Brave New Classroom: Catholic schools of the country integrate AI into teaching plans

By Kimberley Heatherington

New OSV

(OSV News) – Reading, writing and arithmetic – and AI.

The modern educational toolbox, teachers and students now includes the use of artificial intelligence. Experts and teachers from one ocean to the other told Osv News AI about to transform Catholic education.

“In the Catholic school space, where we are currently trying to build the literacy of AI among our teachers, and our students and our parents,” shared Father Nate Wills, a priest of the Congregation of the Holy Cross and director of more powerful learning, an initiative of the University of Our Lady Alliance to Catholic Education.

Professional development for teachers – presenting them with AI tools and their use – is generally a first critical step.

“I think it is really important for teachers to know what exists so that they both empower their students and transform their assessments,” said Wills. “If a teacher completely ignored the existence of calculators in the 1970s, it would be simply silly, right?”

With this paradox firmly in mind, more powerful learning organized convivial seminars for users focusing on the AI in class; teacher training; AI policies and directives; And more. The initiative website also offers a multitude of resources and advice.

However, all of this may seem a little overwhelming. “It feels,” admitted Wills, “like a quantum jump for many people”.

Rand Corporation announced in April 2025 that in the fall of 2025, 18% of kindergarten teachers in the 12th year said they used AI for education and 15% tried AI at least once.

A starting point is the articulation of an AI policy – whether for students, employees or in class. More powerful learning offers adaptable policy models, but also helps dioceses to adapt them to their own needs and strategies.

“One of the most important things about a document like this is, it is alive,” said Brad Snyder, a superintendent associate of educational programs for Catholic schools in the diocese of Orange, California. “Because AI does nothing, without constantly changing. As a diocese, we have gathered for about a year and a half in the committees to create an orientation document for our parishes also. I therefore think that we have tried to get ahead of the wave.”

Snyder sees a parallel with another major technological change – the advent of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s.

“I would say it comes back almost when we started using the Internet,” he said. “When we have already looked for things, you take out the cards catalog, right? We do not do that anymore. And I think AI will propel us in a similar way.”

And quickly too.

“It's just a takeoff,” said Snyder. “And the next two years will be really transformative in what it can do – and therefore, we must be informed of how we are going to use it.”

Educators are fully aware that AI has the potential of being not only an asset, but a substitute – the suspicion often understood that students will use it to generate a duty instead of doing it themselves.

“One of the things we really try to work with – with our teachers and directors – is that you have to watch, but you have to make sure you mentor,” said Snyder. “We want to make sure that we support students who use it correctly, and in a way that benefits them.”

“Here's the problem: students will use AI,” he said. “You might as well be able to show them how to use it in a way that will support them, and not hurt them. I think it's essential.”

The AI is also not supposed to “replace” anything, said Snyder.

“What is Catholic education?” It's a community, right? This is the establishment of relations. It is the whole child, ”he said. “Technology cannot replace this – and we don't want it. But if this can help make me more effective, reach my students at their level more effectively and advance them in their development of skills – it is the mentoring of the use of AI. ”

So, what can AI do for teachers and students?

“As Pope Leo said, this is a sea change,” said Steve Tortorello, director of partnerships and special projects for Catholic schools in the Chicago Archdiocese. Echoing Snyder, he added: “It is not a new application. This is not a new program. It's like when the internet has come out – it's the level of change it is. “

As for its potential, “I am talking about how AI can be both the assistant of the most supercharged teacher you can imagine,” said Tortorello, “and a thought partner, like the teacher on the other side of the corridor”.

He gave a practical example.

“Let's say that you work with seventh year students to choose adjectives in a sentence. And you've already done the exercise in the book and you think: “Wow, my children need more practice. Well, guess what, ”said Tortorello. “The AI can make you more training equipment” – and here Tortorello has broken its fingers – “so quickly”.

He added: “And that can make the whole subject that your children are interested. Do they like Taylor Swift and Minecraft? Well, now you have just made 10 additional practice sentences on Taylor Swift and Minecraft, and they do it while discovering learning adjectives.”

Not only are students more committed – teachers save time.

“If I teach the English of seventh year – which I did before – and I had to do this additional adjective spreadsheet, it could take me 45 minutes to find different ideas,” said Tortorello. “Now I can tell Chat GPT,” Make me an adjective work sheet at this level of reading “- Boom- and it does it in 10 seconds.”

Another example of Tortorello Cited is the capacity of AI to personalize, or in educational terms “differentiating”, student equipment.

“If I teach the fifth year reading, and I know that in my fifth year class, I have 20 children-and 10 of them read in the fifth year, and five read well above the fifth level, and five read below the fifth level-I am used to giving an article,” he explained.

“And fast children would be in five minutes. The average children would take 10 minutes. Children who have trouble could take 20 minutes. They might not understand it. Well, now I can relaunch this three different article in three levels of reading,” said Tortorello. “Each child can read it at the same time, at the level that puts them best.

There is still a human element, however.

“You generate something with AI, you refine it with more questioning, then you, as a human, change it to make sure that is exactly what you want,” he added. “And therefore now that the supervised teacher assistant can help save you countless hours.”

These hours add up and have an impact on the balance between professional and private life.

“It's not just a matter of efficiency,” said Tortorello. “It is a question of preventing professional exhaustion for our teachers.”

On July 8, Openai and Microsoft announced the time for the new AI training for teachers. The American teachers' federation said it would use $ 23 million – including $ 500,000 from the IA start -up anthropic – to create a national training center.

At Union Catholic High School by Scotch Plains, New Jersey, Deputy Director Noreen Andrews – who, among her other functions, coordinates the advanced placement courses – clearly remembers when she realized that AI was about to change her world.

In November 2025, Andrews said, a colleague entered his office to announce that questions of dissertation of the exams of the students of the College Board would now be written by the AI.

“And I say to myself: ‘Oh my God, you know, I am a professor after,” recalls Andrews. “Does everyone recognize what's going on?” Do you see what's going on? ” She wanted, Andrews said, “To make sure we all understand what had come in our world and what was never going to leave us.”

Andrews has quoted a Maxime now preferred: “” The AI will not replace you. But people who use AI will be. »»

“We talked about it among us as an educators-and when I speak to parents and I educated them on what we do with AI in education in our school, this is one of my first cards,” she said. “It is mind -boggling, because we are at the beginning of that – but yet it evolves so quickly that we went well the start.”

Union Catholic did things step by step, said Andrews, starting with a solid teacher development program.

“First of all, they are the teachers-so he made sure that the teachers put him in the hands of the students and helped them,” she explained. “And now this year is very focused on the literacy of AI.”

In January, the Catholic Lycée Union obtained the artificial intelligence responsible in learning (rail) through the association of colleges and schools of the environment states – recognition of its commitment to promote the responsible, ethical and secure use of AI in education.

Certified train schools are a selected group.

“We are one of the 46 schools in the world,” has proudly shared Andrews.

“We are not to do rules and try to apply rules to lock things, but rather to teach our students how to be responsible with their devices; with AI; with the internet. This is our goal, ”said Andrews. “The most important thing we can do – as teachers, as educators – is to prepare our students to survive in this new world.”