New Year, New AI School? Alpha Bethesda Eyes 2027 Opening In MoCo

BETHESDA, MD — A new style of schooling is making its way to Montgomery County, and it's fully tapping into the world of artificial intelligence.

Coming to Bethesda in 2027 will be the Alpha School, an AI-driven educational venture backed by tech billionaire Joe Liemandt that aims to revolutionize K-12 education.

The school lists on its website that it will be opening in January 2027. However, a spokesperson told The Banner that it's eyeing a fall 2027 opening.

No official address for the school has been provided, and it's unknown how many families have signed on for the program.

How Does An AI-Driven School Differ?

Unlike traditional schools, the Alpha School designs its curriculum so enrolled students spend two hours crunching down on lesson plans, with the rest of the day spent on "life skills and team-based workshops."

The school states workshops "ignite motivation and teach things like leadership, grit, financial literacy & entrepreneurship."

At Alpha Bethesda, which runs families about $65,000 in tuition alone, traditional teachers take a back seat on the lesson plans and function under a "guide" title.

Would-be instructors instead handle life skills coaching sessions and 30-minute one-on-one meetings with students, among other duties.

Lesson plans are built out by adaptive software that adjusts assignments based on the student's mastery of a subject, spending more time on a trouble area and making classwork more difficult where students are excelling.

Organizers say the program allows students to learn material "10 times faster than in a traditional setting."

Guides enlisted by the school vary from experienced classroom teachers to scholars and former school counselors.

Each guide starts at a minimum salary of $100,000, a stark contrast to the starting salaries of Montgomery County Public Schools teachers. Under MCPS, teachers typically start at around the $66,000 mark.

Alpha Bethesda's looming arrival comes as the Montgomery County school district carries out a comprehensive audit of students' screen time and digital use in elementary and middle schools. A report is expected to be filed by March 2027.

The Alpha system, however, is not without its own backlash. MacKenzie Price, a cofounder of the Alpha brand, said in a March post that at least 10 states rejected its model as school board officials questioned its ability to deliver on academic mastery promises.

Patch has reached out to the school for comment.