Are the AltSchools the future of our Education?

AltSchools are innovative and experimental private schools that emphasize a technology-driven approach toward education. This pioneering “micro-school” first launched in 2013 in San Francisco and has currently expanded to five outposts throughout California’s Bay Area. Three years ago, Max Ventilla, the founder of AltSchool and a former San Francisco based Google executive, was inspired to create a school where students were given more agency, could engage in exploratory and self-directed learning, and develop more self-awareness, which would enable them to make decisions and to develop a greater sense of “self-knowledge.” Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, spearheaded fundraising efforts to raise $100 million to help finance investments in for-profit educational ventures.

Now, expanding to the east coast, AltSchool has opened its doors in Brooklyn Heights, New York in September 2015. The new campus will serve elementary school students in kindergarten through third grade, with the long-term vision for the school to continue to expand up to the eighth grade. These smaller schools have enrollment numbers that range from 25 to 100 students on each campus. It also offers every student his/her own Chromebook or tablet.

Rather than using traditional categories such as “grades” to create classrooms, at the AltSchool, students are divided into three generally defined classroom groupings: pre-kindergarten, “lower elementary” for younger students, and “upper elementary” for older students. With the absence of clearly demarcated categories for each grade level, students have more autonomy in creating their own learning experience. At AltSchools, terms such as “educators,” “learning labs,” and “studios” have replaced traditional words such as “teachers,” “schools,” and “classrooms.” Similarly, the start and end times of the school day are flexible in order to accommodate families who have longer commutes to get to school. There are no longer any bells to signal the end of each class, rather “learning blocks” end naturally and organically.

Tuition costs $27,500 a year and follows the traditional school calendar. However, the school encourages families to take vacations when the time is convenient for them. Each year, AltSchools receives 4,000 applications to fill 200 available seats. The traditional private school interview has been eliminated and replaced with evaluations based on how potential students work with and interact with one another in a group setting.

The use of technology also supports the logistical aspects of each day. Rather than taking daily attendance, students sign in using an app on their iPads. Along with digital attendance, there is also an online platform that tracks a wide range of student information from allergies to Personalized Learning Plans. Testing, although it is rare, is not altogether absent from the school. Students, instead, take individualized “Measures of Academic Progress” every quarter of the school year.

Within the classroom, the fluidity and agency provided to students also vary. While some students are engaged in writing lessons, others are independently studying artwork using their Chromebooks. For daily recess, students have the opportunity to go off campus and take advantage of the playgrounds and sports fields in the surrounding neighborhoods. For physical education, which happens at least three times each week, students take classes such as yoga and capoeira.

With this new ideology of education, do you think AltSchools are the right fit for your child?