> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete website index at: https://alpha.school/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Page - **Name**: SY26-27 Session 1 Note: Guides - **URL**: https://alpha.school/sy26-27-session-1-guides/ - **Description**: Alpha School's Session 1 note to parents on Guides: what 1,000+ students told us, who is standing in front of your kids this year, how guide staffing works, and what changes in Session 2. Skip to content SY26-27 · Session 1 Note Survey Guides Staffing Session 2 SY26-27 · Session 1 Note to Parents Guides ====== What more than 1,000 students told us at the end of Session 1, who is standing in front of your kids this year, how guide staffing works, and what changes in Session 2. say they love school0% guides on 46 campuses0 applied to be a guide0 **1,000 dots. 920 lit.** Across 1,000+ student surveys this session, 92% of kids say they love school. Guide Performance · 3C delivery We’re crushing it holistically. ------------------------------- Students told us the same thing at the end of Session 1 that they told us a year ago. Across 1,000+ student surveys this session, compared with Session 1 last year: - 0%of kids say they love school (93% last year). - 0%Our youngest students, PreK–3rd: 97% say they love their guide (99% last year) and 98% say their guide helps them be their best (95% last year). - 0%Our 4th–8th graders: 90% say their guide inspires them to be the best version of themselves (92% last year), and 75% say their guide is one of the one or two teachers who will change their life (82% last year). At the campuses that were open both years, every one of these numbers is within a point of or above last year: love school 94% vs 92%, love your guide 98% vs 99%, guide helps me be my best 98% vs 95%, guide inspires me 91% vs 91%, guide will change my life 79% vs 80%. ### Session 1 this year vs. Session 1 last year Across 1,000+ student surveys this session, compared with Session 1 last year. All campuses Open both years Alpha Austin Session 1, SY26-27 Session 1, SY25-26 Flagship campus Alpha Austin had its strongest Session 1 on record. --------------------------------------------------- 0%love school89% last year 0%of 4th–8th graders say their guide is life-changing75% last year One number we are watching We ask our 4th–8th graders whether their guide is the adult who will change their life. Three in four said yes after one session together; last year it was four in five. The gap is almost entirely at campuses in their first year, where guides and kids have known each other for eight weeks; at campuses open both years it is unchanged (79% vs 80%). Last year this number did not move until Session 3, when it jumped nine points. We are not waiting for that. Every guide has the names of the kids who said “not yet” and is meeting with each of them weekly. We expect this number to climb over the next two sessions and we will report it to you at the end of each. This year, all campuses 0% three in four Last year, all campuses 82% four in five Campuses open both years**79% vs 80%** Last year’s pattern**Flat until Session 3, then +9 points** 1. Session 1Reported now: 75% 2. Session 2We report at the end 3. Session 3We report at the end Who is teaching your kids Guides are better than ever. ---------------------------- More than 80,000 people have applied to be an Alpha guide. We have hired a few hundred. The bar they clear has remained high: every guide in every cohort since 2021 has passed the same cognitive screen, and the average guide scores in roughly the top 10–15% of adults who take it. **80,000+** applied **A few hundred** hired Here is who is standing in front of your kids this year, across **229 guides** on **46 campuses**: - 0hold a master’s or doctorate **(52%)**, including 10 PhDs, EdDs, and JDs. - 0studied at Stanford, Duke, UC Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Columbia, UVA, UNC, UChicago, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Michigan, Georgetown, or Emory. - 0were NCAA Division I athletes and **4** competed professionally or won a national Olympic trials title. - 0founded a business, school, or program before coming to Alpha. - 0worked at places like Google, Amazon Web Services, Deloitte, Disney, NBC, CBS, Fox, and the U.S. Department of State. - 0were named Teacher of the Year 0are National Board Certified 0are Teach For America alumni - 0ran schools as principals or heads of school; **57** held a school leadership role. - 0served in the military 0are Fulbright scholars 0served in the Peace Corps **Four in five guides bring at least one of these; half bring two or more.