Teacherless, AI-powered private school expanding footprint due to growing demand
By Melanie Woodrow
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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — An AI-powered private school is expanding its footprint in the Bay Area. Alpha School, which opened in San Francisco’s Marina neighborhood this academic year, is looking to expand with campuses in Palo Alto and the East Bay due to growing demand. There are no grades, no teachers and the students complete their focused learning in just two hours a day.
You might picture classrooms led by robots or chatbots with no human connection, but proponents of Alpha argue that there is a greater human connection than in traditional classrooms.
These middle schoolers are in the same class, but each is working on something different.
“I’m doing my math right now, and I’m working on percentages,” said June Rockefeller, an Alpha 8th grader.
It’s the two-hour learning period inside Alpha School. Students like Rockefeller are using laptops for their lessons.
“As you can see, I got it incorrect, and it’ll give you an explanation on why you got it incorrect and how you can fix it, which is really helpfu,l and it kind of walks you through it,” said Rockefeller.
Alpha School is the brainchild of MacKenzie Price.
“School should be a place that kids love going to,” said Price.
Price launched the first Alpha School in Austin, Texas.
She says there are now 13 campuses nationwide built on “one-to-one mastery-based tutoring.”
Instead of teachers, there are guides.
“The adults in the building are able to do what they’re passionate about and what they love, which is mentoring the students, providing emotional support, providing motivational support,” said Carson Lehmann, San Francisco Alpha School Lead Guide.
14-year-old Rockefeller convinced her parents she should enroll at Alpha.
“I’m excited to like wake up and go to school because it doesn’t feel like school, it’s more of like a business environment,” said Rockefeller.
The day begins with a morning launch followed by two hours of AI-powered learning.
“Time back is where we can access all of our apps for all of our subjects,” said Rockefeller.
“Depending on the subjects I struggle with the most, I usually do those first because I think in the beginning of the day, I’m more focused. This is great because the apps are meeting where I’m at,” she continued.
Price says the impetus for Alpha came from her own child’s boredom at school.
“Kids can learn twice as much in only two hours a day,” said Price.
The two-hour learning block, which includes breaks, is followed by lunch and workshops in the afternoon.
Instead of grades, there are check charts that cover more than reading, writing and math; there’s teamwork, grit and independence to name a few.
Students are incentivized to learn with “Alphas” that can be spent at the Emporium and real money, too.
“If you get 100%, you get a $100,” said Rockefeller.
And while that $100, which comes right from Alpha’s $75,000 a year tuition, could be spent here in the Marina, Rockefeller says most of her peers prefer to grow it elsewhere.
“Basically, we can spend it on whatever we want, but a lot of us want to put it into an investment account,” said Rockefeller.
It’s those life skills that Kate Liemandt says she carried from Alpha school in Austin to Stanford University, where she tells her college classmates, “I haven’t had a teacher since I was in 4th grade.”
Liemandt got a 1600 on her SAT and talks about her Alpha experience in her newsletter “Austin Scholar.”
“I finished all of my high school math content when I was a sophomore,” said Liemandt.
“It’s all based on personalization,” she continued.
Liemandt says Alpha taught her how to take control of her education.
While Stanford is a more traditional education experience, Liemandt still finds ways to reward and motivate herself to get her work done.
“I still do it today. I have a Chick-fil-A brownie waiting for me after I submit one of my essays for one of my classes,” said Liemandt.
Alpha is not without critique, whether it’s from those questioning the screen time, tuition or amount of human connection.
But even the Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, is taking notice.
“I do think AI is going to need guardrails, but I have witnessed AI firsthand. I was at the Alpha school in Austin, Texas,” said McMahon.
“The AI is really acting as an individual tutor for those students, allowing the students that progress faster to do that, those who need a little catch-up it refeeds information to them,” she continued.
While Price says she applied for Charter status in several states and was denied access, SF’s Alpha School Lead Guide believes she’s opening doors.
“I do believe that this is the way of the future, that this is the best way to teach students,” said Lehmann.
As Alpha School expands, Price says she believes it will become more accessible and affordable.
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