Where student voice has already reached.
AI Vanguard's impact in four parts: the research we've produced, the policy rooms we've entered, the network we've built, and the public conversations students have led.
Last updated · September 2026
We only publish numbers we can stand behind.
Active on 8 campuses across Southern California.
Our representatives run research and policy conversations at the schools below. State Directors extend the model to five more states.
- 01CypressHigh School
- 02TroyHigh School
- 03DowneyHigh School
- 04Gretchen WhitneyHigh School
- 05Oxford AcademyHigh School
- 06GahrHigh School
- 07CerritosHigh School
- 08BeckmanHigh School
The arc of the organization so far.
AI Vanguard is young — founded, organized, and run by students. Here's how we've grown.
- 2024
AI Vanguard is founded
A cohort of students across Southern California form the organization to give students a direct voice in how AI enters the classroom.
- 2025
Incorporated in California
AI Vanguard becomes a California nonprofit public benefit corporation in July 2025, with a student board and a formal structure behind the work.
- 2025
First research cycle
The AI Vanguard Policy Survey gathers 447 student responses across six campuses between August and December, the evidence base for the 2026 policy brief.
- 2025
Representative network grows
Student representatives onboarded across 8 schools and 5 districts, broadening the reach of student voice on AI in education.
- 2026
Going national
State Directors take AI Vanguard to six states, several of them student senators who met at America's Youth AI Festival in Boston, and national leadership applications open for the next cohort.
- 2026Current
From surveys to governance
A preregistered study of the twelve largest U.S. districts, district-level proposals in ABC Unified and Los Angeles County, a partnership with Project Tomorrow's Speak Up, and the first Vanguard Open.
What students actually wrote back.
Verbatim responses from the 2025 policy survey comments field. Attribution by grade and campus only — the students who wrote them are protected.
“Even if there are restrictions on AI, there is most likely ALWAYS a way to bypass them. Thus I advocate for a policy on guiding students on how to use AI, as I see most students solely using AI to complete the whole assignment or project with minimal effort. I only use AI for problem solving or generation of ideas, in which I believe is the most efficient. Though I also strongly believe that AI could be impactful to everyone if utilized the right way.”
“I like to use ai to study for test, brain storm, and to explain things when im not at school and cant ask a teacher for help. I feel cheated when other people use ai to do all there work and end up with a higher score then me on something so I would like there to be better ways of telling when people are cheating on there entire assignment. Whats the point of doing all this work if another kid is going to have a computer put in all the effort and then end up with higher score and gpas then me.”
“Some teachers are terrible at teaching, and some students (including me) use AI as a second teacher. AI helps whether you are confused about a topic, or want to learn the steps to the correct answer to an assignment. As long as AI is not writing your work, AI should be used whenever students need help.”
“AI is a great tool, however, I hope we learn how to use it properly and not strip away our critical thinking skills.”