AUSTIN, Texas — Alpha private school leaders believe AI learning paired with life skill courses will be the standard for modern schools in the future. The school doesn't have teachers but instead uses what it calls "guides."
"We don't have teachers," said Alpha private school cofounder MacKenzie Price. "Now, what we do have is a lot of adults who are in the room engaging with these kids, working as coaches. So they're helping the kids get clear on what are some goals that they're working on, what are they doing academically? What are they interested in? How can we really turn on that spark for learning?"
To learn core subjects, the students work one-on-one with artificial intelligence for the first two hours of the day. It's app-based AI tutoring.
"So it's the educational information that regular schools are also teaching with, but AI apps are feeding them to students at the appropriate level and pace that they need," said Price.
It goes as far as AI-created historical figures explaining their own histories with basic comprehension quizzes.
Fifth grader Byron loves the instant feedback he said he didn't get in public school.
"It explains a detailed explanation of why the correct answer is correct, not just saying, 'Oh, here's your correct answer,'" said Byron. "It'll say, 'You can answer the question this way next time.'"
Price said the lessons are customized for every student to make sure they are being challenged. She said, for example, "We'll have a 7-year-old kid who's maybe at an eighth-grade reading level, but that doesn't mean they should be reading eighth-grade material," said Price. "So one of the things that's great about a lot of the AI technology we have is we can, say, provide reading material at this certain Lexile level, which is eighth grade, but appropriate for a 7-year-old kid."
Price said the apps can also deliver information using topics students are interested in to keep them involved. If the AI feels the student isn't comprehending a portion of a lesson at a particular level, it will review that material with the student.
"In a normal classroom, you know, kids move on after a certain amount of time, no matter if they've mastered or not," said Price.
This style of learning goes for 12th graders down to kindergarteners.
"I think it's making me actually learn things, not just looking at things I've already seen," said Byron.
Price said in their two hours of learning core material, their research shows the students learn twice as much as standard schools do in six hours.
"They take the Maps test, which is a national test that's taken by 5 million students across the country," said Price. "They do that in fall, winter and spring. That's how we're able to measure academic progress."
The other six hours of the day are set aside for learning life skills like public speaking, overcoming rejection, grit and robotics.
Walking around the school, we saw a third grader assembling an Ikea drawer. He had to complete it within an hour to pass the test. We also saw a class of 11-year-olds writing and submitting college admission essays.
"They don't know our age, so they're going to let us know if he would accept us into the school," said student Eddie. "If he said yes, or she, we will get a check [pass the test]."
The school is riddled with affirmations on the wall, and at the end of the day, they give shout-outs to each other for being helpful.
So far, Alpha has 250 students across all three campuses, with two located in Austin. The school was founded in 2014.
Tuition is $40,000 a year. Price said about 75% of their students are on some form of financial aid.