A new private school opening this fall is making a bold claim: It says it can replace academic teachers with artificial intelligence and teach students everything they need to know in just two hours a day.
So, is this the future of education, or just the latest gimmick? Here’s what we know:
What is Alpha School?
Alpha School is a private school founded by MacKenzie Price. It started in Texas and has locations in Austin, Brownsville and Miami, Florida.
But it’s in the middle of an expansion, with 10 new campuses opening across the country this fall — including a kindergarten through third grade campus in Charlotte and another in Raleigh.
The school’s signature feature is its “two-hour learning model,” which makes this bold claim that it can teach students twice as fast as traditional schools using AI in place of traditional academic teachers.
What does the model actually look like?
To skeptics, it sort of produces this image of kids poking around on a computer screen for a couple of hours and going home.
But in an interview with WFAE, Price said it’s more complicated than that.
For one thing, it is a full school day — from 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. While core academics are taught in roughly two hours in the morning, the rest of the day is spent in workshops developing what the school describes as “life skills” — such as entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
At one of the existing locations, for example, kindergarteners and first graders did a project to raise money for clean water efforts by starting a lemonade stand, Price said.
And there are teachers, but Alpha School calls them “guides.” They don’t serve a traditional academic role: They don’t administer homework, give lectures or make lesson plans, for example. Price said their job is to motivate students, get them excited about learning and help them when they’re struggling.
Price said the guides are critical to the model’s success. The idea is that by removing teachers from the busywork of traditional academia, it frees them up to focus on sparking students' excitement for learning.
“They can focus on students,” Price said. “I very firmly believe, and we have seen this, that 10% of what creates a great learner is academic content at the right level and pace. But 90% of what creates a great learner is being a motivated student. And right now, in the traditional classroom setting, there's no attention brought towards motivation.”
What do we know about this AI platform amid concerns about technology in the classroom and screen time?
Price insists this is a responsible use of technology.
For one thing, she said, this is not a chatbot, like ChatGPT. She describes it as a “1-to-1 mastery-based tutoring experience.”
Price also notes that this isn’t like what we saw during the pandemic, when kids were passively receiving lessons over Zoom. She says it creates an engaging, interactive lesson plan that adapts to each student’s needs.
“We are not a robot Terminator classroom with some robot in front of the classroom teaching to a bunch of kids, right?” Price said. “I believe artificial intelligence enables us to increase human intelligence.”
Price said it allows students to progress at their own pace, instead of being beholden to the pace of a traditional classroom setting. It means one student could be starting on multiplication tables while another student next to them could be perfecting addition.
Does it work?
It’s complicated.
Alpha Schools cites data that looks great. In videos and white papers, the school boasts scores on national standardized tests that are routinely in the top 1% of the country.
But here’s the thing — it’s debatable whether we can reliably compare private school test scores to traditional public schools. Some argue there’s a selection bias. Since private schools charge tuition, their student populations often come from wealthier families who are better positioned to support student achievement.
Price acknowledged that, but stood by the model and its results.
“How about comparing us to other private schools?” Price said. “We’re getting phenomenal results. Actually, I think most private schools aren’t as willing to be transparent and publish their results.”
Alpha School’s Charlotte location charges $45,000 in tuition, according to the website. That would make it more expensive than most of the major private schools in the area, though Price said the established campuses do offer financial aid and serve students of all backgrounds.
Well, what does the research say? Is there any evidence that a model like this could work?
"It’s difficult to assess without more research into Alpha School’s specific model," said Krista Glazewski, executive director of the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at NC State.
But Glazewski said much of the school’s approach isn't entirely new and is based on sound pedagogical theory, such as the one-to-one approach or the use of intelligence systems and computers.
“It can be a very effective model with a lot of limitations associated with it,” she said. “But you can achieve mastery, you can set targets, students can receive coaching. All of these can be good approaches.”
She also said a program that aims to tap into what gets kids excited about learning can see positive results.
However, Glazewski said she was skeptical about claims that the program could teach students twice as fast as their peers — something she said would require more research to validate. She also noted that creating learning systems that promote true, deep understanding can be challenging.
“I think the question that I have about any intelligent tutoring system is the extent to which students are genuinely mastering concepts, or are these learning gains mostly the result of teaching to the test?” she said.
And like with all technology in classrooms, she said she would have questions about how student data is protected.
What else do we need to know about the Charlotte location?
School starts this fall. It will be housed in the Guidepost Montessori building in north Charlotte. Alpha School said they’ve got 30 students who are in various stages of the admissions process. Long-term, the plan is to expand into a full K–8 school.
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