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This fall, as students at the private, AI-focused Alpha School begin their academic year, many are being tested in an unusual way: they鈥檙e watching a video of their parents 鈥渢alking about our worst qualities,鈥� according to one student, while hooked up to a heart monitor.

To pass the test, they must not let their heart rate rise by more than 10%.

Students also must find a 鈥渄irty job鈥� 鈥� cleaning public restrooms, mucking horse stalls or clearing restaurant grease traps 鈥� and do it for several days without pay. Students say they鈥檙e required to record themselves doing the work without complaining. Complain and they鈥檒l fail.

The tasks are part of a 鈥淏ootcamp鈥� running through the first eight weeks of high school at the private K-12 network. And the revelations, as well as others, come not from an investigation into the school but from students鈥� own tweets. 

First reported earlier this month in the newsletter by AI skeptic Benjamin Riley, founder of an education think tank of the same name, the tweets shed new light on a school that has long been a , especially among the Silicon Valley elite. 

The private school 鈥� its tagline is 鈥淪chool is broken鈥� 鈥� is encouraging students to tweet about their experiences. Alpha curates the tweets . And for bootcamp students, tweeting isn鈥檛 optional: they must gain 100 鈥渁uthentic鈥� Twitter followers 鈥� 鈥渘ot purchased, not bots, not friends鈥� 鈥� by Oct. 9 鈥渙r we fail,鈥� according to one student.

An Alpha spokesperson did not respond to requests for details about the challenges or other issues. But in a posted Sept. 23, Riley quoted a student who said those who don鈥檛 complete Bootcamp within the allocated time 鈥渨ould get put into the 鈥楶irate Ship,鈥欌�� a segregated space reserved for students whose academics lag behind. Being relegated there, the student said, brought fewer privileges, including missing out on workshops. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a morbid term but 鈥� [it was] pretty much a concentration camp of students. Until they were up to the standards of what Alpha wanted us to be.鈥�

In a , Alpha said Bootcamp tasks are 鈥渘ot one-time, pass-or-fail tests. Though failure is an intentional and expected part of Bootcamp, students have unlimited opportunities to try again, apply what they learned, and keep working until they demonstrate mastery.鈥�

The website listed 18 鈥渢ests鈥� 鈥� a few students have said they鈥檝e been given 21 鈥� and notes that Bootcamp also includes more conventional activities such as delivering a filmed keynote of 鈥渨ho you intend to become by graduation鈥� and finding a local non-profit with a 鈥渞eal problem鈥� and using AI to build them a working solution.

U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon last year toured the flagship Austin campus and called the model the 鈥溾�� thing she鈥檇 seen in education in a long time. McMahon said she wanted to look at ways to Alpha鈥檚 methods into public schools.

Founded in 2014 in Austin, Texas, by MacKenzie Price and Brian Holtz, Alpha is now led by tech entrepreneur . Its signature strategy is known as , in which students work through adaptive software each morning with an AI tutor to learn basic academics 鈥� its creators say that enables students to 鈥渃rush academics in just 2 hours a day and motivates them with the gift of time.鈥� Students spend the rest of the day in life skills workshops, tackling entrepreneurship, public speaking, coding and the like. Teachers are called 鈥済uides,鈥� and roughly two-thirds come to the job without formal teaching credentials, according to one . 

Alpha students, Price has said, learn 鈥渢wice as fast鈥� as typical students, with the top 20% learning 6.5 times faster. 鈥淢y mission is that I want parents to understand that their kids do not need six hours of sitting in a class all day to get their academics done,鈥� Price told magazine in 2024.

Tuition runs from about $10,000 to $75,000. The network has expanded rapidly from a handful of campuses to roughly 50 locations nationwide this fall.

With the arrival of the new Texas private-school voucher system, Alpha has nearly quadrupled the number of schools in the state to more than 30 virtual and in-person campuses, most of which can now accept the taxpayer-supported vouchers.

None of Alpha鈥檚 schools were required to meet state curriculum standards or show how the company鈥檚 model would lead to student success to gain approval, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Alpha鈥檚 founders have repeatedly failed to expand the network鈥檚 reach into publicly funded charter schools: Of 10 states where it has sought charters, only one state, Arizona, has approved their plans. The Texas State Board of Education rejected Alpha鈥檚 application in 2025, with one member saying he was 鈥渏ust a little skeptical鈥� of its claims to large gains in the two-hour timeframe.

In Pennsylvania, state officials also a proposal to establish a so-called Unbound Academy cyber charter school, saying they found 鈥渕ultiple, significant deficiencies鈥� in the plan. 