** two or more at least one none yet ### This year’s class is the deepest classroom bench we have ever hired. A majority of our 2026 hires have ten or more years of teaching experience, and they carry the highest share of Teacher of the Year, National Board, and Teach For America honors of any cohort. We are the employer of choice for people who want to work with kids, because Alpha is a place to grow. Our model does not keep the same teacher in the same classroom for twenty years. Guides move from Guide to Lead Guide to Head Guide, train in monthly cohorts, and coach each other every week. 1. Guide 2. Lead Guide 3. Head Guide 4. Monthly training cohortsWeekly peer coaching ### You can meet every one of them. Each guide has a card with their background, credentials, and the thing they are proudest of. Pick your campus and click through. Guide staffing and guide to student ratios Here’s how staffing works ------------------------- 1. 01Every guide owns a guide group of students they are accountable for, including lead guides. 2. 02Guide Assistants do not get assigned a guide group. 3. 03Ratios are set per level and are ideal, not committed. Older levels put more budget into workshops; younger levels get more guided time. 4. 04Hired-but-untrained guides are placed on campus but hold no guide group until they complete the two-week training cohort (monthly cohorts; up to ~4 weeks between start and group assignment). 5. 05Allocation is done upon hire, based on which campus the guide will go to and which level they work best with. > Parents should hold Alpha to the three commitments, not to a ratio. > > We believe we can deliver at our ideal ratios, if we are not, tell us. ### We believe we can deliver the 3 Commitments at the following guide to student ratios. one guide students - WonderLab / Learning Lab6:1 - Level 19:1 - Level 212:1 - Middle school15:1 - High school18:1 It changes with age. In younger levels, kids want more time with their guide. As kids get older, they’d rather the budget was spent on awesome workshops, international trips, and once in a lifetime experiences. At 5 years oldthe most motivating thing is time with their guide. At 12 years oldthe most motivating thing is to unlock a trip to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Session 2 Here are Session 2 changes we are rolling out so you feel more connected to the guides. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1### Guides at drop-off and pick-up Guides will rotate through morning drop-off and pick-up so you can chat with them, have easy access to information about your kid, and bring the community together. You should expect morning drop-offs with music playing, guides and kids smiling, and a hyped-up welcoming environment. 2### Ask the guide about your student You should always feel free to get information about your student from their guide. They spend the most time with your child and know them best. Please direct concerns or changes to your ADoP. 3### The weekly Friday note Lead Guides will continue to send their weekly Friday note. It should include: Friday notefrom your Lead Guide 1. The best student limitless quote from the week. 2. Highlights from your kid’s workshops. 3. Questions to ask your child at dinner. Alpha School · SY26-27 Session 1 Note · Guides Information about your student: ask their guide. Concerns or changes: your ADoP. 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if (reduceMotion) { el.textContent = formatNum(target) + suffix; return; } var dur = target > 1000 ? 1400 : 900; var start = null; function frame(ts) { if (start === null) start = ts; var p = Math.min(1, (ts - start) / dur); var eased = 1 - Math.pow(1 - p, 3); el.textContent = formatNum(Math.round(target \* eased)) + (p === 1 ? suffix : ''); if (p \*, .survey-grid > \*, .austin-inner > \*, .watch, .hero-copy, .dotfield, .mosaic > li, .rules > li, .changes > .change' ); Array.prototype.forEach.call(revealTargets, function (el) { el.classList.add('reveal'); }); var counted = new WeakSet(); var io = new IntersectionObserver(function (entries) { entries.forEach(function (entry) { if (!entry.isIntersecting) return; var el = entry.target; el.classList.add('in'); Array.prototype.forEach.call(el.querySelectorAll('.count'), function (c) { if (counted.has(c)) return; counted.add(c); countUp(c); }); if ((el.classList.contains('count') ? !counted.has(el) : false)) { counted.add(el); countUp(el); } if ((el.classList.contains('chart-card') ? !chartSeen : false)) { chartSeen = true; 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Students spend the rest of the day building life skills through hands-on workshops and projects. - **Why hasn't the education model changed in 200 years?**: The current model of a teacher in front of a class of 20-30 students was created for the industrial age as a way to deliver mass education. While learning science has known for 40 years that this is one of the worst ways to teach, there hasn't been a technology that could deliver individualized, mastery-based instruction at scale until the recent advent of Generative AI. - **What does "mastery-based learning" actually mean at Alpha School?