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A new kind of school with two-hour lessons, six-figure teacher salaries, and monetary incentives for academics has earned the interest of hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who posted about it on social media last week.
Joe Liemandt, the principal of Alpha School, described how the schools are different from traditional education in an episode of the “Invest Like the Best with Patrick O’Shaughnessy” podcast that aired Tuesday. Liemandt, a billionaire from Texas and Stanford dropout, founded Trilogy Software and the investment company ESW Capital.
Alpha School is a network of private institutions that embrace AI-based learning for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The school uses AI to help students complete their core academic subjects in just two hours per day, freeing up their afternoons for “life skills.” Workshops listed on the school’s site include “AI Teaching Assistant,” “Public Sales Challenge,” and “Spartan Race Finisher.”
Alpha School doesn’t use the word “teachers” at all, referring to classroom leaders instead as “guides.”
“They don’t do academic teaching,” Liemandt said on the podcast. “If you are an adult in our buildings, you do not do academic teaching.” Calling them teachers, he said, would give “the wrong impression.”
According to its website, the school uses AI to provide students with personalized, one-on-one learning. Liemandt said generating personalized lesson plans for kids was the “magical unlock.”
Alpha School currently has 18 locations listed on its website as open or coming, including in Texas, Florida, and California, with a New York City location scheduled to open in the fall. The school was founded in 2014 and is accredited by Cognia. Location-dependent tuition ranges from $40,000 to $75,000.
Liemandt said the school’s minimum pay for teachers is $100,000 in order to attract great talent. Online job listings for the schools show openings for “Guides,” including those for kindergarten through 2nd grade and high school, with six-figure salaries. Alpha School’s website says that its “recruitment process is rigorous – we hire the top 1% of talent – but if you have the skills and drive, this is your opportunity.” According to Glassdoor, the median salary for private school teachers across the country is $61,000. In New York City, that number jumps to $73,000, per Glassdoor data.
Liemandt outlined several ways Alpha School keeps its students motivated, including leaning into gamification, with the ability for students to “unlock” afternoon activities and other privileges by completing their two-hour learning sessions.
He said money is another motivator Alpha School uses that can be controversial among parents.
“Your kid can earn money by doing academics, so they can fund their passion projects,” Liemandt said. He added that parents feel more comfortable about money incentives when their kids use it to fund their passions, like flying somewhere to participate in a play or putting it into an investment fund.
Ackman is a vocal supporter of Alpha School. He wrote about it on X on August 20 after a Wall Street Journal article publicized his role as an unofficial advocate, calling the school “the first truly breakthrough innovation in K-12 education that I have seen since the Kipp Academy.”
A representative for Alpha School previously told Business Insider that Ackman doesn’t have a formal role, and its cofounder, MacKenzie Price, did not expand on his involvement in a statement last week to Business Insider. She said that he “is excited about a much-needed innovation in K-12 education.”
Ackman promoted the podcast with Liemandt on X on Tuesday, calling it a “must-listen” for anyone who cares about K-12 education and AI in the classroom.
A representative for Ackman did not respond to a request for comment on the podcast, and a representative for Alpha School declined further comment.
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