CPS AI Guidebook — MCP Documentation

What Is This?

How this server works and what it makes possible

The CPS AI Guidebook, Made Interactive

This server takes the official Chicago Public Schools AI Guidebook (Version 5.0.0) and makes it available through the Model Context Protocol (MCP) — an open standard that lets AI assistants like Claude, ChatGPT, and others access structured data in real time.

Instead of reading a 29-page PDF, parents can ask questions in plain language and get precise, sourced answers drawn directly from the official CPS guidelines. Every response includes attribution back to the guidebook.

For Parents & Guardians

Understand what AI tools your child can use at school
Learn about age restrictions on tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini
Know your opt-out rights
Get conversation starters to talk to your kids about AI
See exactly how AI is being used in classrooms

For Educators & Staff

Find specific guidance for your role quickly
Look up classroom integration examples by grade level and subject
Search for policies on academic integrity, monitoring, and approved tools
Reference AI terminology in the built-in glossary

What's Inside

The full guidebook, structured and searchable

Guidebook Sections

Introduction Purpose, Scope, Vision, AI Principles, AI Literacy, AI Basics

GenAI Guidance General Guidance for All Stakeholders, Guidance for Students, Guidance for Parents & Guardians, Guidance for Educators & Staff, Guidance for Administrators, Guidance for ITS, Guidance for Vendors

III

Approved Generative AI Tools Ed Tech Catalog

Professional Development Badge Pathway, Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)

Conclusion Conclusion

Appendix Glossary, Version History

CPS AI Principles

These five principles guide every decision CPS makes about AI in schools:

Equitable and Accessible

We are committed to ensuring equitable access to AI education and resources for all students, educators, and families, regardless of background or circumstance.

Ethical and Transparent

We will prioritize ethical considerations in the design, development, and implementation of AI systems, ensuring fairness, legitimacy, honesty, impartiality, transparency, and accountability.

Human-Centered and Socially Beneficial

We will leverage AI to personalize learning experiences, empower students, and foster critical thinking, while ensuring AI augments rather than replaces educators.

Continuous Improvement and Innovation

We will foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, encouraging experimentation and exploration of AI's potential to enhance teaching and learning.

Accountable and Sustainable

We will establish clear lines of accountability for the development, deployment, and use of AI systems.

GenAI Tool Age Restrictions

What CPS says about which tools your child can use, based on age:

Tool	No Access	Parental Consent	Free to Use
ChatGPTOpenAI	Under 13	Ages 13-17	18+
ClaudeAnthropic	Under 18	N/A - no access under 18	18+
GeminiGoogle	N/A	Parental consent must be obtained for students	18+
CopilotMicrosoft	Under 18	N/A - no access under 18	18+
PerplexityPerplexity	Under 13	Ages 13-17	18+

A Guide for Parents

How to use this tool to help your student

How does this work? When you connect an AI assistant (like Claude or ChatGPT) to this server, it can read the CPS AI Guidebook data and answer your questions using official CPS guidance. You ask in plain English — the AI looks up the answer from the guidebook for you.

Here are real questions you can ask. Each one will pull answers directly from the official CPS guidebook:

"My 10-year-old says their teacher is using ChatGPT in class. Is that allowed?"

Pulls age restrictions and approved tools guidance. ChatGPT has no access under 13, so you'll learn exactly what the rules are.

"What are the approved AI tools my child can use for homework?"

Returns CPS's guidance on approved tools, the Ed Tech Catalog, and the requirement that students get teacher permission first.

"I don't want my kid using AI at school. Can I opt out?"

Pulls the opt-out guidance — yes, schools must provide opt-out procedures and communicate about GenAI tools used in classrooms.

"How should my child cite AI when they use it for a school paper?"

Returns academic integrity guidelines — students must cite GenAI use, specify how they used it, and submit fundamentally their own work.

"What does CPS say about AI bias? I'm worried about fairness."

Returns the bias and fairness guidelines plus CPS's Equity principle. Includes the Office of Equity contact for concerns.

"Show me examples of how AI is being used in my child's 5th grade class."

Pulls classroom examples for elementary school across Literacy, Math, Science, and Social Science — with before/after comparisons.

Scenario

Your high schooler used ChatGPT for a history essay and got in trouble

You want to understand the rules so you can talk to the teacher and your child. Ask:

"What are the academic integrity rules about AI? What happens if a student doesn't cite it? What's the review process?"

The AI will pull the student guidance on academic integrity, the school review process (gathering information, contacting parents, determining consequences), and positive alternative uses.

Scenario

You want to help your middle schooler use AI responsibly at home

You're not against AI but want to set ground rules. Ask:

"What does CPS recommend as positive ways for students to use AI? Give me conversation starters for talking to my 7th grader about AI."

Returns approved use categories (collaboration, creativity, learning) with specific examples, plus conversation starters designed for parents.

Scenario

You're not sure what "GenAI" or "hallucination" means

The school sent home a letter full of AI jargon. Ask:

"What does hallucination mean when talking about AI? And what's the difference between AI and generative AI?"

Pulls clear, CPS-approved definitions from the 33-term glossary. Written for a general audience, not technologists.

Available Tools

What AI assistants can access through this server

guidebook.get_parent_guidance Start Here

All parent-specific guidance in one call: recommendations, age restrictions, opt-out info, conversation starters, and key contacts.

guidebook.get_age_restrictions

Age restriction table for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, and Perplexity — who can use what, and when parental consent is needed.

guidebook.get_classroom_examples

Side-by-side "without AI" vs "with AI" examples across Literacy, Math, Science, and Social Science for Elementary, Middle, and High School.

guidebook.get_positive_uses

CPS-approved ways students can use GenAI: brainstorming, study guides, creative projects, research, and more.

guidebook.get_ai_principles

CPS's five AI principles: Equitable, Ethical, Human-Centered, Innovative, and Accountable.

guidebook.get_glossary_term

Look up any AI term — hallucination, LLM, prompt engineering, bias, and 29 more. Written in plain language.

guidebook.get_stakeholder_guidance

Get guidance for any role: parents, students, educators, administrators, ITS, or vendors.

guidebook.search

Full-text search across every section, topic, recommendation, and glossary term in the guidebook.

guidebook.list_sections

Browse all six major sections of the guidebook.

guidebook.list_topics

Drill into topics within any section.

guidebook.get_topic

Get the full content of any topic, including all subtopics, recommendations, and special data.

guidebook.list_glossary

List all 33 terms in the CPS AI glossary.

guidebook.get_version_info

Document version, publisher, release date, and CPS mission statement.

guidebook.get_usage_guide

Navigation help for AI assistants — explains the structure and recommended workflows.

Connecting

How to use this with an AI assistant

MCP Endpoint

AI assistants that support the Model Context Protocol can connect to:

    /mcp/
  

This server implements the MCP Streamable HTTP transport with OAuth 2.1 support. Compatible with Claude (via claude.ai MCP integrations), OpenAI Responses API, and any MCP-compatible client.

Data Source & Attribution

All data served by this MCP comes directly from the Chicago Public Schools AI Guidebook, Version 5.0.0, last updated August 2025.

The guidebook is published by Chicago Public Schools and issued by the Office of Teaching and Learning and the Department of Information and Technology Services. Every tool response includes an attribution line linking back to the source document.

For the full original document, visit cps.edu/aiguidebook.