When many American students struggle to catch up, private schools in Texas do more with fewer, far fewer.
At Alpha School, students only spent two hours a day in their class. But the results are impressive. Students test in the top 1-2% nationwide.
“We use AI tutors and adaptive apps to provide a fully personalized learning experience,” said Mackenzie Price, co-founder of Alpha in an interview with Fox & Friends.
“Our students are learning faster. They are learning better. In fact, our classes are in the top 2% of the country.”
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Private Texas schools use AI tutors. (Houston Chronicle via Kirkside/Getty Images)
After a short morning academic bloc, the rest of the school day was spent building real-world skills such as public speaking, teamwork, and financial literacy.
Price, an educated psychologist at Stanford University, said her daughter started Alpha after she got home from school and was bored and unchallenged. The first Alpha Campus opened in Austin in 2016 after two years of development.
The idea was simple and bold. Compress the core academic into two hours a day to two hours a day, releasing the rest of the day for students to grow in other ways.
That model appears to be working. Elle Christine, a junior who has been with Alpha since his sophomore year, shared his experiences with Fox & Friends.
“I have a lot of friends at traditional schools,” Christine said. “They spend this time studying, they're very stressed, they're just miserable.”
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Alpha School students test in the top 1-2% of the nation. (Getty Images)
“We can complete every scholar in just three hours a day, then spend it doing what we love and working on passion projects,” she said.
“For me, I'm creating a safe AI dating coach for teenagers. I was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal. At age 16, it's great.”
Alpha currently operates campuses in Austin, Brownsville and Miami, serving students from K to high school.
The Austin location includes both K-8 Academy and a dedicated high school campus in downtown. Alpha's Brownsville School is the fastest growing, with the Miami campus currently serving students up to grade 10.
The registration is intentionally small, with around 150 students from the original Austin site allowing for a highly personalized experience.
Alpha employs a guide focused on coaching and emotional support instead of traditional teachers, while AI handles academic instruction.
“Our teachers spend all their time working with students,” Price said. “You can never replace that human connection with AI, but AI allows you to personalize learning for everyone.”
Due to increased demand for results and parents, Alpha is currently adopting an education model nationwide. The school has announced plans to open seven new campuses by fall 2025.
Future locations include:
Texas: Houston and Fort Worth (K-8)
Florida: Orlando, Tampa, Palm Beach (K-8)
Arizona: Phoenix (K-8)
California: Santa Barbara (K-12)
New York: New York City (K-8)
Many of these sites already have applications open. The Brownsville campus is subsidized to make it more accessible, but tuition fees vary from location to location, averageing around $40,000 to $50,000 per year.
“It's infinitely scalable and accessible,” Price said. “It will help students who are struggling and those who are bored with traditional classrooms.”
In these traditional classrooms, some schools have replaced flexible, technology-driven learning models that include AI-powered instruction. (Getty Images)
The rise of Alpha comes when school choices find a champion in the Trump administration.
In January, President Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Education to help the state redistribute federal education funds to school selection programs that include charter schools, private vouchers and educational savings accounts.
“Parents want and deserve the best education of their children,” the order said. “But too many children will not thrive in allocated government-run K-12 schools.”
Education Secretary Linda McMahon praised policy change as “history making,” emphasising the administration's empowerment to families and communities.
“We're sending education back to the states that it belongs to right,” McMahon said. “Families deserve control over how their children learn, including AI-powered schools, faith-based options, or traditional public classrooms.”
Also, the Trump administration's plan allows parents to use 529 savings accounts to pay private K-122 tuition fees and apply for federal grants to support education innovation.
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Alpha School did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
