Alpha School says its students finish core academics in two hours a day and score in the top 1% nationally on MAP tests. This episode gets into how that actually works.
Jason and co-host Ronda Swartz (assistant principal, nearly 30 years in Catholic K-12 education) sit down with Sofia Swanson, Head of Partnerships at Alpha School, to walk through the 2 Hour Learning model from the beginning. MacKenzie Price founded the school in Austin in 2014 after her daughters started coming home disengaged from kindergarten. What grew from 16 kids meeting in someone's home is now expanding to about 25 campuses nationwide, with hundreds more families on waitlists to bring the model to their city.
Key topics covered:
- How the 2 Hour Learning model works: AI-personalized academics in the morning, life skills workshops every afternoon
- MAP testing results: Alpha reports top 1% nationally and 2.5x faster growth vs. peers
- The selection bias question: does this only work because of wealthy, motivated families?
- Five life skill categories Alpha teaches at every grade level: teamwork, storytelling, entrepreneurship, relationship building, grit
- How to bring Alpha to your city: the 25 founding families model
- Whether this model can reach lower-income communities (and what principal Joe Liemandt says about a billion-kid goal)
If you're in Indiana and interested in bringing Alpha to the area, Jason and Ronda want to connect you with other families. Reach out at jason@mycitizen.ai.
About Sofia Swanson: Head of Partnerships, Alpha School
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofiaswanson/
Alpha School: https://alpha.school/
Bring Alpha to Your City: https://alpha.school/bring-alpha-to-your-city/
About Ronda Swartz: Assistant Principal, Catholic High School, Indianapolis. Nearly 30 years in K-12 education, 18 years in Catholic school leadership. Currently implementing School AI and exploring Gemini.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rondaswartz3177272065/
Resources mentioned:
Alpha School → https://alpha.school/
Bring Alpha to Your City → https://alpha.school/bring-alpha-to-your-city/
Alpha School events → https://alpha.school/upcoming-events/
School AI → https://schoolai.com
Magic School → https://www.magicschool.ai/
NWEA MAP Testing → https://www.nwea.org/assessments/map-growth/
Work with Jason → jason@mycitizen.ai | Director of Growth & Partnerships, CitizenAI
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-grant-padgett/
X: https://x.com/NoCodeCAIO
Available for interviews and keynotes on AI in education → jason@mycitizen.ai
School's Out Saturdays → https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/
Indiana AI in Education events (including AI Education Symposium, May 12) → https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/events
AGI Podcast shows:
School's Out Saturdays: AI in education, K-12 through university
Weekly Blitz: AI news every Monday, 30-45 minutes
The Vibe: Deep conversations, no time limit
All platforms: https://linktr.ee/AGIPodcast
Follow: Facebook + LinkedIn @AGIPodcast | Instagram @AGISchoolsout | X @NoCodeCAIO
Tools Jason recommends:
MindStudio → https://get.mindstudio.ai/q7n7u5cttkdq
Riverside.fm → https://riverside.sjv.io/e1xyBr
Wispr Flow → https://ref.wisprflow.ai/jason-padgett