The AI Classroom

Alpha School in Texas is redefining learning, using artificial intelligence to teach children core subjects in just two hours a day

- JOSHUA RHETT MILLER

THE 8:15 A.M. SCENE IN FRONT OF the school that sits on a residential street in Brownsville, Texas, just across the border with Mexico, looks much like any other school in that chaotic period before the morning bell.

But Alpha School is no ordinary school. The private pre-K through eighth-grade institution utilizes personalized artificial intelligence to teach an entire day of core academic lessons in just two hours. The students then spend their afternoons working on non-academic critical life skills like public speaking, financial literacy or even how to ride a bike.

Staff—known as “guides,” not teachers—say they strive to facilitate a sense of independence into each child while overseeing a supportive, nurturing environment like any other attentive teacher.

The innovative approach at the South Texas campus, which opened in 2022, primarily aims to instill a love for learning into each young mind, co-founder MacKenzie Price told Newsweek.

A 2-Hour School Day?

Once inside, it becomes clearer that this school is unique. In kindergarten, the students show excitement as 6-year-old Sarah Schipper collaborates with classmates to solve a logic game. Students deduce the correct path by jumping on colored dots to find their way across six multi-hued rows. Wide smiles and upbeat pop music dominate the lively room while Sarah and her classmates encourage each other. But there’s a sense of compassion for any wrong move. One girl suggested the cohort would “grow from losing,” while another boy kindly proposed a more collaborative approach, along with less shouting.