Why Alpha?

Life is different at Alpha

Picture a campus that looks more like a tech startup than a school. We have ditched traditional closed-door classrooms with desks and assigned seats. Kids are learning in spaces that best serve their needs: whether it is a noise-canceling phone booth, a cubby cube, or in open communal workspaces across our campus. Our workspaces provide kids the self-agency to explore where they focus and learn best.

Most surprising is that 96% of our students truly love school. We survey each student, in every session to ensure we are delivering on our first commitment. Hard work, excitement, curiosity: that’s what you’ll find at our Austin campus.

Alpha kids work harder

Through the use of adaptive technology, personalized motivational tools, and exceptional Guides who help kids discover just how capable they are, students at Alpha learn twice as fast as their counterparts in traditional schools. This means Core Skills (think: reading, math, science, and language arts) are learned in only two hours, leaving plenty of time to develop the life skills that will serve them well, no matter what their future holds.

Building skills that matter

At Alpha, we know that the only constant in the working world is change, and that the careers of the future do not exist today. That’s why we spend hours each day helping our students develop the tools they’ll need in any environment.

Our popular project-based workshops tackle universal challenges such as public speaking, rational thinking, giving and receiving feedback, non-academic writing, financial literacy and entrepreneurship. Our afternoons are filled with coding, science projects, construction builds, and more.

We ensure kids not only develop Life Skills, but most importantly Learn2Learn. We empower students to utilize online resources to become self-taught, self-driven learners. Every workshop we run concludes with a definitive “Test2Pass” to ensure students master the Life Skills they need to succeed.

Accelerated education

Learning at Alpha is highly personalized. Students work independently on academic app software instead of being taught by a teacher. We do not have classroom-wide lectures, or large group instruction. Instead, students follow a personalized academic pathway, allowing them to excel in the subjects in which they are gifted, and receive tailored support when it is needed.

MAP Growth testing is utilized three times per year to measure students’ academic progress in Core Skills. Our second commitment to families is that students will grow twice as much in a year, as they would in a traditional school. When Guides receive MAP scores, a personalized plan is created to fill gaps in students’ knowledge, allowing them to excel academically, with mastery as their foundation.

Leveling up

We do not use traditional grade levels at Alpha and instead opt for mixed-age classrooms. With all children advancing at a personalized pace, we group our cohorts into roughly two-year age bands instead of grades. Levels do not restrict academic progress; they simply help similarly-aged students support each other in their achievement journey.

Students typically spend two years in a level. Each level has a level-appropriate Check Chart. Check Chart items correlate with Core Skills learning and workshops. Throughout the year, students will work on completing all items on their level-specific Check Chart. Once a student has earned all of their checks, they will level up! A student will never “level down” — he or she will stay in the same level until they complete their Check Chart.

Learn more about Academics