Bringing AI into the Classroom: What Real Professional Development Looks Like

Walk into a professional development session at San Mateo Union High School District, and you might be surprised by what you see. Thirty teachers — not just talking about AI, but wrestling with it. Debating where it belongs in assessments and where it doesn’t. Redesigning lessons they’ve taught for years, this time asking: how do we help students use AI effectively and ethically, rather than just avoid it?

This is the kind of learning that the Silicon Valley Artificial Intelligence Project (SVAIP) was built to make possible.

Launched by the Krause Center for Innovation (KCI), SVAIP is a five-year initiative supporting educators across the Bay Area as they navigate one of the most significant shifts in teaching in a generation. Students entering today’s workforce will use AI — the question is whether their teachers feel equipped to guide them. Completing year one with eight partner districts, KCI is helping schools answer that question with confidence.

At SMUHSD, the AI Fellowship Program — funded through the KCI partnership — was led by Stacy Kratochvil, Instructional Technology Facilitator at Capuchino High School, alongside Dominic Bigue, District Instructional Technology Coordinator at SMUHSD. Together, they brought teachers together to explore tools like MagicSchool AI for administrative tasks, and to do the harder work of rethinking pedagogy from the ground up. In two hours, these teachers didn’t just learn about AI — they changed how they teach with it.

This is one example. There are seven more districts doing the same work, and room for more.

Is your district ready to bring this kind of professional development to your teachers? Reach out to Justin Sewell, Director of Programs and Partnerships, at jsewell@krauseinnovationcenter.org.