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Alpha School opened in Chantilly on Oct. 13, 2025, offering elementary students an unconventional mix of artificial intelligence and hands-on learning.

Students spend two hours each morning studying core subjects such as math and reading through adaptive AI technology. The system personalizes lessons for individual students, while the remainder of the day centers on project-based activities intended to develop collaboration, creativity and problem-solving skills.

The school calls its afternoon program “Life Skills.” Courses include entrepreneurship, robotics, coding, design and public thinking.

Alpha School does not employ traditional classroom teachers. Instead, “guides” work with students as coaches and mentors rather than delivering lectures.

The school says its model enables children to learn twice as much in half the time and advance 2.6 times faster than national standardized benchmarks. Those claims have not erased concerns about whether AI can meet students’ academic and personal needs.

“Students need a mentor or a teacher to learn,” senior Jad Osta said, questioning how the technology would respond to different learning styles, student questions or children who need someone to talk to.

Sophomore Lucas Van Order said AI could be useful with support from educators but argued that students do not all learn in the same way.

Some Chantilly families are nevertheless willing to consider the approach. Local resident Chandra Sandhu said the school could be worth serious consideration if it truly prepares children for the future.

That opportunity comes at a significant cost. Annual tuition at the Chantilly campus is $65,000, placing it among the region’s most expensive elementary education programs.

Freshman Henry Conrad described the price as “a mindblowing amount” for one year of school, even while acknowledging that AI can assist students.

Alpha School says it has received strong enrollment interest, particularly from parents in technology-oriented communities including Reston, Centreville and Fairfax. Skepticism remains, however, with Van Order saying AI must prove itself further before taking a larger role in education.