Key takeaways

• SchoolAI takes a human-centered approach to AI in education by enhancing teacher-student connections rather than replacing educators

• School AI's "Spaces" feature allows teachers to create customized AI-guided learning activities that students navigate at their own pace

• Real-time analytics help teachers identify which students need immediate support, making the "middle 80 percent" of students more visible

• AI can address teacher burnout by automating routine tasks and giving educators more time for meaningful student interactions

• The most effective AI implementations enhance rather than replace human teaching elements, preserving the emotional intelligence that remains uniquely human

In a world where education technology often promises but falls short, SchoolAI is taking a refreshingly human-centered approach to AI in education. Founded by former educator Caleb Hicks, SchoolAI focuses on enhancing teachers' ability to connect with students meaningfully.

The platform's innovative "Spaces" enable teachers to create customized AI-guided learning activities that students navigate at their own pace, while providing educators with real-time insights into student progress and well-being.

SchoolAI addresses education's pressing challenges: teacher burnout, student disengagement, and personalization struggles. What emerges is technology that amplifies human classroom connection rather than diminishing it.

The journey from teaching keyboarding to founding SchoolAI

Hicks comes from what he calls "the family business" of education, with parents and siblings all in teaching. His own teaching career began with middle-school keyboarding – not known for inspiring engagement.

Rather than accepting an uninspiring curriculum, Hicks transformed his classroom through competition (students who beat his typing speed could play computer games) and starting classes with free writing on blank keyboards.

"My classroom was a lab," Hicks explains. He eventually included career exploration and teen entrepreneurship, where grades reflected the percentage of $1,000 students earned through starting businesses.

This approach reflected his core philosophy: learning should be high-stakes (though not punitive), relevant, and connected to real-world outcomes students care about – principles that would later inform SchoolAI.

After leaving traditional classrooms, Hicks worked at a coding bootcamp, on Apple's education team, and co-founded Lambda School, where students paid only if they secured jobs above $50,000. These experiences reinforced his belief in mastery-based learning with strong support systems.

The birth of SchoolAI and the "Spaces" feature

When ChatGPT launched, Hicks immediately saw its educational potential. He shares using it to help his daughter with spelling by creating personalized stories using her spelling words in contexts she enjoyed – helping her ace her test.

This sparked an idea: what if AI could personalize learning for every student based on individual interests?

SchoolAI began as a FERPA-compliant version of ChatGPT for a school district concerned about privacy. Hicks's team built a "PII Shield" that protected student identities when sending data to AI.

During testing, a teacher created an unexpected interactive text adventure about the Battle of Yorktown. Students engaged deeply, sending hundreds of messages, while the teacher gained insights into their historical understanding.

This became the genesis of SchoolAI "Spaces" – where teachers create customized AI learning activities. A Space might involve AI role-playing as a water molecule to teach the water cycle or personalizing economic concepts through students' interests.

How AI magnifies the human side of teaching

Contrary to fears that AI might replace teachers, Hicks believes it enhances human connection. Recent research supports this, with 86% of students using AI in studies, yet the most effective implementations enhance rather than replace human teaching.

"Students don't always feel seen or heard by their teachers," Hicks notes. Meanwhile, teachers feel increasingly disconnected from students who seem distracted and disengaged.

This mutual disconnect isn't because teachers or students have fundamentally changed, but because cognitive load has increased dramatically. There's simply too much to manage and too little time for meaningful connection.

The human side of AI emerges when technology handles routine tasks, freeing educators to focus on what matters most: building relationships and providing emotional support only humans can offer.

Understanding which teaching elements AI can enhance

Students achieve 54% higher test scores in AI-enhanced active-learning programs compared to traditional environments. The key is understanding which teaching elements AI can enhance and which require human connection.

AI excels at:

• Personalizing content based on learning styles

• Providing immediate feedback

• Tracking progress across multiple students

• Identifying knowledge gaps in real-time

Human teachers remain irreplaceable for:

• Building emotional connections and trust

• Providing empathy and emotional support

• Inspiring and motivating through relationships

• Facilitating complex social learning

The most effective approach combines both, with AI handling data-intensive tasks while teachers focus on relational aspects.

Knowing how students are doing and why

SchoolAI's most powerful aspect is the insights it provides into student understanding and well-being. When students interact with an AI Space, teachers receive a dashboard showing which students understand the material (green), are struggling somewhat (yellow), or are completely lost (red).

These insights allow timely intervention with students who need it most. Without time to check in personally with each student, basic needs often go unacknowledged – making academic content irrelevant.

Research shows that personalized AI learning can improve student outcomes by up to 30%, largely because it enables more targeted, timely support.

Real-time data and targeted interventions

One of SchoolAI's most powerful capabilities is providing actionable data about student learning in real time. In traditional classrooms, teachers often discover struggles after assessments, when it's already too late.

With SchoolAI, students self-pace while AI coaches them, and teachers can see who's struggling with specific concepts. This allows for small-group, differentiated instruction exactly when needed.

The middle 80%

Hicks reflects on his teaching experience: "I knew the top 20 kids and the hardest 20 kids really well. But that middle 80 percent of students, I didn't really know them well."

This challenge – supporting the "middle 80 percent" daily – is one many teachers face. SchoolAI makes these students visible by surfacing information about their understanding and engagement that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Addressing burnout and critical thinking concerns

There's a crisis of burnout in education. K-12 teachers report the highest burnout levels of any U.S. profession, while nearly 75% of high-school students report negative feelings about school.

Many teachers worry that AI weakens critical thinking skills, while 58% of students feel they lack sufficient AI knowledge.

AI can address burnout by handling routine tasks like lesson planning, giving teachers more time for meaningful connections. However, this must be balanced with ensuring students develop critical thinking through guided practice rather than relying on AI.

"When technology addresses the deeper causes of burnout... the role of a teacher is going to be the person who can look you in the eyes and say, 'You got this.'"

Getting started with AI in education

For educators nervous about incorporating AI, Hicks advises: "Think big, start small."

With 85% of teachers using AI but less than half receiving training, starting with personal use builds confidence. He recommends:

1. Use Claude to take a picture of your refrigerator and get recipe suggestions

2. Try Perplexity instead of Google for research

These low-stakes activities help educators become comfortable with AI. Hicks also suggests "pulse checks" with colleagues or students – having AI ask questions about what's going well and what support people need.

Empowering teachers, engaging students

The vision is one where teachers use AI to handle routine tasks while focusing on building relationships, providing targeted support, and creating "light-bulb moments" that change student trajectories.

SchoolAI reveals a fundamentally human-centered vision of AI in education. Rather than replacing teachers or isolating students, it creates more opportunities for meaningful connection by automating routine tasks, providing personalized experiences, and surfacing insights about student needs.

As schools navigate burnout, disengagement, and information overload, tools like SchoolAI offer a path that uses technology not to diminish humanity but to magnify it, creating more space for the authentic relationships that make learning transformative. If you want to hear more, listen to the conversation between Caleb Hicks and Dr. Caitlin Tucker on the The Balance podcast. Ready to explore how AI can transform your classroom? Sign up for SchoolAI to learn more.