at Browning
Technology is most powerful when it deepens what makes us human — curiosity, dialogue, and connection. This guide describes how Browning approaches technology and digital life at every stage of a boy's education, and how families can partner with us.
Reclaiming Focus is not anti-technology.
It is pro-human learning.
AI will shape the future our students inherit — but focus, discernment, and inquiry shape how it's used. Students need time and space for curiosity, discussion, storytelling, reflection, and in-person learning. These human skills are what allow technology to amplify learning, rather than fragment it.
At Browning, we don't believe any single tool is always the right one. A pencil and paper, a conversation, a whiteboard, a book, and an AI model each have a place in a student's education. Our job is to know the difference — and to teach our students to know it, too.
The data from our Reclaiming Focus study confirmed what we already believed: our community is ready to talk, and eager to build practical alternatives. Families are not asking us to solve home life. They are asking for partnership and better defaults.
"Watching Young Sheldon with a sibling is screen time — but it is potentially relational. Researching a topic of interest could be either isolating or collaborative. We hope to encourage collaboration, as asking questions should never be isolating."
— Aaron Grill, Director of Innovation and TechnologyData sources: Student survey (194), parent survey (55), faculty survey (35), advisory discussions, and parent coffees across all three divisions.
This guide grows from the work of Browning's Collaborative Learning Cohort — a faculty professional development program in which teachers collaborate across disciplines to deepen their practice and develop curriculum. Each year, the cohort focuses on a shared theme; this guide reflects their ongoing inquiry into AI, attention, and what it means to teach and learn well in a digital world. The CLC meets each summer and throughout the school year, led by Danielle Passno alongside Aaron Grill.
The Core Four
Browning's academic approach is organized around four practices that develop the whole learner. These appear as badges throughout this guide to show which skills are most emphasized at each grade level.
K–12 Digital Life Themes
No single tool is always right. Pencil and paper, conversation, books, and AI each have a place in a Browning education. Our job — and yours — is to help boys know the difference.
Protecting Attention
in an Age of Distraction
AI at Browning is grounded in a simple belief: technology should deepen what makes us human, not diminish it. The tools we choose, the expectations we set, and the habits we build all serve one central commitment.
Attention is the disciplined act of being fully present and open to the world around us — without distraction or isolation. It is the capacity that makes all learning possible, and the one we are most committed to protecting.
All Browning admin and staff complete Anthropic's AI Fluency for Nonprofits course as part of onboarding — covering AI fundamentals, practical applications, and responsible institutional use.
No personally identifiable student information (PII) is ever entered into AI platforms. When in doubt, staff contact Aaron Grill before using any AI tool with sensitive data.
AI literacy at Browning — what students learn to do.
- Brainstorm and generate ideas
- Analyze and explore information
- Improve and refine writing
- Ask better questions
- Scaffold and deepen curiosity
- Submit AI-generated work as your own
- Bypass intellectual effort or thinking
- Complete assignments without real engagement
- Replace original thought or authentic voice
- Follow teacher instructions on AI use
- Disclose and cite all AI assistance
- Ask if you're unsure — honesty is the standard
- Understand that undisclosed AI use may be considered academic dishonesty
Learning begins with attention — and attention is built long before a screen appears.
The early years are the most critical time for developing imagination, language, social skills, and the capacity for sustained focus. These capabilities are cultivated through conversation, play, hands-on experience, and the steady presence of caring adults — not through screens. Technology, when it appears in K–2, is purposeful, brief, and teacher-directed.
At Browning, we believe a Kindergartener who has learned to sit with a question, wrestle with an idea, or listen to a peer is already developing the most important skills he will need — including the skills to use AI well, years from now.
Key Objectives
Family Engagement
Boys learn to ask better questions — and to evaluate the answers they find.
In grades 3 through 5, students begin developing the habits that distinguish a researcher from a passive consumer of information: skepticism, source evaluation, and organized thinking. Technology serves these goals when chosen intentionally — and pencils, notebooks, and books remain essential tools alongside it.
