"I Attended Alpha for a Decade. Here’s the Truth Behind the Headlines."

One Alpha student reveals what attending Alpha School is really like.

Being featured in The New York Times was not on my 2025 bingo card — but what an honor! Alpha School has been getting a ton of press lately. The thing is, no media outlet gets everything 100% right. There are inaccuracies everywhere, especially when it comes to Alpha School. Unfortunately, people misunderstand us all the time — including the 600+ people in the comments section of The New York Times article.

When this article dropped, my phone lit up with texts — not from parents, but from Alpha students themselves. Specifically, from Peyton Price: former student at Alpha and current student at Vanderbilt University. She texted me to let me know: she had eagerly and passionately drafted a response to The New York Times comment section, and did I want to read it?

If you’ve ever wondered what Alpha School is really like beyond the headlines — from the perspective of a student who has been with us since the third grade — then keep reading.

But first…

Join us for a LIVE Future of Education Podcast at 1 pm CDT on Tuesday, August 19, 2025!

I’m hosting a live podcast episode with a special guest: Dr. Rebecca Winthrop, co-author of The Disengaged Teen. We’ll answer questions like, “Why do so many kids become disengaged at school?” and, “What are evidence-based strategies to help them rediscover their love of school?” Bring your questions for the live Q&A — and get a chance to receive a free signed copy of Dr. Winthrop’s book.

You can register right here. (It’s free!)

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I Attended Alpha for a Decade. Here’s the Truth Behind the Headlines.

by Peyton Price

The New York Times recently wrote an article on Alpha, a new AI-driven school that is rapidly expanding this fall. I am actually a founding student of Alpha, attending from third grade up through graduating high school in 2024. So, it was incredibly intriguing to read through the hundreds of comments on the NYT article. With many of the comments being deeply critical and skeptical of the Alpha model, I found myself just wishing I could talk to these people and tell them the truth based on my years of experience as a student.

So, in true Alpha student fashion, I copied hundreds of the comments on the NYT article into ChatGPT and asked it to summarize the main criticisms people had about Alpha. With my 10 years spent at Alpha and now having a year out of the system and in the “real world” attending Vanderbilt University, there are few people better suited to respond to the criticisms than me.

1. Over-Reliance on Screens & AI

Critics argue Alpha is just another Silicon Valley experiment that outsources real teaching to screens and algorithms. They fear kids are being raised by chatbots instead of humans.

Response:

This is probably the most common criticism of Alpha, both in the comments and in the conversations I have about Alpha in real life. People don’t like the idea of kids staring at screens all day or exclusively using often unreliable AI chatbots to learn core academic skills. But both of these concerns are based on misconceptions.

First, Alpha students only use AI-powered learning tools for two hours a day. The rest of the day is spent in workshops, team activities, physical movement, and social time. According to the CDC, kids aged 8–10 already average six hours of daily screen time.. Two hours, especially for academic purposes, is anything but excessive, and is probably as good as we’re going to get in our tech-dominated world. Also, this is far less than what many public schools require through iPads and Chromebooks, which also require hours of homework.

Second, Alpha is not just handing students a ChatGPT login and calling it a day. The school uses adaptive apps powered by AI and developed and vetted by subject experts. Alpha does NOT use generative chatbots to teach students math and history. These tools help students learn, practice, and master content at their own pace. Older Alpha students do learn how to responsibly use generative AI, which is essential in today’s world, but they are never allowed to use it to complete assignments. As a writer myself, I firmly believe every student should know how to write an essay without AI, and Alpha agrees.

2. Lack of Socialization & Civic Development

Some critics argue Alpha deprives students of key social experiences by isolating them behind screens.

Response:

Again, this critique assumes students are spending the entire day alone in front of a screen, which couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, I felt more socially connected in elementary school at Alpha than I did in my previous public school experience, where basically the only time for socialization is lunch and recess.

For the first two hours of the day, students at Alpha work independently, but they’re still surrounded by peers and guides and have breaks to chat, snack, or reset. The rest of the day is filled with hands-on workshops and group activities. Some of my favorite childhood memories are from these fun, challenging, and deeply collaborative workshops that keep getting better as Alpha improves.

As someone who spent my formative years at Alpha, I can say with confidence that the socialization is not only real, but it is better than what you get at a traditional school. At Alpha, there’s a strong culture where being smart, welcoming, curious, and driven is seen as cool. That culture builds deeper, more positive friendships than many traditional schools can offer and I believe was a crucial part of forming me into who I am today.

3. Elitism & Tech-Class Divide

Many see Alpha as an exclusive product for Silicon Valley elites, not a viable model for most families. The high tuition raises concerns about equity and access.