**: It means a student must prove they understand a concept with over 90% accuracy before the system allows them to move on. In traditional schools, a student can pass with 70%, meaning they miss 30% of the material. Alpha's approach is like sports: you master the fundamentals (like dribbling) before you practice advanced plays (the alley-oop). This prevents the knowledge gaps that cause students to struggle later on. - **Can the Alpha School model help students who are already far behind?**: Yes. Because the learning rate is so fast, students can catch up quickly. An entire grade level of material in one subject only takes 20 to 30 hours to master on the platform. A student who is two years behind is only about 40-60 hours of work away from being at grade level, a gap that can be closed in a matter of months. - **What do kids at Alpha School do for the rest of the day after the two hours of academics?**: They participate in hands-on, collaborative workshops designed to teach life skills. Examples include fifth graders running a profitable Airbnb, launching a food truck, second graders training for and running a 5K, and high schoolers producing a Broadway-style musical. - **How do you scale the "life skills" portion of the day at Alpha School? Isn't that hard to standardize?**: For K-8 students, Alpha Schools has developed a structured curriculum of workshops and projects that can be rolled out systematically across campuses. For high schoolers, the model shifts to a "super passion project" where students have four years to work on a major, self-directed goal with mentorship, forcing them to become self-driven learners who can source their own resources. - **What is the role of teachers at Alpha School? Are they replaced by AI?**: Adults are critical, but their role changes completely. They are called "Guides" and do zero academic teaching. Their entire job is to motivate, mentor, build relationships, and facilitate the afternoon life skills workshops. - **How much are "Guides" at Alpha School paid compared to traditional teachers?**: The minimum pay for a Guide at Alpha School is $100,000, which is roughly double the average teacher pay in the Austin market. This allows the school to attract top talent from both inside and outside the traditional education field. - **What are the biggest challenges or skeptical arguments against the Alpha School model?**: The primary challenge is proving it can work at scale outside of a well-funded private school with a select student body. Another issue is that parents have very different ideas about the purpose of education; some prioritize academics, while others value social aspects or other skills, making a "one-size-fits-all" solution difficult. The technology itself also needs refinement to eliminate AI errors or "hallucinations." - **At Alpha School, is my child on a screen for two hours straight? Is that healthy?**: Alpha views this as "very good screen time." Unlike passive consumption, your child is actively engaged in a learning dialogue with the AI tutor. The system is designed for focus, using 25-minute "Pomodoro" sessions for each subject. The goal is maximum efficiency to free up the rest of the day for screen-free, collaborative activities. - **At Alpha School, how do you prevent my child from just using AI to cheat?**: This is a key design feature. The "Time Back" platform is not a chatbot like ChatGPT, which is often used for cheating. The AI's purpose is to generate personalized lessons and questions and then provide targeted feedback. It acts as a tutor and a coach, not an answer machine. Functions that would enable cheating are not activated. - **How do I know this is actually working? Does Alpha School use standardized tests?**: Yes. Alpha School uses third-party standardized tests, like the MAPS test, to measure progress. Parents receive a mid-year update showing their child's growth. The results consistently show that in two hours a day, students learn twice as much as their peers who spend six hours a day in a traditional classroom. - **What happens at Alpha School if my child gets stuck on a problem? Is there a human to help?**: Absolutely. While the AI is the primary academic instructor, the "Guides" (teachers) constantly monitor student progress. During the two-hour academic block, Guides will frequently pull students aside for one-on-one check-ins to offer encouragement, discuss challenges, and ensure they feel supported. - **My child is already gifted and ahead of their grade. Will they be bored at Alpha School?**: No, this model is ideal for gifted students. Because learning isn't tied to a grade level, a student at the 99th percentile isn't capped. The system will continue to feed them advanced material at their own pace, allowing them to get years ahead of their peers. - **With only two hours of academics at Alpha School, does this mean no homework?