Does the Alpha School Model Work for Regular Kids?

Mathworlds

SubscribeSign in

Does Alpha School Work for Regular Kids?<br>Here is some new evidence.

Dan Meyer<br>Aug 12, 2026

140

32<br>19

Share

This post represents only my own views and is not endorsed by or affiliated with Amplify in any way.

Alpha School, if you need an introduction, is a network of roughly one dozen private schools, generally charging in the range of $40,000 to $75,000 for annual tuition. According to the New York Times, Alpha School’s first campus in Austin has enrolled 250 students across K-12, which, using some napkin math, puts their total student enrollment somewhere in the low thousands.<br>Even though Alpha School currently serves a student population the size of a suburban high school, it has become the focus of ongoing national news coverage, including profiles in the New York Times and the Washington Post, interviews on national television, visits from the United States Secretary of Education, and guest appearances by founder MacKenzie Price and principal Joe Liemandt on countless podcasts and edtech industry events.

Media coverage of Alpha School has generally focused on its claim that it educates children much faster than traditional models, specifically that it helps students “grow 2.6 times faster than peers on nationally normed MAP tests” and do it in two hours instead of six. If the Alpha School founders are clear about anything, it is their conviction that traditional schooling models waste student time. “Don’t waste my 12 years, because that’s what you’re doing,” Joe Liemandt told the No Priors podcast. “And, we all know, you sit in class 95% of the time is wasted.” The remainder of an Alpha School student’s day is spent on projects where they learn public speaking, leadership, entrepreneurship, and other life skills.<br>The Model

Alpha School claims these gains are possible because:<br>They use a digital platform to deliver learning resources they claim are personalized by AI to meet a student’s exact needs.

They transform the role of a teacher from someone who helps kids learn domain content to someone who motivates them to engage with the digital platform.

They employ motivational strategies that include paying students for academic success.

Alpha School calls this schooling model “2 Hour Learning.”<br>The Selection Process

While traditional public schools are generally required to enroll any student within their geographic boundaries, private schools can select and reject students with much more latitude. How does Alpha School select students? Here is what I could gather from Alpha School application pages and founder interviews. (I reached out to Alpha School’s press contact asking for clarification on their selection process and other matters and didn’t receive comment. I’ll update if they respond.)<br>Alpha School students must have parents wealthy enough to afford tuition that generally ranges from $40,000 to $75,000, though in the case of their Brownsville, TX, campus, their tuition is $10,000.

Alpha School students must participate in a “Shadow Day,” which runs up to five hours for kindergarten students and then “at least one full day” for older students.

Alpha High students must submit a video and a take-home assignment.

Alpha School students must have parents engaged enough to adopt a non-traditional schooling model, complete the application process, participate in an interview, facilitate their kid’s attendance to the Shadow Days, etc. Price, in particular, is quite clear that the Alpha School model requires engaged parents. “What makes the whole world go around is parents,” Price told cognitive scientist Dan Schwartz. “I think an engaged parent is kind of the number one best thing.”

Alpha School students must be self-motivated to attend Alpha School. They can withdraw from this application process and these expectations at any point without their parents’ knowledge. “I’ll meet the kid, and I’m like, listen, kiddo, this is up to you,” says MacKenzie Price five minutes into this podcast. “This is not about your parents. This is about you. So, like, blink twice if this isn’t what you’re interested in. And I will let your parents know, like, sorry, I didn’t approve them to come in or whatever, because it is so important that the student be driving this interest.”

Alpha School students must be “functioning within a typical range of ability and independence,” according to their application.

Alpha School students must not have been “expelled, suspended, dismissed, or asked to withdraw from any school due to behavioral or disciplinary reasons,” also from their application.

Alpha School students, according to admissions director Wilkinson, must have an “ability to give and receive feedback” and must “uplift one another” and “add to the culture that we have at Alpha.”

Alpha School students must be “coachable.” In her Hard Fork interview, MacKenzie Price says they’re looking for kids who have “coachability,” an...