In 2013, Caleb Hicks, who later founded School AI, taught nearly 300 students daily. He could connect with the top and bottom performers, but many students in the middle were overlooked. This concerned him. As class sizes grew and budgets shrank, teachers like Hicks found it harder to support every student.
When ChatGPT launched in 2022, some teachers were concerned about cheating and safety. Still, Ben Hicks, drawing on his instructional design experience at Apple, saw how AI could help create more personalized learning and give teachers better resources.
Building on that insight, he started School AI in 2023. The platform gives teachers quick updates on student progress and offers students bespoke support. In just two years, School AI has reached over 1 million classrooms in more than 80 countries and formed over 500 education partnerships. It uses OpenAI models to bring advanced technology to teachers and students.
“We’ve worked hard to ensure AI doesn’t just do the work for you. If AI simply gives students the answer, we’ve missed the mark. Teaching is about coaching and keeping students engaged,” said Nate Sanders, Chief Experience Officer at School AI.
Lesson 1: Building Trust by Keeping Teachers Involved
To build trust, School AI’s system mirrors a real classroom. Teachers use DOT, an interactive assistant, to create captivating learning spaces for students.
A teacher can ask Dot to create a reading activity for students at three different levels. Dot quickly builds a lesson. Teachers can also add interactive apps, letting students create, play, and learn in ways that match the lesson goals.
Students use Sidekick and AI Tutor, powered by GPT-4.0 and GPT-4.1, to complete these lessons. Sidekick adapts to each student’s learning style, giving guidance, pacing, and encouragement along the way.
As students work, teachers keep informed. Every School AI interaction is visible, giving teachers early insight into student needs before small gaps grow into larger ones. Built-in safeguards keep School AI safe, transparent, and consistent with classroom goals.
One student who had just arrived in the US and spoke only Dari used Sidekick for instant translation. Within weeks, he was joining group activities, making friends, and feeling included. Early, confident engagement like this helps students build a base for long-term success.
Lesson Number 2: Matching Models to Actual Tasks
For teachers, the main question is not what AI can do, but how it can truly improve learning instead of just providing answers.
“If AI gives the student the answer, we’ve failed,” says Hicks. “The point of teaching is to coach and keep students engaged in their work.”
School AI made educator oversight a core feature, rather than relying on simple prompts and responses. Every student input goes through an agent graph with specialized nodes that use models, tools, or safeguards before providing organized support for real learning.
OpenAI supports every part of this process:
- GPT-4o drives DOTS Conversational Interface and real-time logic behind lesson construction and response generation.
- GPT-4.1 handles more complex tasks, such as scaffolding and multi-step math problems.
- Image generation creates custom visuals, such as photosynthesis diagrams or historical maps, to support lessons.
- Text-to-Speech (TTS) provides spoken feedback in more than 60 languages.
The system uses smart routing. Complex tasks go to GPT-4.1 or GPT-4o, while simpler ones are handled by smaller or nano models. This approach keeps costs stable while securing accuracy.
Up-to-date information and nuance are especially important in schools. Algorithm outputs are visible in logs and shared with teachers in real time. Administrators get a consolidated report. This feedback loop supports School AI’s main idea: AI should coach students, not just give them answers.
Lesson 3: Using One Tech Stack to Grow Quickly
At School AI’s latest product showcase, over 10,000 educators attended. Just before the event, the team realized they were still limited by consumer-level restrictions.
“We reached out to our OpenAI contact to see what we could do,” said Sanders, Chief Experience Officer at School AI. Within 10 minutes, they upgraded our storage and increased our limits as we started using GPT-4.1, assuring a smooth event as new models became more affordable. School AI reduced its costs from nearly $1 per student to just a fraction of that. This change allows the team to invest in the future and grow wisely, which is especially important in education, where budgets are tight.
“We chose OpenAI because their models present unmatched accuracy, nuance, and flexibility. Hicks says we decided to scale with them because the support, we’ve received is second to none.”
Gazing Forward: Molding the Future of Education
For teachers, AI can be a valuable partner. It gives them more time for the important human side of teaching. Some teachers say School AI saves them over 10 hours a week. More importantly, they use that time to step in earlier, offer faster support, and spend more meaningful one-on-one time with students. said she used to depend on test scores to spot students who were struggling, but with school AI, she noticed a student who had stopped asking questions and joining discussions. That small sign led to a check-in and early help that might have been missed before.
Student behavior is changing, too. Engagement is rising in lessons that use AI, and Sidekick is helping students become more confident and independent. The same Dari-speaking student who once needed real-time translation is now joining group work, joking with classmates, and feeling more confident.
As more schools start using School AI, leaders are using live data to see what works and where extra support is needed, including new features for learning at home. School AI now connects students, teachers, and families through one trusted system.
This mission has always been about helping every student feel noticed. Since HICS with OpenAI, we have been able to deliver on that promise consistently at the system-level schools’ needs.
Source: SchoolAI’s lessons in building an AI platform that empowers teachers