**: That's the goal. The system is designed to be so efficient that the traditional model of a six-hour school day plus homework becomes completely unnecessary. The only exception is for students who are significantly behind when they start and choose to do extra work to catch up faster. - **How does Alpha School motivate my child to do the work? What if they don't want to?**: Motivation is 90% of the solution at Alpha. While the main motivator is earning back four hours of their day for fun projects, the school uses many other tools tailored to the child. This can range from earning stickers or a class petting zoo for younger kids, to friendly competition on leaderboards, to earning "Alphas" to fund their passion projects or learn financial literacy. - **If kids are on computers at Alpha School, how do they develop social skills?**: Socialization is a primary focus of the other four hours of the day. The afternoon life skills workshops are team-based, collaborative, and project-driven. This is where students learn teamwork, leadership, and relationship-building by working together on real-world challenges, like running a business. - **You set very high standards at Alpha School, like running a 5K. What if my child fails or isn't athletic?**: The philosophy is "high standards, high support." The goal isn't just the achievement itself, but teaching the process of reaching a difficult goal. In the 5K example, students are taught "atomic habits" and start by simply walking the track. They build up incrementally with constant encouragement from their Guide. The program teaches them how to do hard things, building resilience and a growth mindset. - **Alpha School sounds very different and risky. How can I be sure it's the right choice for my child?**: The founder acknowledges that it can seem "weird" at first because it's so different from our own experience. However, the model is based on 40 years of proven learning science. The school's commitments are clear: your child will love school, they will learn twice as much, and they will learn critical life skills. The school uses hard data from standardized tests to prove the academic results, and the high engagement in the afternoon workshops speaks for itself. - **Alpha School is a high-end private school. Is this model just for rich kids?**: The physical Alpha campuses are expensive, but the long-term vision is the opposite. The goal is to perfect the "Time Back" software platform and make it accessible and affordable for everyone. The vision is a future where any child on the planet can get a world-class education for two hours a day on a sub-$1000 tablet. - **Why is American K-12 education doing so poorly despite massive spending?**: The system is built on a flawed, time-based model. We advance students every year based on age, not on whether they've mastered the material. This creates compounding knowledge gaps, leading to a steady decline in performance as students are promoted with a weak foundation. - **What is the single biggest unlock to fix education?**: Switching from a time-based system to a mastery-based system, where students must demonstrate proficiency before moving on. This ensures every child has a solid foundation. When powered by AI tutors, this approach is highly efficient and scalable. - **How can kids learn twice as much at Alpha School?**: Traditional classrooms are incredibly inefficient, with retention from lectures as low as 5%. An AI tutor provides a personalized, one-on-one lesson plan for each student, keeping them in the optimal learning zone (the "zone of proximal development"). It ensures they master basics before advancing, eliminating time wasted on remediation and allowing them to cover material much more quickly. An entire year's math curriculum can be mastered in just 20-30 hours. - **Is paying kids to get good grades a bad idea?**: Not necessarily. It can actually be a powerful "unlock." For a student who believes they "can't" succeed, an extrinsic motivator like a $1,000 reward can provide the initial push needed to do the work. Once they achieve a high standard they thought was impossible, their entire self-perception changes, creating a powerful intrinsic motivation that lasts long after the reward is gone. It's the kindling that starts the fire. - **What is the role of human teachers at Alpha School if AI is doing the teaching?**: Their role becomes more important, not less. Freed from grading tests and delivering repetitive lectures, they become guides and mentors. They focus on connecting with students one-on-one, providing motivational and emotional support, setting high standards, and teaching the life skills, including leadership, teamwork, and public speaking, that AI can't. - **What is a mastery-based system?