We are proud to share this guest post by Peyton Price about her experience as a student at Alpha, a private school in Austin, as part of our Student Stories series. Learn more about Alpha by scheduling an info call.
Hello! My name is Peyton and I am a 10th grader at Alpha in Austin, Texas. Attending school at Alpha has been and continues to be an amazing experience for which I am incredibly grateful.
Adaptive Learning at Alpha
To start, I want to share some of the things I like most about Alpha. Alpha uses adaptive app learning and this is such a great part of the school. Adaptive apps allow me to go through material at my own pace and I never feel restricted about how much I can learn. Alpha is also an amazing community of people and I am able to make great relationships with students of all ages and with the guides, who replace traditional teachers. The guides at Alpha don’t deliver traditional lectures, but rather act as coaches who encourage students to take control of their own learning. The guides connect with students to figure out how to best motivate them.
One of the very best things about Alpha is the AlphaX program in Level 4, which is the high school. AlphaX is all about choosing an area of interest you have and going really deep in that area, and it is so much fun for every student because it is a project based on what they love.
I decided to switch to Alpha because I was bored in the traditional school I was at and felt like I couldn’t achieve anything more than what was in my grade level. Alpha has been great for a very motivated student like me because I am able to excel above and beyond in academics. In addition to academic success, Alpha has taught me so many important life skills like public speaking, leadership, self-accountability, and goal setting. Through my AlphaX project, I am able to pursue an area of interest I have that isn’t taught in regular school, and this is something that helps me to stand out as a student and will help with getting into college and building skills I will use for the rest of my life.
Freedom in Education
I do a lot of fun and important things in school, but Alpha also provides the flexibility for me to pursue other interests outside of school. I did sports and musical theatre throughout elementary and middle school and now I spend a ton of time working on music and songwriting. I also did an internship with a non-profit organization and it was really easy for me to incorporate this into my schedule because there is so much freedom at Alpha.
Alpha believes that students should have a say in their education because they are the experts in what works and what is motivating, so student suggestions and feedback are always encouraged. Guides are always really great about reaching out to students and asking for feedback and this enhances the experience of Alpha. Students at Alpha also have the ability to run workshops and events and because of this so much of Alpha is student-created and student-driven.
The model of Alpha has been especially useful throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We had a seamless transition to a remote environment because our model lends itself well to independent learning. Most of our core subject work is done online so it is easy to do school work anytime and anywhere. Even during summer and breaks from school, most students continue to make progress on app work and work on other projects. This isn’t because it is forced, but because students at Alpha truly want to achieve and work hard and don’t want to stop learning.
Giving Students a Say in Their Education
Deciding what school to go to, especially for high school, is a very difficult decision and one that I spent a lot of time contemplating. My advice for a student looking to make this choice is to identify the top things you want in a school experience. Once you figure out what is most important to you, it is much easier to decide what school you want to go to.
The most appealing thing about Alpha in my opinion is that every student loves school. What Alpha does so well is make working hard and learning fun for every type of student, and this is something pretty much no other school can do. Because of this, every student has the ability to realize their potential and achieve greatness at Alpha. This has really rung true in my life and I believe that so much of who I am and what I am capable of is because of the things I have learned at Alpha.
Charter Moms Chats
Watch Peyton Price, student at Alpha, and Hannah Rowley, Director of Recruiting and HR at Alpha, speak with Inga Cotton on Charter Moms Chats on September 15, 2021 at 4:00 PM Central live on Facebook and YouTube.
Peyton Price is 15 years old and goes to Alpha in Austin, Texas. She loves to sing and write songs. She also has an interest in learning and writing about theology and world religions.
Hannah Rowley is Alpha’s Director of Recruiting and Admissions where she leads a team of highly motivated (and FUN!) individuals focused on fulfilling Alpha’s promises by attracting and retaining amazing students and employees. Prior to joining Alpha, Hannah worked in tech and retail as Sonos’s Chief of Staff, People Operations following stints in both Recruiting and Project Management. During her time at Sonos, she furthered Sonos’ mission to fill homes with music by supporting every aspect of the people ops organization (think: performance management, M&A, compensation planning, employee engagement, etc). Hannah graduated from Stanford University with a BA in International Relations and she loves getting to build better schools at Alpha as her job!
Read More Student Stories
- “CAST Med High School Is Helping Kailey Cazares Reach Her Goals,” Kailey Cazares, San Antonio Charter Moms, September 2, 2021
- “Dariela Galindo, Sophomore at Travis Early College High School in SAISD,” Dariela Galindo, San Antonio Charter Moms, March 2, 2021
- “Mia Rodriguez, Senior at the School of Science and Technology San Antonio,” San Antonio Charter Moms, September 9, 2020
