Forging the Future of Technology at CWA

Senior leadership is guiding the community with new policies and facilities for the intentional use of technology across divisions

By Kimberly Banti

Kim Feehan loves to iterate. Entering her fourth year as a Middle School humanities teacher at Charles Wright Academy, she has also founded the MS engineering and design program, which allows for both project-based learning for students as well as deeply thoughtful curricular development for Ms. Feehan. “At the end of our first year of the design and engineering course, I did a survey and asked students to tell me about the projects they really enjoyed,” she recalled. “They also told me about the ones they enjoyed less and why to help me understand. So the things that didn’t hit, I took out and replaced with lessons that I thought would be even more engaging.” Citing several professional development courses she’s completed, Ms. Feehan continued, “I’ve also been able to peel from all these other courses that I’ve taken and bring in little gems here and there. So it’s really evolved.”

That evolution mirrors a more holistic consideration by school leadership toward creating an intentional philosophy around technology use and learning across all divisions. In addition to the proposal to bring Ms. Feehan’s engineering and design program into the Upper School via a new innovation complex tentatively named the Forge (made possible by a generous restricted anonymous gift for such a purpose), CWA leadership spent much of the last year developing new policies both for responsible AI use and for cell phone use in the Upper School so that all faculty, staff, and students are on the same page.

With the school’s mission and values at the center of new policy, curriculum, and facility development, school leadership aims to futureproof against any reactive impulses as technology evolves. Director of Operations and Technology Muhammad Ramadan has led the charge to update the AI policy to mirror the school’s overarching approach to any technology use. “We’ll still have the same expectations that when using AI, we’re going to show perseverance, respect, integrity, compassion, and excellence,” he said. “‘To demonstrate integrity, I’m going to acknowledge that I’ve used AI to create this slideshow, or I used AI in my research’—it’s treating AI just as another source. No one would be embarrassed to say, ‘I used Google to search for something.’ So why would there be embarrassment around using AI to help develop ideas? At the end of the day, it’s the student’s responsibility and the teacher’s responsibility to start with the idea and then be the one to check the work at the end.”

Citing the axiom of “human first, human last” throughout any academic exercise, Mr. Ramadan reflects the value of human connection regardless of technology or device usage. This adage rings true in the Upper School, where Director Kevin Campbell has been drafting a new cell phone use policy with feedback from faculty, students, and families. Students will continue to keep their phones away during class unless approved on a case-by-case basis, but starting in fall 2026, they will also store their phones during lunch and class breaks. Parent and guardian contact will take place via office relay or with student cell phone access at the Upper School front desk when needed for communication only, and enforcement will become more consistent with clear accountability structures. 

“School is a special place,” said Mr. Campbell, who helped implement a successful no-phone policy at his previous school, Sun Valley Community School in Idaho, before arriving at CWA last summer. “We’re engaged in traditional liberal arts education and social-emotional development, and what we see is that kids need explicit education on how to have a real conversation with each other. What’s going to center human relationships and human agency? How do we prioritize that? One of the things that we can do is be intentional about the ways in which we’re using technology to either facilitate and stimulate that, or being honest enough and brave enough to call it out when it’s not. And I believe we owe it to our students to create a space where authentic conversation, meaningful relationships, and sustained attention can flourish without the constant distractions competing for their focus.” 

Without the diversion of a cell phone at their constant beck and call, they will then have an opportunity to more fully immerse themselves in the deep work of innovation and creativity in class and community, especially as the numerous spaces of the Forge come to fruition. Utilizing existing Upper School space, Ms. Feehan said the Forge is intended to serve as a “unified ecosystem where students in grades seven through twelve design, build, code, and investigate.”

Ultimately, the Machine Shop (robotics and automation), the Think Tank (AI, programming, and computer science), the Foundry (engineering design and fabrication), the Studio (film, podcast, web, and graphic design), the Lab (science, biomedical, and environmental), the Incubator (ideation, mentorship, and collaboration), the Gallery (exhibition and student showcase), and the Grove (outdoor learning) will combine as the Forge to allow for deep, concentrated work in project-based learning. Having recently partnered with Middle School art teacher Christopher Hoppin for a cross-curricular humanities project around ancient civilizations in the current innovation lab, Ms. Feehan said, “I want to be able to do that in the Upper School, too. I want to be able to sit down with the English department and ask, ‘What do you teach?’ And then we can brainstorm and devise a related project. Students could record a podcast, 3D-print an item, or create a web page. The sky is the limit, and I believe it exposes students to the things they’re actually going to need to be doing to create their best path forward in the future.”

In looking ahead, CWA leadership aims to be transparent, communicative, and proactive when establishing new programs and policies around technology—while continuing to anchor policies and practices in the school’s values, helping students learn how to navigate their future with success. “While our policies will need to be responsive to a dynamic world, the guiding philosophy behind our policies should remain grounded in the school’s values and driven by developmentally appropriate learning goals. Our technology norms should mirror our general community standards so that our expectations remain consistent in both the real world and the digital one. Success for our students and for our school is the ability to have a common compass to help us navigate an in-person and digital future with confidence, even as society and technology evolve.”