**: It's an educational approach where students progress based on their mastery of a concept, not on a fixed schedule. If you don't understand fractions, you don't move on to algebra. This prevents the knowledge gaps that plague the traditional system. - **How does Alpha School’s two-hour academic block work?**: Students spend a focused, two-hour block on core academics using AI-powered apps. Once they complete their daily lessons to a mastery standard, their "school work" is done. The rest of the day is freed up for workshops, sports, and projects focused on life skills. - **What are the key principles of learning science used at Alpha School?**: The model incorporates well-established concepts like Bloom's 2 Sigma (the effectiveness of tutoring), the zone of proximal development (keeping content not too hard, not too easy), cognitive load theory (not overloading working memory), and active learning (testing over passive listening). - **How is AI the "light microscope" for education?**: For decades, learning science has described a better way to teach, but it was impossible to implement at scale in a traditional classroom. AI is the instrument that finally allows us to measure what a student knows with precision and deliver a perfectly tailored, one-on-one lesson, making the theories of learning science a practical reality for every child. - **How will Generative AI create better lessons?**: Generative AI can create dynamic, endlessly engaging content tailored to each child's interests. If a student loves baseball, their math problems will be about batting averages. If they love the musical Hamilton, their history lessons will be presented as song lyrics. This makes learning compelling and relevant, not a chore. - **Is there still a technology risk in the Alpha School model?**: The technology behind Alpha School is continuously improving, but the model doesn’t rely on any single tool. It combines adaptive, real-time learning with human mentorship, so students engage in personalized experiences. Like any emerging technology, there’s ongoing work to ensure quality and consistency. The bigger challenge is not the tech itself, but helping families understand and embrace a new model of school. - **Why hasn't Alpha's learning model been done before, if the ideas are 40 years old?**: Because there was no scalable, cost-effective technology to deliver personalized, mastery-based tutoring. You couldn't give every child a dedicated human tutor. AI is the first tool that can provide that one-on-one relationship to millions of students simultaneously. - **What's the biggest obstacle to the adoption of Alpha School?**: Inertia and mindset. The "teacher in front of a classroom" model is all anyone knows. The biggest challenge is convincing parents, educators, and policymakers to embrace a complete rebuild of the school day, even if it's proven to be vastly superior. - **How do you plan to make the Alpha School model affordable and accessible to everyone?**: The cost is primarily in the AI compute, which is currently expensive. However, with the rapid development of on-device AI chips, the expectation is that within 3-5 years, a sub-$1000 tablet will have all the local processing power needed to run these AI tutors. The goal is to make this accessible to a billion kids, including through public and charter schools. - **What is Alpha's core philosophy?**: Alpha makes three commitments to families: kids love school, learn twice as much in two hours of academics a day, and build life skills. Alpha classes rank in the top 1% nationally. Guides provide high standards and support as students work toward their goals. - **What kind of person is a "Guide" at Alpha School?**: Guides are responsible for motivational and emotional support, not academic instruction. Alpha hires two main groups: the world's best traditional teachers who are thrilled to stop lecturing and grading quizzes, and high-achieving individuals like ex-coaches, athletes, and Olympians who serve as impressive role models and can motivate kids to achieve greatness. - **How does Alpha School deal with students who are behind academically?**: The AI platform first assesses them to find their true knowledge level, ignoring their age or previous grades. Because a full grade level of material only takes about 20 hours to master, a student who is three years behind can catch up in just 60 hours. Joe Liemandt says, "We can catch them up in no time." - **Why doesn't Alpha School use chatbots if it's an AI-powered school?**: Joe Liemandt states that chatbots are terrible for learning because 90% of kids use them to cheat, turning them into "cheatbots." Instead of chat, Alpha's AI uses a vision model that watches the student's screen and coaches them on their learning process, with a "waste meter" that shows them how much time they are wasting. - **What exactly is happening in the two‑hour academic day at Alpha School?