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The What

The What: AI in Schools, 25th Anniversary of 9/11, and more

The What is your look around southwest Connecticut for the week of Sept. 8.

The What: AI in Schools, 25th Anniversary of 9/11, and more
So long summer 2026, we'll miss you. (Photo by Kelly Prinz)

Tuesday, September 8

Happy Tuesday! We hope you all enjoyed your Labor Day weekend and got to take advantage of the lovely weather. It’s a busy start to the fall this week so let’s dive in.

 Highlights 

This section gives a brief overview of the key items in the newsletter.

  • As schools, parents, and state officials continue the debate around cell phone use in schools (and screen time in general), a new question is emerging—what to do about AI. We explore what a few districts and schools are doing around the region.
  • This Friday is the 25th anniversary of the attacks on September 11th. Many communities are hosting remembrance ceremonies and events. Here’s a look at some planned in Stamford | Norwalk | Greenwich | Westport

Spotlight

This section features our main reporting each week.

As schools, parents, and state officials continue the debate around cell phone use in schools (and screen time in general), a new question is emerging—what to do about AI.

In nearby New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani issued a one-year moratorium on generative AI for students in preschool through 8th grade. 

“Children need teachers and human connection in order to learn and grow. They need to develop skills alongside their peers, build relationships with educators and wrestle with tough problems on their own,” Mamdani said in a statement. “The tech industry wants us to believe that A.I.-powered early education is not only inevitable, but necessary. We do not see it that way. That’s why we’re implementing a moratorium on generative AI for students in 2-K through 8th grade and spending the next year studying the impacts of this technology.”

But many schools in Connecticut are embracing the technology, while noting some of the risks. Official guidance from the state’s Department of Education says that AI tools allow students to “deepen and personalize learning,” and that “technology has become ubiquitous in all aspects of learning.”

“Now more than ever, innovations in technology remain critical to education as both enablers as well as sources of potential risk,” the policy statement reads.

The department said that there should be “a common goal that all students would have a baseline understanding of AI in the context of broader digital literacy, a core component of any ’portrait of the graduate’ in preparation for college and careers.”

For many public school districts across southwest Connecticut, this looks like leaning into the technology and piloting programs to see what the different applications and uses could be. While a lot of the focus is on public schools, some private schools are moving aggressively to rely heavily on AI. Alpha School, a private network of AI schools, has applied to open a location in Greenwich at 20 East Elm Street.

Dive into how schools are working on incorporating AI into education. 

And ICYMI: Check out our video on school construction across lower Fairfield County. 

This Week at a Glance

This section includes a list of meetings, events, and programming happening around southwest Connecticut each week.

Bridgeport

Featured Meeting: The City Council will meet on Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. and vote on numerous items including issuing bonds to fund capital improvement projects as well as referring communications related to grants, like one to remediate the Remington Shot Tower and another for the Greyfield Revitalization program to various committees. 

Stamford

Featured Meetings: The Board of Representatives will meet on Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 7:30 p.m. and vote on numerous items including increasing the budget for the Roxbury school construction project and voting to repeal the Appointments Commission. Also, on Tuesday, Sept. 8, the Planning Board will meet at 6:30 p.m. and review a proposal from the city for the “re-imagination of the Glenbrook Community Center” through partnerships with nonprofit and for-profit groups to “convert a historic City-owned structure to a mixed-use building with an emphasis on community activation.” 

Norwalk

Featured Meeting: The City Council will meet on Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 7:30 p.m. and vote on numerous items including an agreement for $351,000 with BioHabitats Inc. to design a plan for improving resiliency, habitats, and public access at Veteran’s Park as well as naming the plaza at the police station in honor of former mayor (and former police chief) Harry Rilling. 

Fairfield

Featured Meetings: The Dwight School Building Committee will meet on Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 2 p.m. and receive an update on the estimated project cost and revised schematic design for the project. The Town Plan and Zoning Commission will also meet on Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 6:30 p.m. and review an application for 140 units at 185 Thorpe Street. The commission will also vote on prohibiting smoke shops, vape shops, and tobacco stores in the town. 

Greenwich

Featured Meeting: The Board of Selectmen will meet on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 10:30 a.m. and review numerous items including a citizen request for a flood study south of the Post Road

Darien 

Featured Meeting: The Advisory Sidewalk Committee will host a public hearing on its proposed plans to address sidewalks in town on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. 

Westport

Featured Meeting: No featured meeting this week.

Stay in touch!

As we continue to grow and evolve, please join us! You can do that by:

Please note: All of these agendas and information here are current as of Sunday night. Meeting times and agendas may get adjusted throughout the week.

Have a great week,

Kelly Prinz

Founder, Reporter at Coastal Connecticut Times

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