Today marks two years since I started serving on the Haslett School Board.
It also marks about a decade of my fascination with education in the United States.
I consider myself lucky to be in Haslett. We’re not perfect, and COVID definitely impacted our kids, but our academic performance has been stronger than almost all of the surrounding communities.
Especially compared to Holt, where I graduated. I say this with sadness, not superiority. Holt has not been doing well lately.
This journey has taken me deep into the world of education. I’ve asked hard questions like, why did schools move away from using phonics instruction to teach reading?
Books like The Knowledge Gap and podcasts like Sold a Story helped me understand the system, and more importantly, helped me intervene to teach our 7-year-old how to actually read.
I also became a Certified School Board Member through MASB, which opened my eyes to how school districts really operate, the trade-offs, the complexity, the constraints.
One of the most inspiring examples I’ve found is what people call the Mississippi Miracle.
In 2013, Mississippi ranked 49th in 4th grade reading scores. By 2022, they were 21st overall, and top 5 in the country for Black, low-income, and special education students. They focused on direct instruction, phonics, teacher training, and retention policies. It worked.
All of that has been fascinating.
But nothing has impressed me as much as Alpha School.
What Is Alpha School?
Alpha School is a high-end private school, built from the ground up like a product, designed to make school awesome for kids. At the center is a powerful learning engine they call, Time Back.
Students come in and spend just two hours a day with the AI-powered tutor. This tutor delivers direct instruction, constantly adapting based on what the student needs. As Joe puts it, your age grade and your knowledge grade are two totally different things.
The system teaches to mastery, not to the average. Every lesson is personalized, every gap is closed. Students learn 10 times faster, and consistently perform in the top 1% nationally. The real unlock is time back.
With core academics finished in two hours, students have four more hours each day to focus on “life skills” workshops. Getting their Time Back is a huge motivation for the students.
Life skills workshops include things like leadership, financial literacy, public speaking, entrepreneurship projects like running a food truck, robotics, sports, and chess tournaments. The rest of the day is team-based, project-based, and fun. It’s not screen time — it’s real-world preparation. As Joe says, the key to motivation is progress and choice, and Alpha delivers both.
Here’s how Alpha works, and why it’s blowing my mind.
Alpha’s 5 Core Commitments
Kids Must Love School
Not tolerate it: love it. Alpha students are asked, would you rather go to school or go on vacation? Last year some of their high schoolers said, can we skip summer break because we don’t want to stop. That kind of love.Kids Must Learn 10x Faster
Alpha has built a two-hour academic model using AI and learning science. Students spend two hours a day with their AI tutor, and that’s it. Their academic performance is in the top 1% nationally. It’s not that the kids are smarter, it’s that the model works better.The Rest of the Day Is for Life
With the academic work done in the morning, the rest of the day is for life skills. Workshops on leadership, public speaking, entrepreneurship, personal finance, and teamwork. Real skills, no busywork, no screens.Guides Instead of Teachers
Alpha doesn’t have traditional teachers. They have Guides. These adults are responsible for making sure kids love school, learn quickly, and grow as people. They don’t lecture. They coach, support, and hold students to high expectations.High Standards Create Happy Kids
This one is the most opposite of all. Alpha believes happiness comes from high standards, not low ones. Kids struggle, fail, cry, and then succeed. That builds real confidence and resilience. That’s the kind of happiness that lasts.
What Joe Discovered About Education
Joe is not an educator. He’s a systems guy. A product builder. Which means he noticed things that others missed.
Here are some of the biggest things Alpha has uncovered:
Motivation is 90% of the solution
The problem isn’t attention span or tech, it’s motivation. When school only takes two hours a day, every kid wants to learn. Giving kids their time back is the unlock.Swiss cheese knowledge doesn’t work
In the traditional model, kids move onto the next grade even if they only understand 70% of the material. That creates holes in knowledge and those holes lead to failure later. Alpha on the other hand, enforces mastery. Students must get over 90% before they move on.“A” students can still be behind
Alpha has seen students with 4.0 GPAs at other schools, who are actually two or three years behind in core subjects. The old system rewards compliance, not mastery. One girl had a 740 on the SAT. She went back to third grade math, fixed the foundation, and scored a 790.Catching up takes less time than you think
A student who is three years behind can often catch up in 60 hours. One subject, one grade level, done in 20 to 30 hours. It’s not magic. It’s just focus and a system that works.Every kid can be top 10%
Research shows that with a tutor and mastery-based learning, average students can outperform 90% of their peers. Alpha believes 95% of eighth graders in America could be top 10% performers with the right system.IQ doesn’t limit outcomes anymore
In the old model, your performance was tied to your IQ. At Alpha, it’s tied to your effort. That shift makes achievement a decision, not a destiny.AI unlocks personalized learning
Alpha uses generative AI to build custom lessons based on each kid’s interests and knowledge gaps. They’ve even taught World War I through Taylor Swift metaphors. That’s not a joke. It’s real.
Why It Matters
Alpha isn’t just a different school, it’s a different category.
This isn’t an experiment. It’s a product. Built with intention. Measured by results. Scaled with clarity.
They’re opening new campuses. They’re launching specialty models like the Texas Sports Academy for D1-bound athletes. They’re not slowing down.
We need more conversations about this. More public awareness. More experiments. Because what we’re doing isn’t working. Not for kids, not for parents, not for teachers.
Alpha feels like the opposite of what we’ve accepted as normal.
And maybe that’s what we need most.