**: Students work one‑on‑one with an AI tutor (no teacher lecturing) and, according to Joe Liemandt, learn over twice as much as peers in six hours plus homework; he claims Alpha’s classes are top‑1%, and catch‑up from bottom to top quartile can happen in ~two years. - **What are the concrete student‑motivation tools at Alpha School?**: The product is called Time Back (finish earlier to do projects you love). Other tools include screen‑time trades (e.g., 1 hour tutor → 1 hour games) with parental buy‑in, and financial incentives where appropriate. - **Do incentives at Alpha School, like paying students, actually work?**: Joe Liemandt cites Roland Fryer’s work (e.g., Houston) and says paying kids, with incentives structured to build daily habits, was most effective among teacher/parent/student options. - **What has Alpha tried in public schools?**: In MTSS level‑3 pilots (bottom ~10%), Alpha tied gift‑card unlocks to finishing lessons; teachers and parents reported the approach transformed students’ lives. - **What about refugee learners?**: Alpha’s learn‑and‑earn program for Ukrainian refugees used $2.50/day incentives (doubling with streaks), with 1,000+ children participating. - **Isn’t AI in school just a cheating machine?**: Joe Liemandt warns that open chatbots become “cheatbots” (he says 90% of students will cheat if given them). Alpha School’s design avoids that paradigm and uses AI to tutor/coach rather than provide answers via a chatbot. - **What’s the north‑star vision and funding plan for Alpha School?**: Joe Liemandt says he has committed $1B to a full‑stack reinvention and aims for on‑device AI on sub‑$1,000 tablets to reach a billion learners over the next 20 years. - **Any stated political/policy views tied to Alpha's learning model?**: Lonsdale asserts New York State currently bans AI in schools and frames a national debate about whether AI will be allowed to help kids; both discuss school choice as a path for innovation. (This is reported as their on‑air statements.) - **How does Alpha School treat debate/civics?**: Students are taught to steelman both sides of debates; Joe Liemandt recounts formative experiences arguing positions he disagreed with to build understanding. - **What is Alpha School’s 2 Hour Learning model?**: A student spends ~two hours with an AI tutor on personalized, mastery‑based academics; when complete, the interface “goes green,” and students transition to life skills workshops for the rest of the day. - **What do kids at Alpha School do after academics?**: Workshops in leadership, teamwork, grit, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, storytelling/public speaking, and relationship-building/socialization. - **How does Alpha School handle students who are behind?**: Alpha starts with diagnostic testing (knowledge grade), then assigns targeted lessons. A full grade level is usually 20–30 hours of mastery work; three years behind ≈ ~60 hours of focused study (e.g., a third hour per day). - **Are transcript grades reliable indicators of mastery?**: Not necessarily. Incoming “A” students often range from +1 to –3 grades; “B” students –3 to –7 grades behind, based on Alpha School’s standardized diagnostics. - **How good can outcomes get in two hours at Alpha School?**: Joe Liemandt states the engine supports top‑1% performance on standardized tests with the 2‑hour model. - **What motivates students to do the hard work at Alpha School?**: The highest‑impact lever is “Time Back” (finishing academics to earn compelling afternoons). Alpha also uses lightweight incentives like “100 for 100” to catalyze mastery and change self‑perception. - **What evidence suggests the traditional school model underperforms?**: Joe Liemandt cites data that the median U.S. high‑schooler gains about 1 point (of 300) across four years, a symptom of time‑based progression and prerequisite gaps. - **Is Alpha School only for wealthy families?**: Alpha is the high‑end model, but the team is building lower‑cost formats (e.g., sports academies, higher guide‑to‑student ratios) while preserving the academic engine. - **What about SAT/AP‑level outcomes at Alpha School?**: The high school model combines focused academics with afternoons for multi-year projects. SAT results should be considered by grade, graduating cohort, and year; contact the admissions team for current results. - **What is Timeback?**: Timeback is a platform packaging the learning engine so builders can open schools or apps on top of it (Alpha afternoons are programmable). A AAA video game built on the engine is intended to be free‑to‑learn and massively scalable. - **What exactly does two hours of academics mean at Alpha School?**: Two hours of academics means students spend about two hours with an AI tutor designed on learning‑science principles; he claims they learn more than 2x as much as a traditional six‑hour school day with homework. - **How fast is “10× faster”?