AI in Independent Schools Series

AI-Ready ADVIS Schools:

RAIL Alumni Lessons Learned

Audience: All
(especially HOS + AI/Innovation Leads + Division Heads + Early Adopter Educators)

Join Amber Berry, Vice President of AI and Strategy at Middle States, along with a panel of ADVIS alumni schools from the RAIL: Responsible AI in Learning endorsement series for an honest look at what they tried, what landed, and what they would do differently to become AI-ready. 

Participants will explore how member schools are navigating community-wide conversations about AI and will walk away with the RAIL asset template Mission Statement. 

AI-ready schools are built on clarity about mission, not just access to tools. This session is designed to provide a clear sense of how your school can benefit from a change strategy in AI.

 Tuesday, October 6, 2026 | 8:00-9:30 AM

Student & Teacher Advice on How to Use AI for

Powerful Learning

Audience: All (especially HOS + AI/Innovation Leads + Division Heads + Teachers)

Before schools can decide how to use AI well, they have to name what they are unwilling to lose.

Join Amber Berry, Vice President of AI and Strategy at Middle States, for an introduction to the Declaration of Powerful Learning, a framework that helps schools anchor AI decisions in what matters most about teaching and learning.

Featuring an ADVIS member school student and teacher, experience a live demo and debrief for a window into what AI-supported teaching actually looks like in a classroom. 

Participants will engage in community discourse about best and worst classroom practices. Everyone will walk away with the RAIL asset template the Declaration of Powerful Learning to bring back to their school, department, or personal classroom. 

The goal is a shared vocabulary for talking about how to use AI for powerful learning experiences, in ways that strengthen rather than shortcut what makes great teaching great.

Tuesday, November 3, 2026 | 8:00-9:30 AM

Governing in the Age of AI: Board Oversight

Audience: HOS + Board Chairs + Board Members

Strong boards do not wait for AI to become a crisis before they govern it.

Join Amber Berry, Vice President of AI and Strategy at Middle States, for a session built around a real governance framework: from an AI philosophy statement to mission-aligned policies. Learn how to effectively clarify the line between what the board oversees and what administration manages.

You will hear from an ADVIS member school head of school and board chair who will walk through how their leadership team navigated this work together, the friction, the framing that helped, and the moments that required genuine alignment between board and head.

Participants will spend time learning from fellow community members about AI in board conversations and will walk away with a suggested guide on how to facilitate generative board discussion on AI.

Tuesday, December 8, 2026 | 8:00-9:30 AM

Tuesday, January 12, 2027 | 8:00-9:30 AM

Monday, March 1, 2027| 8:00-9:30 AM

Protecting Brand & Voice: Effective Use of AI in

Mar/Comm, Admissions & Advancement

Audience: Mar/Comm + Admissions + Advancement

Successful schools are mastering how to leverage AI to tell great stories while maintaining their brand, their voice, their soul. 

Amber Berry, Vice President of AI & Strategy at Middle States, will moderate a panel featuring ADVIS member school professionals from across enrollment and advancement spectrum: voices from communications, admissions, and development. Panelists will share what they have tried, where AI has earned trust in their workflow, and how they protect brand voice and community relationships.

Participants will walk away with the best tips and questions to bring back to their community to move this work forward and practical starting points for using AI for powerful and authentic storytelling about your school's mission.

Amber Berry is the inaugural Vice President of AI and Strategy for Middle States Association (MSA). She is the co-founder of RAIL: Responsible AI in Learning which is a series of endorsements for schools to have access to an implementation framework for AI. The MSA AI team is working with 80 schools in 30 different countries impacting +65,000 students since the launch in March 2024. Endorsement 1 is in AI Literacy, Safety, and Ethics and endorsement 2 is the Essential Learning Experience with AI. She is co-leading the team building MSA's Governance Mastery endorsement for boards of trustees in independent schools.

Before MSA, Amber worked in public and independent schools for 15 years. She got her start in education as a French teacher then joined the leadership team as World Language Department Chair, the Director of Teaching Fellows, and Division Head. Amber has a special interest in school change with particular emphasis on teacher growth and development. She is a member of Excelle Collective for women in educational leadership.

Amber earned a B.A. from Princeton University an M.A. from Middlebury College and an M.Ed. in Private School Leadership from Columbia University Teachers College Klingenstein Program. In commitment to continuing education, she also completed a Mini-MBA in AI for Business through Section School in 2024.

After taking control of her own health, Amber has become an advocate for healthy lifestyles by sharing her journey to reverse Type 2 Diabetes. She actively supports the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where she and her husband serve on the Young Leadership Alliance. Amber is also a member of the foundation board of Wissahickon Charter School in Philadelphia PA. On weekends, Amber embraces her role as an NFL wife, cheering on the Philadelphia Eagles!