The Story The school with no teachers - the Sunday Story
Sep 28, 2025
Danny Fortson, West Coast correspondent for The Sunday Times and co-host of The Times Tech Podcast, explores the innovative Alpha School in Austin, Texas. He reveals how the school is pioneering a teacherless model, using AI and apps for personalized learning. Fortson discusses the unique two-hour learning system, incentivizing education with a currency called alpha coins, and the impact of this approach on students’ development. He shares mixed parental reactions and his own reservations about the school's capitalist model, questioning its suitability for all children.
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School Where Adults Supervise Not Teach
- Alpha School runs lessons through apps on laptops while on-site adults act as supervisors rather than teachers.
- Danny Fortson spent a day with year three and four pupils and observed this model in action.
Adaptive Apps Replace Traditional Lessons
- Students start with diagnostic tests then follow adaptive app modules that meet them where they are academically.
- If stuck they get AI coaching notes and can book a remote human coaching call as a last resort.
Two-Hour Learning Model Frees Time
- Alpha condenses a typical six-hour academic day into two hours using tech, freeing time for life-skills and projects.
- The school prioritizes public speaking, entrepreneurship and practical tasks in the remaining day.
