Alpha School: Kids Learn 2X Faster in 2 Hours a Day

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 [email protected].

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 → [email protected] | 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 → [email protected]

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