My DS is now at AltSchool. Basically, so far, so good. Though, we are still early in the process. I agree with Lepa that its by no means clear how they feel about gifted. They do not use the word on their website. By happenstance, DS' official written DS WISC-IV at PG was not ready in time for the application, and thus I only mentioned it later after he was admitted. The teachers seemed interested in this.
A child 2 or 3 sigma below 100 would tax any school. Thus also a child that much above the average. So it is possible they do not want it. Though you’d think their Yalie founders and Harvard funders are and understand gifted, that may not be their target market. An issue becomes, if a gifted child works 3 (and increasing) levels above grade, are they staffed to teach him calculus in 7th or 8th grade. Or even to guide him/her teaching him/herself.
Lepa I agree we don’t have enough data yet. Between us we know of 5 gifted applicants and 1 accepted. I read that “the Brooklyn location… has received 900 applications for 60 slots.”
They seem quite well organized. After all, they are in the business of opening new schools. So they need to be good at this. Not perfect. But at DD’s school, many of my emails simply go unanswered. Sometimes AltSchool might feel like a business. Like, they are afraid to stray from the talking points from headquarters. But if being a business means they answer all customer emails, I’ll take it.
I am basically giving them some breathing room to get things up to speed. For example the kids are only just now getting their “playlists”. Upcoming is more individualization of these lists, and parent access to them. I think this is a significant tool. Most of the schools I’ve seen, the parents have practically no idea what their child is studying.
At DS’ campus, there are 3 co-teachers for grades 3-6. At some point one will be assigned as the point man. They administer the MAP test. In theory, a school (or student) can "prove themselves" by showing that the MAP test score increased. Testing is often controversial. I basically think MAP is more good than bad. Though I have to say DD’s 4 MAP test scores have been all over the map (so to speak) and not as useful as I'd hoped, and she’s maxed out the useful range of RIT for reading.
Ideally, soon I will talk to my son’s specific (soon assigned to him) teacher about his (soon) administered MAP test and how it informs his individualized playlist. They seemed open to a variety of curriculums. I am thinking, NOT “everyday mathematics” (some parents hate it), and instead AoPS. Khan does not go into as much depth.
I did have an intake meeting with his 3 teachers. They seem open to learn. I did broach the topic of gifted there, and gave them a copy of his WISC-IV. I have not pressed the issue. Viz. just how individualized can you be. At either extreme.
AltSchool comes with a web interface that is optimized for web and for cell phone. As a software engineer, I feel like they haven’t written a ton of code. At the same time, they do seem well focused on keeping things simple and addressing the most important problems first. (Here, and above, a lot of what I am saying is just my intuition or reading the tea leaves). So I would be okay provisionally judging it “quality not quantity”. I do feel also that they are still “pivoting” as far as their marketing messages, and thus their implemented tools and code (perhaps a knock-on effect). That said, they had enough of a clear enough message to raise $33 + $100 million, so apparently they had the right amount.
Note that their tuition varies.
San Francisco Lower School: $20,875
San Francisco Middle School: $21,375
Palo Alto Lower School: $26,250
Brooklyn Lower School: $27,500
When friends ask about AltSchool, I say, “Its great!”. And they ask what they do, and why its great. And I’m not sure I remember all my talking points. But some of them are above. I would also say that my son seems happy to arrive early and to leave late. And he’s started reading more. If they can help him to love math, and to stay challenged in it, by letting him work at his own pace until he’s above grade level, then I’m happy.
