Houston Area School District is First in Texas to Add PowerSchool AI Assistant PowerBuddy to Classrooms

PowerSchool, the leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education in North America, today announced Tomball Independent School District in Tomball, Texas has partnered with PowerSchool to pilot PowerBuddy, PowerSchool’s AI-powered assistant. 

This pilot includes access to PowerBuddy for Learning and PowerBuddy for Custom AI, which enhances the district’s ability to personalize learning for students and empowers teachers to educate more effectively through PowerSchool’s responsible artificial intelligence tools designed for K-12. Tomball ISD was recognized as the No. 1 district in Harris County for five years in a row by Niche.com and is the first district in Texas to pilot PowerSchool’s PowerBuddy.

PowerBuddy will lighten the load on our teachers, give our students a helping hand, and save time for everyone so that deeper learning can occur within each lesson, said Dr. Martha Salazar-Zamora, Superintendent, Tomball Independent School District. 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. Simultaneously, in Tomball ISD students will be able to benefit from an always-available personalized assistant to support them in the way they choose to learn. Students can interact in a conversation with PowerBuddy, asking questions and getting real-time responses that do not give the answer, but guide them in the right direction. 

This is especially helpful in supporting student progress at times when a student may otherwise be lost or confused about a new concept, such as when they are completing an assignment at home without a teacher or parent’s support.

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 students and 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.