Response:

Nobody denies that Alpha’s tuition is steep, and ideally it wouldn’t have to be. Unfortunately, the public system has actively resisted Alpha’s efforts to open charter schools, making wide access harder than it should be. Hopefully, as school choice expands in the U.S., more families will be able to access Alpha.

It’s also worth noting that Alpha pays its educators six-figure salaries, and I’m pretty sure that’s something even the NYT commenters would agree is long overdue in education. Ultimately, transforming education at scale takes money. The long-term goal is to bring this model to students everywhere, but innovation has to start somewhere.

4. Unproven & Hype-Driven

Some commenters are skeptical of Alpha’s lofty, futuristic claims, viewing it as Silicon Valley hype reminiscent of past failed ed-tech experiments.

Response:
It’s totally fair to question bold claims. What most people don’t realize, though, is that Alpha has been building and refining this model for over a decade and trust me, I would know. The recent attention may make it feel like a flashy new thing, but for students like me, this has been our daily educational experience for years. And each year since I started at Alpha in third grade, it has only gotten better. I often find myself jealous of the younger students who are just starting because the model is improving so fast that their experience will likely be even more powerful than mine.

No, Alpha doesn’t have thousands of graduates (yet). But, we do have strong results across all grade levels, with Alpha students consistently scoring among the best students in the nation. More than that, Alpha students love school, and fostering a love of learning is one of the most valuable things we can do for our children. Alpha is a start-up school, and we’re investing early in something we know can radically improve the status quo because we have seen the results building for years.

5. Shallow Learning & Missed Depth

Critics question how students can master serious academic material in just two hours a day. They worry the emphasis on speed and productivity might lead to shallow learning.

Response:
I get why the Alpha promise of two-hour learning is so hard to believe; we have all been trained to think learning requires a 7-hour school day followed by hours of homework. But here’s the truth: traditional schools waste a massive amount of time. If you ask students themselves, many will tell you that only a fraction of their school day is actually productive. Alpha recognizes this issue and fixes it. By using personalized apps and a focused schedule, academic material can be covered so much more efficiently and effectively, freeing up the rest of the day for hands-on, collaborative learning experiences that go beyond textbooks.

If you still have doubts, the results speak for themselves. In my graduating class of 12 students, 11 went on to college (the 12th went on to the professional waterski circuit), and we’ve all succeeded in these higher-education settings. Personally, I didn’t feel any less prepared arriving at Vanderbilt than my classmates from conventional schools. If anything, I felt more prepared to take control of my education, pursue my interests, and thrive in a new environment. Plus, as mentioned previously, Alpha students consistently score in the top percentiles on standardized tests. So, learning at Alpha isn’t shallow. It’s smarter.

6. Automation of Teachers

Some critics fear Alpha is automating away the role of teachers, replacing human connection and mentorship with software. They argue this devalues the teaching profession and strips classrooms of meaningful personal interaction.

Response:

This is something that really gets people riled up, and I can understand why. The fear of teachers being replaced by machines is real, especially in a world where so many industries are being reshaped by AI. But here’s the thing: Alpha isn’t trying to eliminate teachers. In fact, I’d argue it’s trying to liberate them. At Alpha, guides prioritize building relationships with students, running life-skills workshops, and supporting students in discovering their passions. That’s not dehumanizing the role of teachers. Rather, it’s rehumanizing their role.

Think about how much our world has changed in the last hundred years. And yet, the job description of a teacher hasn’t. Teaching is now the most burnt-out profession in America because the traditional system is draining incredible educators by trapping them in outdated structures with limited tools and resources.

People get into teaching for several reasons, with a few main ones being to “work with young people and make a difference,” “the variety of the job,” and because “teaching is fun.” I would argue that Alpha does an exceptional job of enabling guides to experience these things in their work. Guides don’t spend all their time in front of a classroom lecturing; they get to spend quality time with students, learning what motivates them and helping them find their passions. At Alpha, guides are encouraged to design new workshops, experiment with the new systems, and use their own unique passions and skills. Innovation and creativity are part of the job description, and this allows for far more variety than in the typical role of a teacher.

Also, many teachers say they want more freedom and space for creativity. At Alpha, guides get that. They collaborate with one another frequently, pitch new ideas, and help shape the strong culture at Alpha. Most importantly, Alpha is fun for students and guides alike. Just how students are energized and empowered, guides have a sense of ownership that’s hard to find in traditional settings.

I hope that this provided some insight into the reality of what Alpha is and how many of the criticisms people have are due to misconceptions and an overall lack of understanding. Although Alpha is still in its early days, it is a transformative school model that I am grateful to have played a small role in pioneering.