ETHOS Launches “America 250” Civic Learning Experience as New AI Platform Focuses on Character, Citizenship and Virtues
New initiative combines AI-powered learning with America’s founding story to help families and schools explore history, civic virtue, and responsible technology use.
As America celebrates its 250th anniversary and artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes education, ETHOS Intelligence today announced the launch of “America 250,” a new civic learning experience designed to introduce students and families to American history through a safe, guided, and values-centered AI platform.
Developed as the first flagship experience inside the ETHOS platform, America 250 combines educator-written historical content, AI-supported learning tools, and guided family engagement experiences focused on the people, documents, and virtues that shaped the United States.
The launch represents an early collaboration between ETHOS Intelligence and Dr. William J. Bennett, former United States Secretary of Education and author of "The Book of Virtues," alongside education entrepreneur Jonathan Hage, founder and CEO of Charter Schools USA.
Rather than functioning as an unrestricted chatbot, ETHOS is designed specifically for educational environments, providing age-appropriate AI interactions, parent visibility tools, educator-guided learning experiences, and safety guardrails intended to support responsible AI use for students and families.
“Artificial intelligence is going to become part of nearly every student’s educational experience,” said Jonathan Hage, founder and CEO of Charter Schools USA and creator of ETHOS Intelligence. “The question is whether we introduce AI to children through environments built around safety, human relationships, and critical thinking — or whether we simply hand students unrestricted tools and hope for the best. ETHOS was built to provide the guardrails, transparency, and values-centered framework schools and families have been asking for.”
The America 250 experience allows students and families to explore America’s founding through guided historical narratives, founding-document explorations, and scripted founder avatars representing figures such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Mercy Otis Warren, and John Adams. The platform emphasizes virtues and civic themes, including courage, honesty, restraint, perseverance, justice, curiosity, and service, while encouraging family discussion and critical thinking rather than passive content consumption.
“Education has always been about more than information transfer,” said Dr. William J. Bennett. “A free society depends upon citizens of character—people capable of judgment, honesty, responsibility, and self-government. As artificial intelligence becomes more present in our children’s lives, we have an obligation to ensure these technologies strengthen learning and civic understanding rather than weaken them. America 250 is an opportunity to reconnect students and families with the ideas and virtues that sustain a free nation.”
The launch comes amid growing national discussion surrounding artificial intelligence in schools, student safety, and the role technology should play in learning environments. ETHOS positions itself as a “family-first” AI platform focused on guided educational experiences rather than unrestricted conversational AI.
In addition to the America 250 experience, ETHOS plans to continue expanding into broader virtues-based educational experiences for families, schools, homeschool communities, and supplemental learning environments.
The America 250 experience is currently available free to families as part of the 250th anniversary launch period.
To explore the experience, visit:
https://ethosintelligence.ai/america-250/landing
About ETHOS Intelligence
ETHOS Intelligence is an AI-powered educational platform designed to provide safe, guided, and values-centered learning experiences for students, educators, and families. Built specifically for educational environments, ETHOS combines AI technology with educator oversight, family visibility, and civic and character-focused learning tools intended to support responsible AI implementation in schools and homes.
About Dr. William Bennett
Dr. Bill Bennett served as United States Secretary of Education under President Ronald Reagan and as Drug Czar under President George H.W. Bush. He is the author of numerous books, including the bestselling Book of Virtues and America: The Last Best Hope.
About Jon Hage
Jonathan Hage is the founder and CEO of Charter Schools USA and the creator of the Strong Minds Good Hearts philosophy, serving nearly 100,000 students across the United States. He is the developer of Ethos Ethical Intelligence.
