A private-school network that replaces conventional classroom instruction with AI and adaptive learning software is expanding across the United States, with campuses operating or launching in 16 states. Alpha School describes its institutions as "AI-powered," where students complete core academic subjects through personalized software, while adult staff members, known as "guides," provide motivation, mentoring and support instead of delivering conventional lectures. The network's latest opening is in Chicago, where the new pre-K through eighth-grade campus charges $55,000 per year in tuition.
Newsweek has contacted Alpha for comment via email. Alpha School is built around what it describes as a "2-Hour Learning model." Students spend about two hours each morning completing core subjects via AI-assisted programs that adapt to their individual level and pace. Afternoons are reserved for workshops covering areas such as public speaking, entrepreneurship, leadership, coding and financial literacy.
Alpha says the model allows students to complete academics more efficiently and devote more of the school day to practical skills. "Your kids can accomplish twice as much if they're not sitting in a one-size-fits-all classroom for 6 hours," its website says. While human educators have not completely disappeared from the campuses, their responsibilities have significantly changed.
Alpha says its guides focus on motivating students, helping them set goals and supporting their wider development, while the software handles much of the direct academic instruction. The company says its students grow 2.6 times faster than the average academic growth of their peers on nationally normed Measures of Academic Progress assessments. While Alpha says its AI-driven model allows students to complete core academics more efficiently, some education experts caution that evidence for fully AI-centered schooling remains limited.
Research has found that AI tutoring can improve learning outcomes and provide personalized instruction, but organizations such as UNESCO have warned about risks related to privacy, critical-thinking skills and reduced human interaction. Many researchers argue that AI is most effective when used alongside educators rather than as a replacement for them. Alpha's expansion also comes amid mounting concerns over falling reading levels and the use of AI in the classroom.
Last week, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development released the PISA 2025 Results, which showed American students' reading scores near a 25-year low and their math scores ranking among the lowest since the assessment began in 2000. The Program for International Student Assessment is administered every three years to 15-year-olds around the world, with about 4,600 taking the exam in the United States last year. The following states have an Alpha campus that is open, enrolling, launching or described by the company as coming soon.
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