Rural NY School To Launch Humanoid Robot Teacher

New York State Education

Rural NY School District Will Be One of First to Bring Humanoid Robot Into Classroom

Starting this fall, Salamanca High School will deploy a humanoid robot and avatar teaching assistant.

Melissa Manno · July 14, 2026

An AI-generated image from Realbotix showing a likeness of their humanoid robot in a classroom setting. | Image courtesy of Realbotix

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When students return to school this fall in the Salamanca City Central School District in Western New York, a new kind of teacher will be ready to greet them. The small, rural district located on the Seneca Nation reservation is set to be one of the first in the country to put a humanoid robot in a classroom. It will not replace the classroom teacher, but is programmed to provide learning support to both students and educators.<br>At a board meeting last month, the Cattaraugus County school district agreed to purchase the robot from Realbotix, a tech company, along with an artificial intelligence teacher’s assistant program allowing students to interact with an avatar of the robot on laptops.<br>“This deployment in a working school district represents a landmark moment for both AI and humanoid robotics,” said Andrew Kiguel, CEO of Realbotix, which is currently building the robot. “Salamanca marks the beginning of a new era where humanoid robots and intelligent AI assistants become standard tools in STEM education.”<br>The female robot, named Sally, will have a “lifelike appearance” with silicone skin and long brown hair, Kiguel said in an interview with New York Focus. It will be stationary in a seated position but have a wide range of upper-body movements and facial expressions.<br>Students will use a unique identification code when interacting with the robot during class, allowing it to access their learning data and provide personalized support based on their past communication with the avatar, Kiguel said. “They’ll be able to say, ‘Hey, I’m student number 1234,’ and then the robot will be like, ‘Hey, we were talking about this yesterday, do you want to continue that conversation?”

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Salamanca plans to introduce the robot and avatar in its high school AI and robotics courses, which use curriculum developed by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to prepare students for high-demand tech jobs. The district plans to expand it to high school students in other classes if the pilot is successful.<br>Salamanca Superintendent Mark Beehler explained the district’s embrace of AI. “Many schools are taking the easy solution of simply banning it, but I have found that students will find a way around most rules that schools put in place,” Beehler said in a written response to questions. “I also believe it is critical for schools to teach proper use of technology, not simply exclude it.”<br>During and after school hours, students will be able to use the avatar to receive help with assignments. Kiguel said students could upload photos of homework for feedback, ask the avatar to generate lessons on topics that interest them, or receive real-time translations in over 100 languages. Unlike other Realbotix robots, Salamanca’s robot will not have advanced features such as facial recognition and recording.<br>The robot will also serve as a classroom resource. If a teacher loses their place during a lesson or needs a prompt on what comes next, Kiguel said, they can ask the robot for guidance because it has been loaded with the district’s curriculum.<br>The products cost the district $57,590, according to the contract attached to the school board agenda. Kiguel said the price was discounted; the company’s website lists the M-Series robot, the model purchased by the district, at a starting price of $95,000.

“It is critical for schools to teach proper use of technology, not simply exclude it.”

—Salamanca Superintendent Mark Beehler

The plan has sparked debate online, with some calling it a forward-looking, innovative step for the district and others expressing concern about the broader implications of further integrating AI into schools, particularly in an underserved area.<br>Salamanca is the only incorporated city in the United States located entirely within a Native American reservation. The school district serves roughly 1,300 students, including 32 percent who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native and 79 percent who are economically disadvantaged.<br>“We already have so many issues in our community, including environmental issues. I just don’t understand the concept of adding AI onto that,” said local parent Sierra Abrams, who learned about the technology in a district Facebook post. “Bringing it into the school district is contradicting everything we believe, in my opinion.”<br>For the past...