At The Elisabeth Morrow School, we believe that the next generation must not only understand artificial intelligence but also strengthen their leadership capacities to think critically about its ethical implications and apply their knowledge for social good. From curriculum updates to faculty training, EMS is at the forefront of ethical and responsible AI education.
Faculty Professional Development & Ethical Integration
Over the summer, EMS faculty and staff engaged in professional development led by a global strategist for AI in education. The session explored how AI can provide personalized feedback, deepen engagement, and serve as a powerful thought partner for both teachers and students. The insights are already shaping how we bring best practices into classrooms across campus.
In November, as part of our entrepreneurship course designed for sixth through eighth graders and taught by Head of School Marek Beck, Ph.D., students worked directly with specialists from SchoolAI during an immersive, hands-on workshop. In this experiential class, students develop, test, and launch their own small businesses — and this workshop deepened that work by showing how artificial intelligence can accelerate idea generation, validate assumptions, analyze real-time data, and build evidence-based marketing plans. Through this experience, students learned that AI can enhance creativity and strategic thinking — not replace it — helping them build stronger, more informed solutions while developing critical entrepreneurial skills.
“By embedding AI literacy into both faculty learning and student experiences, EMS is preparing its community to engage with technology ethically, creatively, and strategically,” says Head of School Marek Beck, Ph.D.
Middle School Computer Science: Prompt Engineering
This year, our middle school computer science classes are embracing prompt engineering to help students craft precise AI prompts. Through this practice, students develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity while exploring AI’s capabilities in research, analysis, and digital storytelling.
“The core challenge in using AI image tools is moving beyond a simple, one-word idea to a rich, descriptive request that will yield a stunning result,” says Samantha Morra, our middle school computer science and technology integrator and a nationally recognized leader in educational innovation and technology integration, who created a basic “Image Prompt Generator” to guide students through the essential components of a high-quality prompt.
“The students and I discuss how the quality of the AI output is a direct reflection of the clarity and detail in the human input,” Morra adds. “The students learned that to get the results they wanted, they had to be the clear and effective directors of the technology, intentionally crafting the language rather than passively accepting the first result.”
Once the core skill of prompting was established, the students moved the technology out of the computer science lab and into content-area classrooms, using it as a catalyst for thoughtful demonstrations of learning. Sixth graders applied prompt engineering to a creative writing project, transforming their stories about teachers with secret superhero powers into AI-generated images that brought their narratives vividly to life. Seventh graders used AI to visualize the richly described setting of “Lord of the Flies”, translating textual analysis into detailed image prompts that made the island a dynamic, central character. Eighth graders used AI as a “thought partner,” consulting with SchoolAI to discuss “Digital Citizenship” poster design ideas and then refining their concepts before creating the final works in Canva.
“Our students are creators, directors, and decision-makers. By using AI as a tool for intentional creation and refining ideas, they learn to leverage technology responsibly,” says Morra. “Demanding quality, complexity, and specific intent from AI is a skill that will empower them to be authors, researchers, and responsible digital citizens.”
Photo caption: Two examples of how seventh-grade students (left, Daniel H.; right, Luna O.) used AI as a tool to visualize the setting of Lord of the Flies, applying prompt engineering informed by close textual analysis.
Setting the Standard: Pursuing Prestigious AI Certification
EMS is doubling down on its commitment to ethical and intentional AI use by actively pursuing the Responsible AI in Learning (RAIL) Certification. After successfully completing a competitive application process, EMS was chosen to join an elite global cohort to pursue this industry-recognized credential — the world’s only comprehensive implementation framework for AI in K–12 schools.
Following an intensive 16-week program, the school has now submitted its final body of evidence for evaluation. Through this process, EMS partnered with leading schools from as far away as Dubai, Nigeria, and Vietnam, ensuring our faculty are benchmarked against the highest international standards. This initiative is about transformation rather than mere compliance; through this global collaboration, our teachers are gaining cutting-edge knowledge to integrate AI thoughtfully and safely, such as utilizing AI to proactively audit lesson materials for potential bias and ensure equitable access for all students.
This level of leadership is critical. According to Samantha Morra, who is co-leading EMS’s application, “RAIL certification deepens our understanding of AI literacy, safety, and ethics. It strengthens how we teach students to use AI responsibly, elevates our faculty’s ability to model thoughtful, ethical, and creative integration, and empowers our entire school community to engage with AI with intention and purpose.”
By connecting with a global cohort of schools through RAIL, EMS is ensuring our students receive a future-focused education held to the highest international standards.
EMS Expertise Recognized at State Level
Samantha Morra, middle school computer science and technology integrator, was recently selected as a featured speaker at the prestigious New Jersey AI Literacy Summit on Dec. 8. This honor confirms EMS’s position as a leader in ethical and practical AI integration across the state.
Her highly anticipated session, “Empowering the Educator: Essential Knowledge on Google Gemini,” demonstrated how cutting-edge tools like Google Gemini provide a secure and powerful alternative within the Google Workspace for Education platform. Samantha showed educators from across New Jersey how AI can dramatically streamline lesson planning, differentiate instruction, and reduce administrative tasks through features like image generation and customizable AI prompts (“Gems”).
This mastery translates directly into greater student focus at EMS. Samantha shares, “I was incredibly honored to represent The Elisabeth Morrow School at this summit. This opportunity aligns perfectly with our commitment to innovation and equipping educators with the best resources available. My goal is simple: to show how AI can streamline time-consuming tasks, freeing us up to focus even more on what matters most: connecting with and inspiring our students.”
AI Summer Institute: Preparing the Next Generation of Leaders
EMS is establishing itself as the regional epicenter of future-focused learning by hosting New Jersey’s inaugural AI Summer Institute from June 22–26, 2026. This is a unique opportunity for rising third through ninth graders to not just keep pace with AI, but to lead the transformation.
This high-caliber, project-based program is developed and taught by the nation’s best and brightest — featuring instructors and mentors from Stanford, MIT, and Ivy League graduate programs. Students will explore core AI concepts, ethics, and real-world applications, developing critical thinking, creativity, and leadership skills in the process.
The Institute features two dynamic tracks:
- Younger Innovators (Grades 3–5): Students will learn foundational AI concepts and ethical decision-making by building interactive stories and simple games using accessible, block-based tools like Scratch and MIT RAISE Playground.
- Future Coders (Grades 6–9): Students will dive into Python, learning to code their own projects, train prediction models, build functional web applications, and create cutting-edge Natural Language Processing (NLP) chatbots to tackle real-world problems.
Across both tracks, students will engage in hands-on projects and robust discussions that center on the ethical use of this powerful technology.
Priority Registration for EMS Families: While this exclusive Institute is open to students from all schools, EMS families have first access to these limited spots. Space is extremely limited; secure your child’s spot before priority registration ends on Jan. 15, 2026.
“It is nearly 2026, and AI is rapidly becoming a new basic literacy in our world. If we fail to teach young people how AI works, when to trust it — and when not to — and how to use it to deepen their thinking, we risk creating a profound digital divide,” says Clark. “Our goal is for students to actively use AI to generate ideas, get instant feedback, and see concepts from multiple perspectives — not simply view it as a place to find answers or cheat. This requires in-depth preparation and the crucial step of having students reflect on the AI’s output. EMS is committed to modeling thoughtful AI use for schools across the nation, ensuring that both teachers and students remain the active authors of their learning. By doing this deep and thoughtful work, EMS is positioning itself as a global leader in safe, ethical, and intentional AI use, ensuring that students are prepared for the future shaped by this powerful tool.”
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