OUR Approach to ai & technology
Screen time can displace the very activities children need for healthy academic, social, and emotional development. For this reason, OLM Prep takes an intentional, largely screen-free, "analog" approach to learning. We believe children need time and space to develop strong minds, healthy habits, meaningful relationships, and the foundational skills necessary for lifelong success.
Our students experience this philosophy every day through outdoor recess, imaginative play, strong instruction in reading, writing, and mathematics, cursive handwriting, handwritten note-taking, collaborative projects, public speaking, and paper planners. Executive-functioning strategies are intentionally embedded into classroom routines to strengthen organization, time management, independence, responsibility, and self-management.
OLM Prep also maintains a strict no-cell-phone policy during the school day. We want students talking to one another, building friendships, engaging with their teachers, and connecting with the world around them.
At the same time, we recognize that our students will live and work in a world shaped by technology and AI. Our responsibility is to teach them when, why, and how to use these tools responsibly. OLM Prep has partnered with Matt Mervis of Skills21 at EdAdvance to help our teachers thoughtfully incorporate age-appropriate AI strategies across grade levels.
Our philosophy is simple: Students should first learn to think, create, write, calculate, questions, and problem-self for themselves. Technology and AI can then be used purposefully to refine and enhance their work - not replace the thinking and learning that belong to the student.
Our goal is not simply to prepare children to use technology. It is to prepare children who are capable of succeeding without depending on it.