**: Joe Liemandt describes a learning‑science‑based engine that “teaches ~10× faster,” emphasizing it is “not like ChatGPT”. - **What life skills do students actually practice at Alpha School?**: Alpha School students develop life skills in leadership, teamwork, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, socialization/relationship‑building, storytelling/public speaking, and grit. Examples include post‑game press conferences for public speaking skills and a 5th‑grade food truck for entrepreneurship and financial literacy. - **How much does Alpha School cost now, and what’s the plan to reduce costs in the future?**: Alpha tuition is $40k–$75k; micro‑schools at ~$15k are launching, with ~$12k vouchers bringing family pay to ~$300–$400/month. - **What’s the long‑term scale vision of Alpha School?**: Joe Liemandt says the target is a sub‑$1,000 tablet that “teaches everything in two hours” for a billion kids; he says he has invested $1B to start. - **MBA or build?**: Asked whether people should do MBAs, Joe Liemandt answers “No,” arguing two years building is far more valuable. - **How does Alpha School teach kids about money?**: Joe Liemandt describes financial literacy from kindergarten through high school; investing simulations and borrowing with interest to demonstrate 25% APR. - **When will Alpha be coming to my city?**: The Alpha Schools network is expanding to new cities across the United States as demand grows. Families who are interested in bringing Alpha to their area can register their interest here: https://alpha.school/bring-alpha-to-your-city/ When you complete the interest form, our team tracks demand by city and region. The best way to accelerate Alpha coming to your area is to raise your hand and let us know you're interested. Families who submit the form will be the first to receive updates if we begin exploring a campus in their city. - **Are kids only in school for 2 hours at Alpha School?**: No. Students attend a full school day, similar to a traditional school schedule. The difference is that core academics are completed in about two hours using personalized, mastery-based learning software. By condensing academics into two hours, students move faster than in a traditional classroom while achieving deep mastery of the material. The rest of the day is intentionally designed for activities that traditional schools often struggle to fit in, including: ● Leadership workshops ● Public speaking ● Entrepreneurship projects ● Team collaboration ● Physical activity ● Creative problem solving ● Life skills development This model is often referred to as “2-Hour Learning.” It allows students to complete rigorous academics efficiently while gaining practical, real-world skills. - **Is a robot teaching the students at Alpha School?**: No. There is no robot teaching students at Alpha School. While students use personalized learning software to complete their academic lessons, that technology is simply a tool, not a robot. Using this AI-tutor means: ● Every student learns at the right level for them ● Students can move faster in subjects they excel in ● Students receive additional practice when needed ● Students achieve 90% mastery in each concept before they move on Students at Alpha spend more meaningful time with caring adults than in traditional schools. The heart of Alpha is the Guide, not the technology. Guides are dedicated mentors who work closely with students each day. They don’t stand at the front of a classroom delivering lectures. Instead, they spend their time coaching, motivating, and truly getting to know each child. At Alpha, the standard for Guides is to have a deep impact on every student. Guides make the learning meaningful. They focus on building trust, developing confidence, and helping every student grow, not just academically, but as a person. - **Does Alpha really have no teachers?**: Alpha School absolutely has educators. At Alpha, the role of the teacher is redefined and elevated. Instead of lecturing the same lesson to 25–30 students at once, our educators, called Guides, focus on what humans do best: ● Mentoring students ● Supporting emotional development ● Coaching leadership skills ● Encouraging curiosity and motivation ● Helping students set and achieve goals Because AI and adaptive software handle routine academic instruction, Guides can spend more time supporting each student individually. - **Is AI replacing teachers at Alpha?**: No. Alpha School believes great educators are more important than ever. The difference is how their time is used. Instead of spending most of the day delivering lectures and grading assignments, Alpha Guides focus on mentorship, coaching, and helping students develop confidence, resilience, and leadership skills. In fact, Alpha School invests heavily in its educators. Guides earn six-figure salaries, reflecting the importance of their role in student development. - **Do students at Alpha sit on computers all day?