As the educational landscape shifts with the power of Artificial Intelligence, our mission remains anchored in learning as a deeply human experience. At Distinctive Schools, we are leveraging AI to prioritize what matters most: student advocacy, personalization, and the relationships that drive learning.
To best scale this streamlined effort in our schools, our Coaching Academy, a professional development space designed for Assistant Principals and Instructional Coaches, embarked on a journey with Playlab to solve for the everyday challenges schools face.
In partnership with the Museum of Science and Industry, Assistant Principals and Instructional Coaches participated in a focus group to discuss how AI can support our work. Distinctive Leaders were clear: we need tools that support productive struggle, protect student privacy, and ensure that all learners have the opportunity to engage meaningfully with technology. They want AI that acts as a "co-pilot" to help them differentiate at scale and navigate the logistics of a school day. Molly Quinn, Executive Director of Strategy has been supporting network-wide AI exploration, “We see the incredible potential for AI to transform learning and enrich the learning experience for everyone—teachers, leaders, and learners. We’re building it, grounded in human-centered design, educator expertise, and real classroom impact.”
While the Coaching Academy is prototyping teacher-facing apps in Playlab, we are also deploying Gems to support teaching and learning. Keep reading for a behind the scenes look at three custom Gems Molly is partnering with Distinctive team members to design and employ.
Learning Goals & Success Criteria
One of the most critical parts of teaching is unpacking the curriculum and ensuring that students know exactly what their learning goals are and what success looks like. Kory Kliebert, Principal of CICS Bucktown, created a Gem designed to act as an expert consultant for K–8 educators.
How it Works: After a teacher uploads a lesson plan, the Gem generates a student-friendly version of the learning goal and differentiates to provide Tier 2 and Tier 3 supports.
The "Human" Edge: By providing Tier 2 and Tier 3 versions of every goal, no student is "locked out" of grade-level content. The teacher uses the tool to translate complex standards into clear, reachable milestones for every child.
Building Language Objectives
Noemi Simons, Bilingual Program Manager for Distinctive Schools, created a Gem focused on sheltered English instruction strategies to support our English Learners (ELs). “I designed this Gem to show teachers how accessible it is to create high-quality language objectives and scaffolds,” Noemi shares. “I wanted to solve for educators feeling this work is ‘extra’ or ‘too difficult’ because they don't consider themselves language experts. With this tool, they can move past the guesswork and feel confident that every student has the linguistic support they need to succeed.”
How it Works: Educators input their lesson plans or learning standards, and the Gem analyzes the content to provide tiered linguistic supports across the four language domains (reading, writing, listening, and speaking). This bridge ensures that every day-to-day lesson is immediately accessible to students at all language proficiency levels.
The "Human" Edge: This Gem provides actionable, domain-specific strategies tailored to the actual language proficiency levels in the room. This precision allows educators to spend less time guessing what a student might need and more time facilitating the meaningful interactions that drive both language acquisition and content mastery.
Designing for Innovative School Schedules
The Distinctive Schools Academic Team is designing an “operations architect" Gem to solve the puzzle of the school day while prioritizing learner agency. We want to make sure student agency and opportunity are built into the school day while still adhering to instructional requirements. This Gem will be leveraged in partnership with Principals and other network leaders in upcoming preparations for the next school year.
How it Works: This Gem will guide school leaders to design a schedule that protects the "WIN" (What I Need) block and Parallel Scheduling for fluid student grouping based on competency, while maintaining the requirements of their schedule—from staffing, to lunch windows, and state mandates.
The "Human" Edge: This Gem handles the complexity of compliance so that leaders can protect learner agency. By automating the logistical puzzle, student needs—like morning literacy blocks and daily recess—and sacred teacher planning time are not sacrificed when scheduling becomes a challenge.
The AI workshopping that our team is doing illustrates that when educators have the opportunity to be builders, there is no limit to the possibilities. We’re leading with heart and a relentless focus on the human connection. We are builders, creators, and leaders—and this is just the beginning.