In North Carolina, one charter school board member in 2024 feared the two-hour learning window was 鈥渘ot nearly enough鈥� to teach required subjects, while a Utah official said Alpha鈥檚 instructors seemed more 鈥渓ife coach鈥� than teacher.

The charter effort, meanwhile, has come under . In a widely circulated posted in January 2025, educator and instructional designer Dan Meyer noted that in its Arizona application, Alpha had budgeted $1,000 per student annually for marketing costs, fully half of the estimated $2,000 per student for academics. He also noted that while it claimed that its 2 Hour Learning program showed strong results at an Alpha campus in Brownsville, TX, which it said serves 鈥渟tudents from underprivileged backgrounds,鈥� tuition there is $15,000, 鈥渨hich is not a definition of 鈥榰nderprivileged鈥� I am familiar with.鈥�

鈥楥ramming isn鈥檛 learning鈥�

While Alpha has said it鈥檚 bringing advances in cognitive science to the schools鈥� curriculum, it鈥檚 not clear to what extent those advances show up in Bootcamp. The school has retained several high-profile in the , but students this fall say the bootcamp often requires them to make progress entirely on their own, with no adult guidance or supervision.

In late August, one 15-year-old tweeted that Alpha 鈥済ave us 5 days to teach ourselves an entire AP unit with zero lectures and no study guide. 鈥� Instead of waiting for a teacher to hand out chapter questions, we had to pull the official AP syllabus, use AI to break down the hardest concepts, and build our own master study system from scratch.鈥�

By the end of the week, the student said, 鈥渨e had to sit down and take the official AP exam to prove we could score a 5 on our own.鈥�

The student added, 鈥淢ost schools test how well you remember what someone told you on Tuesday. When you know how to build your own syllabus and teach yourself college material, you realize traditional classes just move too slow.鈥�

A few days earlier, another student tweeted, 鈥淚 have to raise my SAT score 150 points by October 9th, completely on my own. No tutor holding my hand, no one checking in, just me and my computer.鈥� 

While many commenters on Twitter have encouraged these students over the past few weeks, urging them to strike out on their own and learn all they can independently, a few aren鈥檛 so sure. One retired AP macroeconomics teacher wrote: 鈥淵ou are missing the richness of a voice leading you to lifelong mastery.鈥�

Another suggested that the school should ask Bootcamp students to take the AP test 鈥渨ithout notice鈥� near the end of the school year to see what they retained, adding, 鈥渃ramming isn鈥檛 learning.鈥�

The Bootcamp鈥檚 emphasis on hitting arbitrary goals could be problematic, educators say, playing on students鈥� desire to please adults but ignoring their inward desire to learn about a given topic. That could result in students who hit their marks but learn less than they could.

Teacher, writer and blogger said the two strategies 鈥� extrinsic and intrinsic motivation 鈥� are not easy to tease apart.

鈥淚s a student studying for a test because they want the grade, or because they want to understand things deeply?鈥� he wrote in an email. 鈥淚t’s not easy in practice to tell. Most people are motivated by a mix of both intrinsic and extrinsic reasons. I’m sure that’s the same for Alpha’s students.鈥� 

To make things more complex, he said, students 鈥渙ften internalize external motivators,鈥� with high test scores, for instance, integrated into our own value systems as good things. 

鈥淲hat seems distinctive about Alpha’s bootcamp to me isn’t the reliance on extrinsic motivators. It’s the value system these motivators represent, along with the use of clear quantitative benchmarks to measure them. Most schools don’t care if you know how to use social media, and even if they did, they’d be unlikely to require you to get one hundred followers.鈥�

鈥楳y hands were shaking the entire rest of the afternoon鈥�

On its website, Alpha said the heart rate test challenges students to take in 鈥渁t least three pieces of honest, critical feedback鈥� calmly and 鈥渂ring your heart rate back within 10% of your resting baseline. It is a lesson in hearing hard truths without shutting down.鈥�

Writing about the heart-rate test, one student called it 鈥渁nother horror story I get to experience鈥� on Aug. 31, noting, 鈥渁 video of my parents criticizing me will be played in front of the entire school. yay.鈥�

Another student provided perhaps the best description of the challenge, noting on Sept. 1 that she鈥檇 been assigned to write 10 questions to ask her parents. Her list includes several extremely personal, difficult questions, such as: 鈥淚f I don’t change one thing about myself in the next five years, what will this cost me?鈥� 鈥淲hat’s a compliment people give me that you don’t fully agree with?鈥� and 鈥淲hat’s something I say I want that my actions don’t actually support?鈥� 

Posting on Twitter , one parent said the exercise worried him at first, but he noted that his son 鈥渃ame to me with deeply personal questions about who he was becoming as a young man and how he could grow … questions he hadn’t exactly asked me before.鈥�

He said the exercise led to a long conversation 鈥渨here I answered critically but did so also with kindness and a focus on growth.鈥� Very little of what he said, the father noted, was shared with the school or his son鈥檚 class.

