Level 1
Human-only
The work depends on human relationships, judgment, care, or decisions about a child. No agent involvement.
Exploring
Human-Centered AI Agents: First Phase
Cold Spring is exploring carefully bounded AI agents that can help prepare, organize, summarize, and draft routine work. Agents do not replace teachers, student thinking, professional judgment, family relationships, or human decision-making.
This page describes concepts — not fully deployed systems. Cold Spring's approach is informed by the Agents, Inc. framework developed by Adam Brotman.
Three levels of agent use
Where an agent may — and may not — help.
Level 2
Agent-assisted
An agent may gather information or prepare a draft, but a person reviews, edits, and approves the work.
Level 3
Agent-led within clear limits
Only low-stakes, repetitive tasks may operate within written rules and regular human review.
Three agent concepts. Phased carefully.
For teachers
Classroom Assistant
Reduce the blank page for teachers — prepare differentiated lesson drafts, vocabulary supports, and suggested project groupings based on teacher-approved learning goals.
- Information it may use
- Teacher-supplied learning goals, unit outlines, and non-identifying classroom routines.
- Output it may prepare
- Draft lesson materials that the teacher decides to use, revise, or discard.
- Required human reviewer
- The classroom teacher.
- What it is never allowed to do
- Grade a child, decide what is taught, move student data outside district-approved systems, or make placement, discipline, eligibility, or instructional decisions about students.
- How success will be evaluated
- More small-group time, faster differentiation, and teacher-reported reduction in prep hours — reviewed weekly during the first phase.
For district operations
Second Office for the Superintendent
Support a one-school, one-leader district by preparing first drafts of recurring administrative materials so leadership time returns to classrooms, staff, and families.
- Information it may use
- District calendars, board-packet templates, and non-confidential operational documents.
- Output it may prepare
- Draft LCAP updates, board-packet materials, grant drafts, and compliance calendars — reviewed before use.
- Required human reviewer
- The Superintendent.
- What it is never allowed to do
- Submit, sign, set policy, or speak for the district without human review.
- How success will be evaluated
- Documented preparation time returned to school-based work; on-time completion of routine board and compliance materials.
For families
Family Connection Draft
Help extend Cold Spring's relationship-driven communication by preparing short family-note drafts from teacher-approved class newsletters and project calendars.
- Information it may use
- Teacher-approved newsletter content and project calendars — never grades, discipline records, or health information.
- Output it may prepare
- Draft family notes that require teacher or leader review before any family sees them.
- Required human reviewer
- The teacher or leader whose name would appear on the message.
- What it is never allowed to do
- Send unreviewed communication, use grades, touch health information, include discipline information, or access protected student records.
- How success will be evaluated
- Consistent, understandable family updates that families report as helpful — and that the teacher or leader confirms sound like Cold Spring.
Non-negotiable guardrails
The rules every Cold Spring agent must follow.
- 1Agents do not grade children.
- 2Agents do not independently send family communications.
- 3Agents do not make placement, discipline, eligibility, or instructional decisions about students.
- 4Agents do not submit official district documents or set policy.
- 5Sensitive student information is not placed in unapproved systems.
- 6Every consequential output requires human review.
- 7The human owns the standard and the final decision.
Built with tools.
Shaped by humans.
Held to a standard no machine can set.