At Alpha’s flagship, students spend a total of just two hours a day on subjects like reading and math, using A.I.-driven software. The remaining hours rely on A.I. and an adult “guide,” not a teacher, to help students develop practical skills in areas such as entrepreneurship, public speaking and financial literacy.
Byron Attridge, 12, joined Alpha four years ago after he was home-schooled during the Covid-19 pandemic. He said that he was pleased with his academic progress so far and that he was learning eighth-grade math, ninth-grade reading and 10th-grade language arts.
“You don’t get held back by your peers or what the teacher is teaching,” said Byron, a rising seventh grader.
The school was founded under Legacy of Education, a for-profit education company. It began small in 2014, with 16 students in a rental home. It now serves about 200 students from kindergarten through eighth grade and another 50 high schoolers across two campuses in central Austin. Tuition is $40,000 a year at the Austin schools, and guides earn six-figure salaries, according to Ms. Price and several guides.
The teachers union will probably attempt to limit this...
