Cheshire Academy adopts traffic light system to guide student AI use
A private school in Connecticut is using a colour-coded policy to clarify when students can rely on artificial intelligence, alongside a new council to foster critical reflection on the technology.
Cheshire Academy, a private boarding and day school in Connecticut, has implemented a traffic light labelling system to regulate how its approximately 400 students use artificial intelligence in their assignments. The policy provides clear guidelines for students, with green indicating that AI is fully allowed, red banning its use entirely, and yellow permitting specific tools such as spell-check while restricting others like chatbots.
The initiative follows a broader effort by the school to navigate the generative AI boom, which has increased the workload for teachers tasked with adapting to new technologies while managing lesson planning and grading. According to the school’s librarian and technology coordinator, George Aiello, the “vast majority” of instructors at Cheshire Academy now use AI in some capacity, although the institution does not force its staff to adopt the technology.
To support educators, the school opted to train its staff on general AI techniques, such as prompt crafting, rather than prescribing specific technologies, on the advice of consultants. This approach emphasises the limits of the technology, highlighting its potential for generating incorrect or biased responses. While many teachers use generative AI to prepare class materials and grading rubrics, concerns over quality, personalisation, and privacy have prevented some from using it to provide direct feedback to students.
The school has also integrated specialised tools into its ecosystem, previewing MagicSchool, an AI platform designed for educators. The platform offers tools for generating quizzes, worksheets, and grading rubrics, with an individual plan costing just under $100 per year for unlimited access. However, not all teachers are comfortable using large language models to generate student-facing text, with some preferring general-purpose chatbots for administrative tasks.
Beyond staff training, Cheshire Academy is piloting a “Student AI Council” to encourage students to reflect on healthy AI usage. The program involves students creating media and leading discussions on how AI should and should not be used to benefit the community. This initiative complements the school’s broader adoption of pedagogical methods that require students to critically evaluate their own use of AI.
French teacher Miriam Przybyla-Baum, who has taught for nearly 30 years, has developed specific assignments that require students to reflect on AI edits and anonymously grade each other’s AI-assisted work. These methods, which aim to help students understand how AI can and cannot teach language skills, have been adopted by the academy as part of its wider strategy to manage the technology’s impact on learning.
