Tomball ISD Becomes First in Texas to Add PowerSchool AI Assistant PowerBuddy’ to Curriculum Development

TOMBALL  – Tomball ISD is excited to announce its partnership with PowerSchool (NYSE: PWSC), the leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America, to pilot PowerBuddy, PowerSchool’s AI-powered assistant that is uniquely crafted for students, families, teachers, and administrators. 

This pilot includes access to PowerBuddy for Learning and PowerBuddy for Custom AI, which enhances the district’s ability to empower teachers to educate more effectively through PowerSchool’s responsible artificial intelligence tools designed for K-12. 

Tomball ISD continues to lead in innovative ideas and is not only the No. 1 district in Harris County for the last five years by Niche.com but is the first district in Texas to pilot PowerSchool’s PowerBuddy.   

“PowerBuddy will lighten the load on our teachers and save time for everyone so that deeper learning can occur within each lesson,” said Dr. Martha Salazar-Zamora, Tomball ISD Superintendent. “PowerSchool’s commitment to responsible AI and its natural integration with our existing edtech products made the decision to add PowerBuddy an easy one for our district.”

PowerBuddy for Learning operates within PowerSchool Schoology Learning as a personal assistant for both teaching and learning. PowerBuddy for Learning saves teachers time by assisting in their creation of contextual, high-quality assignments and instructional content. Tomball ISD teachers will have the opportunity to have a teaching assistant in PowerBuddy for content lesson creation and getting real-time responses to increase time efficiency and productivity. Teacher’s use of PowerBuddy will reduce time spent on content creation and assignment design, quickly generate supplementary materials and resources, and easily adapt existing content for different classes or levels

PowerBuddy will bring AI to Tomball ISD’s existing data within Schoology Learning instead of requiring the district to send its data to the AI. This promotes a more robust experience for teachers and heightens the security and privacy of the district’s AI usage while delivering personalized insights, fostering engagement, and creating a more supportive teaching and learning environment. 

PowerBuddy for Custom AI is a cutting-edge AI Assistant allowing users to ask specific questions and receive accurate, approved answers, providing unencumbered access to district-specific information through natural language prompts. Users can more effortlessly find important details from district and school information such as policy manuals, athletic schedules, after-school programs, student handbooks, district calendars, lunch menus, job postings and more with the help of PowerBuddy for Custom AI.  

In addition to PowerBuddy for Learning and PowerBuddy for Custom AI, Tomball ISD also partners with PowerSchool to provide members of their district with several additional products, including Applicant Tracking, Employee Records, eSchoolPlus SIS, eFinancePlus, and Predictive Enrollment Analytics.  

To learn more about the PowerSchool AI and PowerBuddy visit, https://www.powerschool.com/powerschool-ai/. 

Tomball ISD, in partnership with PowerSchool, will be hosting an exciting event called TRAINS (Tomball's Roundtable for Artificial Intelligence and Networking Symposium). TRAINS will take place on December 3, 2024 at the Tomball Event Center from 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM. The event will provide attendees with the opportunity to learn about the latest trends in artificial intelligence (AI) and network with other professionals in the field. The event will feature a variety of sessions, including presentations on practical applications of AI in education, strategic planning and policy considerations for AI, technical checks and balances for AI, and the use of AI in college and career connections. There will also be a vendor expo where attendees can learn about the latest AI products and services. Tomball ISD welcomes “ALL ABOARD” in this time of learning, discovery, and collaboration.

ABOUT POWERSCHOOL
PowerSchool (NYSE: PWSC) is the leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America. Its mission is to empower educators, administrators, and families to ensure personalized education for every student journey. PowerSchool offers end-to-end product clouds that connect the central office to the classroom to the home with award-winning products including Schoology Learning and Naviance CCLR, so school districts can securely manage student data, enrollment, attendance, grades, instruction, assessments, human resources, talent, professional development, special education, data analytics and insights, communications, and college and career readiness. PowerSchool supports over 60 million students in more than 90 countries and over 18,000 customers, including more than 90 of the top 100 districts by student enrollment in the United States. 

ABOUT TOMBALL ISD
Tomball ISD educates students to become responsible, productive citizens by providing innovative, individually rigorous, and personally valuable educational experiences. Founded in 1908, Tomball ISD now encompasses 83 square miles in northwest Harris County and southwest Montgomery County, and is located approximately 30 miles from downtown Houston. The district currently educates nearly 23,000 students across 24 campuses.