5 min read
Alpha School, the much-hyped and occasionally controversial private school that uses an AI-powered “two-hour-learning” instruction model, opened a K–12 outpost last year in New York City, the most competitive independent school market in the country. The school, which has locations in tech and business hubs around the country, has been the talk of drop-off lines ever since, with the city’s wealthiest and best-connected parents comparing notes about which of them have pulled their kids out of well-established (and hard to get into) private schools in favor of the $65,000-a-year Alpha program, and which refuse to have their kids be “guinea pigs.”
Alpha New York, which is located in the Financial District in Lower Manhattan, hosts frequent information sessions for prospective parents, including one last week. T&C spoke to one attendee, who asked to remain anonymous, about the scene.
How did you hear about Alpha?
I listened to a two-hour podcast with the co-founder and principal, Joe Liemandt, about the school’s methodology, and I thought, Okay, this is interesting. Then all the moms in Brooklyn started chattering about it, and so a few friends and I decided to sign up for an information session.
The meeting was at 10 a.m at the school, which is located in a beautiful glass office building in FiDi. We went through a check-in entrance, up an escalator, and into an elevator. When the doors opened onto the school floor, it was a madhouse. A line of maybe 50 parents. Everybody had to check in via an iPad, enter their ID, and take a picture of themselves. People were like, “What is this?” and “Where’s the coffee?” That whole process took 30 minutes, but once you got in, they did have coffee, bagels, and chia pudding.
What happened next?
There were approximately 150 of us total, and we sat down to hear a presentation. Liemandt got up and said, “How many people here have already done 20-plus hours of research on Alpha School? And how many people are totally new to it?”
Then he said, “If I got up here and just gave a speech that was kind of in the middle of both of these two ends of the spectrums, nobody would be happy. And that’s exactly what Alpha School is about. It’s about personalized, tailored learning.
I’m here as a teacher teaching you guys all about Alpha School, and that’s exactly what it is. Instead of trying to dumb it down or be the lowest common denominator for everybody here, we offer very personalized learning at your level, so we can really help to unpack your questions and go deeper.”
Is that how the session worked?
Yes, but first they had a teacher speak, and three students—two fourth-graders and a seventh-grader—went up and sat down and were interviewed about the school. They started with, “What’s your favorite food?” Two said, “Sushi.” But the rest of the questions were broader. “What do you do after school? What do you like about the process? What feedback would you have to improve the school?”
One kid said, “I get really tired after recess. I wish it was 10 minutes longer.” The whole room laughed at that. Another said that sometimes it felt hard to be so far ahead of her peers academically, but then she said she’s really into quantum physics and she loves coding websites and vibe-coding.
They were so smart and articulate. At the end of the day, they were just kids, and it showed in a nice way.
Was there a lot of talk about AI instruction?
Yes, but the students talked more about everything else that the school provides, which I thought was interesting. They have all these workshops that students might do, like going to a pet shelter and working with them to figure out how to improve the adoption process. Or they create a new project or business, and someone’s a CEO, someone’s a project manager, someone’s a CFO, and they’re coming together to build these entrepreneurial skills and build a business. So the kids talked about this kind of thing.
What was the vibe in the audience?
I think most people were intrigued. I saw five or so people I knew from different social circles, and some of us talked about how attending school here might be a little like living in a one percent of the one percent of the one percent bubble. It could have advantages, but being a part of a community of peers across the spectrum is also a really great thing for students.
The best question came from a woman who pointed out that real world jobs are not personalized and there’s lots of boredom and one-size-fits-all aspects at work. Given that, she asked, is Alpha setting kids up for failure? Will they expect that things will always be tailored to them at all times?
Nobody really had an answer for that. But there was a display set up that had this whole thing about grit and resilience, and the Alpha staff talked a lot about how failure is really good. Feedback is really good. It reminded me of the language you see in leadership books, like “How to Be a Great CEO,” or “How to Build an Organization.”
There was another question that started out, “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” The person was talking about a fourth-grader who, we learned, is reading The Great Gatsby. The point was that there are a lot of really complex themes in the book, and maybe even if you can read at an 11th-grade level, fourth grade is not the best time for Gatsby. The principal chimed in and said that parents have control, and in that instance they approved of her reading it.
Did it feel like a typical school?
Everything is immaculate and beautiful. It looks like a WeWork space with conference rooms. It felt more like a tech startup. It had a similar vibe to what you feel at a private equity–backed company that’s really trying to scale.
They go hard on the marketing. I signed up to attend the info session in March and got six emails after that. They have a Hamptons summer course, and they’re like, “Try one week of Alpha for the summer, and at the end of the week your kid will do a performance or share what they learn, and that’s all that you’ll need to make a decision.”
It’s a great sales tactic, and they’re definitely good at that part. This is a foreign concept to most parents, and the challenge for Alpha is that people have an immediate “I don’t want AI to teach my kids” reaction. So they have to go deep into their philosophy. And that’s why they’re doing these two-hour podcasts.
Were the other parents sold?
I think many of the people who attended are going to apply. You could feel excitement about it, although you could definitely say that there was skepticism, too. On one hand, why spend all that money to go to a traditional private school that uses the same teaching methodology it has for the last hundred years? On the other hand, what if you’re a believer in learning humanities, philosophy, and arts? Yes, critical thinking and problem solving and these types of skills Alpha teaches are important, but there’s not only one way to get to the end goal.