New Trier one of 9 schools to receive national grant for AI safety, literacy

As the 2026-’27 school year gets underway, school leaders are finding new ways for New Trier High School’s faculty and students to utilize artificial intelligence safely and to its fullest potential.

This new deep dive into the world of AI is thanks, in part, to the EDSAFE AI Spark Fund grant, which New Trier was awarded alongside only nine other districts nationwide, according to an Aug. 27 press release shared with The Record.

“Out of a competitive national pool of applicants, New Trier Township High School District 203 was chosen as a model for how school systems across the country should manage emerging technology,” said Jessica Duff, the marketing and communications manager of the EDSAFE AI Alliance, to The Record via email.

The official EDSAFE AI website describes the Spark Fund as a “technical assistance grant program for schools, districts, and states ready to accelerate their AI initiatives to ensure implementation, from policy to practice, is safe and effective.”

Per the website, the grant provides funding alongside “direct support” as recipients receive guidance from a “dedicated Technical Assistance provider.”

New Trier officials told The Record that the one-year grant is valued at $25,000, a majority of which will fund national consultants to guide school staff through AI brainstorming and training. The funding will also support professional development of New Trier staff.

Lauren Owens, New Trier first-year chief technology officer who spearheaded the grant-application process, said New Trier has developed committees to responsibly integrate AI and than 80 staff members expressed interest in participating.

All AI initiatives recommended by the experts must adhere to the EDSAFE Policy Stack, a collaborative framework of AI guidelines developed with feedback from parents, students and educators.

The initiative is spearheaded by the InnovateEDU nonprofit, which, according to the organization’s website, aims to create an equitable education system through policy, research and technology.

Owens said she has previously worked with InnovateEDU and praised their “thoughtful, ethical and intentional” treatement of AI-school integrations.

“Writing an AI policy is only the starting line. The real challenge is turning those high-level frameworks into daily classroom practice,” said Erin Mote, CEO of InnovateEDU, in the release. “We aren’t just giving education leaders guidance and wishing them luck. We are placing expert teams alongside them to ensure that AI governance is human-centered, rigorous, and actionable, and above all anchored in protecting the safety and well-being of young people.”

Throughout the school year, New Trier is set to problem-solve and develop solutions for challenges to the implementation of AI in the classroom. The challenges they are set to overcome, per the EDSAFE AI Alliance, include “student data privacy safeguards, human-in-the-loop academic integrity protocols, equity and access in AI procurement, and staff AI literacy programs.”

The results and any best-practice guidelines or models will be documented and shared across EDSAFE’s database to continue AI policy development for schools nationwide.

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