**: No. Students typically spend about two hours per day on academic learning software. The remainder of the school day includes interactive and collaborative experiences such as: ● Group projects ● Socratic discussions ● Leadership challenges ● Entrepreneurship labs ● Public speaking workshops ● Physical activity ● Creative exploration The goal is to use technology only where it improves learning, and dedicate the rest of the day to human interaction and skill development. - **Is Alpha's learning model proven?**: Alpha Schools has been operating for more than a decade and continues to expand as families seek alternatives to traditional education models. Students regularly take nationally recognized assessments such as MAP Growth, which measure progress against national benchmarks. Alpha classes rank in the top 1–2% nationally, and students learn twice as much as their peers in two hours of academics a day. - **Is Alpha School an online school?**: We have both. Alpha School is an in-person school with a full campus experience. Students attend school together each day, collaborate on projects, participate in workshops, and build friendships just like in a traditional school setting. Alpha Anywhere is the online version of Alpha School, which is mostly used by homeschoolers. It is the same academic platform that students use at Alpha School, completing academics in just two hours per day. - **Do students still learn core subjects like math, reading, and science?**: Yes. Students complete all state and federal mandated core curriculum covering all academic subjects, including: ● Mathematics ● Reading and writing ● Science ● History and social studies The difference is that students progress through the material using mastery-based learning, meaning they only move forward once they fully understand the concept. - **Is the Alpha's learning model new or experimental?**: Alpha Schools has been operating for more than a decade and has expanded to multiple campuses across the United States. The model has been refined over years of classroom experience and is supported by research on mastery learning, adaptive software, and personalized education. - **How does Alpha support students socially?**: Alpha students spend much of the day working together on challenges, discussions, and projects. Because academics are completed efficiently, students actually have more time for collaboration and social interaction than in traditional schools. Students regularly participate in: ● Team challenges ● Public speaking events ● Group projects ● Leadership exercises ● Clubs and activities - **Who is Alpha designed for?**: Alpha School is designed for students who thrive when they can learn at their own pace and develop real-world skills alongside strong academics. Families are often drawn to Alpha because it offers: ● Personalized learning ● Leadership development ● Entrepreneurial thinking ● A future-focused education model - **Why does Alpha focus on life skills?**: Traditional education often prioritizes memorization and standardized testing. Alpha School believes students should also develop skills that matter in the real world. That includes: ● Leadership ● Communication ● Entrepreneurship ● Critical thinking ● Resilience ● Collaboration These skills are intentionally built into the school day and led by Guides. - **Why does Alpha focus on completing academics efficiently?**: The goal is not to reduce academic rigor. Instead, the goal is to remove inefficiencies from the traditional classroom model. In traditional schools, much of the day is spent on lectures, waiting for classmates to catch up, or repeating material students already understand. Personalized learning allows students to: ● Move forward once they master a concept ● Spend more time where they need support ● Progress faster in subjects where they excel This efficiency frees up time for leadership development and life skills. - **Is Alpha School an experiment?**: Alpha School is the result of more than a decade of development and iteration. The model combines well-established educational principles such as: ● Mastery-based learning ● Personalized instruction ● Mentorship-based teaching ● Project-based learning These ideas have been studied for decades and are combined at Alpha, in collaboration with some of the world’s leading learning scientists, in a way that allows students to learn efficiently while developing real-world skills. - **Do students still interact with other students in the Alpha's learning model?**: Yes. Alpha students collaborate frequently throughout the day. Because academics are completed efficiently, students actually have more time for collaboration and group activities than in traditional school models. 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