Image generated using artificial intelligence (AI)
AI @ WFS
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a part of our lives for many years, with people relying on tools such as chatbots, facial recognition, and digital assistants (e.g. Siri and Alexa) in their daily lives.
Students have had access to educational aids such as Grammarly for editing and Duolingo for world languages for many years as well. But the release a little over a year ago of ChatGPT––a tool that can create text, images, code, and video based on prompts–– introduced a new variable to the conversation that educators consistently have regarding the pros and cons of AI tools in learning and teaching.
Upper school faculty have had many discussions about AI in the classroom. Our current policy is that teachers can experiment with using AI through their departments, and each department has a designated teacher who is open to creatively experimenting. For all classes, students are not to use AI without explicit permission from their teachers.
Head of Upper School Rebecca Zug recognizes that students are eager to learn more about AI. “Students really got excited by an AI piece of artwork on the NYC art trip in October. Several reflected in the Theory of Knowledge course on what originality and authorship signify when art is AI-generated.”
Rebecca is meeting with students to get their input into how teachers might utilize AI in teaching and learning, and how teachers who want to eliminate inappropriate use of AI by students can do that.
To help guide us in our discussions regarding AI, WFS has an ongoing relationship with Katie O’Shaughnessy from Princeton Day School as a consultant to the upper school this year.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for Saturday’s Home & School Back-to-School Picnic, and to the volunteers who made it possible! From bouncy houses to face painting and dance parties, the afternoon was filled with laughter and joy.
On Saturday, September 26, 2026, we officially celebrated the opening of our reimagined lower school campus! Guests gathered in the lobby and checked out the beautiful panda donor wall.
HL IB Biology year two students used CRISPR/Cas9 technology in their latest gene knockout lab to disrupt a gene in bacteria and observe a phenotypic change as a result.
The library was jam-packed with students this morning during the annual upper school Clubs and Committees Fair! During the fair, students have forty minutes to learn about the numerous clubs and committees on campus (we had over 50 during last school year).
WFS juniors who are beginning the International Baccalaureate Diploma program gathered for dinner to learn more about what's next in their academic journey. The IB emphasizes high academic standards, global perspective, informed and engaged citizenship, respect for others, and the active application of classroom experience.
Middle school Chinese teacher Jianglin Shi presented at the Delaware Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (DECTFL) Conference at the University of Delaware.
The WFS college counseling team began welcoming colleges and universities to campus this week, hosting representatives from 24 schools. Interested junior and senior students can attend these meetings to introduce themselves to regional admissions representatives, learn more about the institutions, ask questions, and share their interest in the schools.
Statement of Nondiscrimination as to Student Enrollment
Wilmington Friends School admits students of any race, color, gender, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students of these schools. Wilmington Friends School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, national and ethnic origin in administration of their educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school administered programs.