Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 6.87 acres in 2 parcels sold to Matthew C. Marinetti for $1,225,000.
29 Drake Road — 3 bedroom/3.5 bath home on 2 acres sold to Harper Montgomery for $850,000.
6042 Route 82 — 4 bedroom/2 bath home on 1.09 acres sold to Spencer Thompson for $795,000.
125 Tick Tock Way — 3 bedroom/2.5 bath ranch on 1.9 acres sold to Fleur Touchard for $475,000.
August transfers
102 Prospect Hill Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on 6.35 acres sold to Karl Creighton Pfister for $565,000.
252 Ernest Road — 2 bedroom/1 bath cottage on .85 acres sold to Meg Bumie for $465,000.
1196 Bangall Amenia Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 2.16 acres sold to Roderick Alleyne for $875,000.
Hunns Lake Road (#759929) — 59.1 acres of residential land sold to Argos Farm LLC for $3,325,000.
* Town of Stanford recorded real estate transfers from July 1 to August 31 provided by Dutchess County Real Property Office monthly transfer reports. Details on each property from Dutchess Parcel Access - properties with an # indicate location on Dutchess Parcel Access. Market data from One Key MLS and Infosparks .Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Hunt club members and friends gathered near Pugsley Hill at the historic Wethersfield Estate and Gardens in Amenia for the opening meet of the 2025-2026 Millbrook Hunt Club season on Saturday, Oct. 4. Foxhunters took off from Wethersfield’s hilltop gardens just after 8 a.m. for a hunting jaunt around Amenia’s countryside.
Joining in the fun at the dedication of the new pollinator pathway garden at The Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4, local expert gardener Maryanne Snow Pitts provides information about a planting to Lorraine Mirabella of Poughkeepsie.
MILLBROOK — Participating in a patchwork of libraries that have planted pollinator pathway gardens to attract insects and birds to their native plantings was one of the accomplishments being celebrated at the dedication of a new pollinator garden at the Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4.
“A lot of work went into it,” said Emma Sweeney, past President of the Millbrook Garden Club, who started the local library’s initiative two years ago.
The Pollinator Pathway program is a national effort to plant native plants that native insects depend upon for sustenance and preferred plants for their own seasonal reproduction.
Jana Hogan of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Executive Director of the Pollinator Pathway program, was on hand to present a plaque to the library for its successful participation.
“A garden is not just a garden,” said garden designer Andy Durbridge of Wassaic, designer of the library’s garden. “It may serve as a model for other gardens along the line.”
Speaking to the 50 visitors at the dedication, Durbridge said that the library’s garden has a mission, that it is a working garden, planned to serve insects and birds over their seasons. The earliest plants support pollinators, while the full range of plants continues to serve the needs of those they attract, offering habitat, shelter and food.
A pollinator garden is akin to a prairie, rather than a formalized European garden, Durbridge noted.
The garden project was supported by the library’s Friends group using funds raised during the Holiday Silent Auction and ongoing book sale. A grant from the Millbrook Garden Club also provided support.