Why this Washington district built its own agentic AI
Leaders in Washington's Peninsula School District realized that AI can dramatically enhance teacher efficiency. So they built educators a personal AI assistant.
The technology uses agentic AI, an autonomous or semi-autonomous system that can independently complete tasks and multi-step workflows.
Creating the AI in-house allowed the district to embed its own student and teacher data and specific educational frameworks, an option that doesn't exist in a commercial product designed "for the masses," says Kris Hagel on the latest episode of the "DA Changemakers" podcast.
"AI has an amazing power to create and make things and assist people, but it only does that when you give it the right information, background and context," he says.
Peninsula schools rolled out the agent this school year. The majority of teachers are using it to offload administrative work, including one teacher who built a checkout system that students can use entering and exiting the classroom.
"The kids can check out with a QR code when they're leaving the classroom and check back in," Hagel says. "Every teacher is different and what they're doing with it is different."
As one of the nation's earliest AI adopters, Hagel says other leaders are eager to replicate the district's approach, including how it saved nearly $300,000 by building their own agent. He plans to share exactly how districts can do the same at the Future of Education Technology Conference in January.
For now, he recommends that leaders get their "data house" in order.
"Our agents are only able to do what we can do because we spent so much time getting the foundational systems in place that now we're able to move quickly, whereas if we wouldn't have that in place, it wouldn't be possible," he says.
Listen to the full episode below:
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