鈥淭he heart monitor was probably meant to make the exercise feel like a game,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淲hile I can鈥檛 speak for every family, all I know is that this brought me closer to my son.鈥�

One student who went through the experience said on Twitter that students watched the videos in small groups of five to 15 people and concluded, 鈥淔unniest 30 minutes ever. Parents would say harsh feedback, and we鈥檇 simply laugh it off.鈥� 

The student said she suffers from 鈥渢errible anxiety鈥� but that the exercise 鈥渕ade me step out of my comfort zone allowing me to realize the harsh feedback I may receive in front of others will never be as bad as I make it to be.鈥�

By contrast, another student, featured in Riley鈥檚 newsletter, tweeted that they 鈥渂arely made the cutoff by one single beat, and my hands were shaking the entire rest of the afternoon.鈥� The tweet has since been deleted.

Students are also asked to endure a three-day wilderness experience similar to an Outward Bound trip. Alpha calls it a 鈥渟urvival-style challenge.鈥� One student posted a photo of a tent in the woods with the caption: 鈥淚’m spending three days in the wilderness and still coming to terms with it. In a couple weeks, we will be dropped in the middle of nowhere with only 3 bags of rice and a tent. I would consider myself a strong leader in difficult situations, but @alphaschool is putting that to the test.鈥�

In addition, students must watch a full season of the reality TV show and analyze the players鈥� decision-making.

Other students have detailed the 鈥淕rit & Hard Work Challenge,鈥� with one calling it 鈥渁n unglamorous job with zero pay.鈥� The student said that could entail deep-cleaning public restrooms or restaurant kitchens. 鈥淵ou record yourself narrating out loud through the entire shift, and the full transcript gets run through an audit,鈥� the student tweeted. Alpha鈥檚 site notes that to pass, 鈥渢he transcript must contain zero instances of complaining or victim language.鈥�

The student seemed at least curious about the task, adding that while most high schools 鈥渢alk about character building during morning announcements,鈥� Alpha 鈥減uts you in the dirtiest job you can find to see how your mindset holds up under real discomfort.鈥�

Another was more blunt, saying that by the end of September they鈥檇 have to, among other tasks, 鈥淰olunteer cleaning horse shit and not complain 鈥� I鈥檒l be mic鈥檇.鈥�

In her , author and longtime ed-tech skeptic Audrey Watters said Alpha School鈥檚 appeal 鈥渋s to parents who believe their child is the next genius tech entrepreneur billionaire. But it is damaging in its own right. AlphaSchool, as we can see in the details of the bootcamp, actively demands students mold their behavior and their identity, in this case into some sort of John Galt figure,鈥� a reference to the 1957 Ayn Rand novel Atlas Shrugged.

Watters said Alpha鈥檚 curriculum 鈥渓eans into the kind of pseudoscience that litters the pages of bestselling 鈥榞et rich quick books鈥� 鈥� psychological pseudoscience, economic pseudoscience alike 鈥� and the ideology of Silicon Valley’s startup hustle. All of this is the kind of messaging you can regularly find on social media, no surprise, since this seems to be a school fixated on the anti-expertise of influencer-culture, the sociopathy of tech-culture: move fast and break things.鈥�

In a note published by Riley earlier this month, educator and author said most of what she might say in response is 鈥渦npublishable.鈥�

If the accounts are accurate, she said, 鈥渟omeone there needs to be reminded that teenagers are children. They are not soldiers in an army, they are not adults at a business school, they are not workers in a pressure cooker environment.鈥�

A former Wall Street trader, Fernandez said she and her colleagues 鈥渨ere not treated as these students appear to be. Especially dark is the biometric monitoring, which sounds like something a CIA trainee would be subjected to.鈥�

The surveillance and pressure to achieve that most other students experience are on a 鈥渘ew and unheard of level鈥� at Alpha, she said. If, as they鈥檝e indicated, they want to use the school as a model for others nationwide, Fernandez said, 鈥淚鈥檓 profoundly disturbed.鈥�

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