This is also the period when AI enters the conversation as a concept. Students don't use AI independently, but they begin to understand what it is, how it works, and why thinking critically about it matters. The goal is curiosity — not anxiety or uncritical acceptance.
Key Objectives
Family Engagement
The years when independence expands faster than self-regulation — and structure matters most.
Middle school boys are seeking autonomy while their executive function is still developing. This gap is where habits form — for better or worse. Technology at this stage is structured and purposeful. Browning's use of ReMarkable tablets in the Middle School replaces 1:1 laptops, reducing distraction while preserving the digital utility students need for serious academic work.
AI enters academic life here — cautiously and with clear expectations. Boys learn what AI can and cannot do, how to disclose and cite its use, and why original thinking still matters. Reclaiming Focus data shows that students themselves prefer real connection and meaningful work — they're asking us to provide alternatives to screens. This is our answer.
Key Objectives
Family Engagement
Technology access expands alongside demonstrated responsibility — and AI becomes a genuine scholarly tool.
Upper school students are developing the mature digital judgment that will serve them in college and in their careers. Technology access expands in 9th and 10th grade as students demonstrate the self-regulation and integrity that justify it. AI is now a real part of academic life — not a shortcut around thinking, but a tool that can sharpen it, when used well.
Faculty using AI in the classroom at Browning focus on the quality of the questions students ask, not just the polish of the answers they receive. AI works best when it scaffolds curiosity — and that's how we use it. Students who learn to ask better questions will be prepared to lead, not just to use, the tools of the future.
Key Objectives
Family Engagement
The question is no longer whether to use AI — it's when, why, and how to evaluate what it produces.
Seniors leave Browning as emerging adults. They use the full range of digital tools — and they are expected to bring to that use the discernment, integrity, and intellectual confidence that a Browning education has cultivated. AI is a genuine part of their academic and creative work. So is the judgment to know when not to use it.
The habits that will define our graduates are not technical — they are human. The capacity to sit with a hard question, to research with rigor, to tell a story that only they could tell, and to engage in honest dialogue with peers and mentors: these are the things that will distinguish a Browning graduate in a world full of generated content. We believe our boys are ready.
Key Objectives
Family Engagement
Building Healthy Habits at Home
Families are not asking us to solve home life — they are asking for partnership and better defaults. The structures below are drawn from Reclaiming Focus research and family feedback. They are suggestions, not requirements. The goal is shared language and shared systems.
Family Technology Plan
- Where do devices charge at night? (Outside bedrooms.)
- What are screen-free times in our home?
- What platforms is my son on, and do I follow him?
- What group chats is he in?
- When does he earn more independence with devices?
- Revisit this plan each year as your son grows.
Group Chat Guidance
- Know which group chats your son is in
- Talk about what "digital dignity" means in group settings
- Discuss what to do when a chat goes in a bad direction
- Consider no group chats before Grade 8
- Review Browning's community standards with your son
- The "would I say this in person?" test still works
Device Routines That Work
- Phone charging outside bedrooms — for everyone
- Screen-free meals as a family norm
- Device use in common spaces, not bedrooms
- Evening collection as a default, not a punishment
- Apple Screen Time and Google Family Link for younger students
- Consistent weekday and weekend routines
Talking About AI
- Ask your son: "Did AI help with that? How?"
- Discuss what AI is good at — and what it can't do
- Model honest disclosure: "I used AI to help draft this"
- Talk about AI-generated content and why it requires skepticism
- Celebrate original thinking — stories only he can tell
- Connect Browning's expectations to your home values
Right Tool, Right Time
At Browning, we don't believe any single tool is always the right one. A pencil and paper, a conversation, a whiteboard, a book, and an AI model each have a place in a student's education. Our job as educators — and your job as parents — is to know the difference, and to teach our students to know it, too. Some work happens without screens. Some conversations happen without devices. Some of the best thinking starts with a blank page and a good question.