Wired reports Alpha School’s NYC site is a homeschooling center

In short: Alpha School promoted a new New York City “campus” built around AI learning, but Wired reports the Manhattan site is a homeschooling center, not an official school.

What happened

In fall 2025, Alpha School executives held information sessions in Lower Manhattan for wealthy New York City parents. The goal was to convince families to leave traditional public or private schools and join Alpha’s new local program.

At the sessions, Alpha described its approach as “AI-powered learning models.” In simple terms, that means software helps guide what a student works on next, a bit like a very involved digital tutor.

But according to Wired, the New York City location is not actually a school in the usual legal sense. Wired describes it as a homeschooling center in Manhattan that is part of Alpha’s nationwide expansion.

Wired also reports that internal documents showed a strategy summarized as “Opening date > safety.” In plain English, that suggests meeting a launch deadline was treated as more important than safety planning.

Why it matters

For parents, the label matters because “school” and “homeschooling center” can mean very different rules, oversight, and accountability. It is like the difference between a licensed daycare and a babysitting co-op, both may care for kids, but they follow different standards. Wired’s reporting also raises a broader question for families: when AI is used in education, what safeguards are in place, and who checks that they are followed.

Source: Wired