
AltSchool, funded by tech execs, is closing schools, losing students - coloneltcb
http://www.businessinsider.com/altschool-why-parents-leaving-2017-11
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ALee
It would be more disconcerting if a majority of students were leaving these
schools especially since they cost so much - many parents take their kids out
of the normal school system or private school system as well. It's unfortunate
that Max had to shut down these schools in NYC and Palo Alto, but it seems
like they're actually making headway. We can interpret that "they aren't
teaching students," but I learned the most from books on tape when I was
reading as a kid and I know that's different from the lecture style of the
past, but the experimentation is so paramount for success in these schools
that perhaps those parents are just wrong.

My sister is a elementary school special ed teacher who teaches kids with
learning disabilities and the amount of time she spends with parents is
astounding even though I think she's amazing. I am glad someone is fighting
the fight to help make her job easier and bring data and monitoring to make
education better.

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ChanningAllen
Interesting, especially given the funding source. One of the parents described
this potential conflict well:

> _" We're not the constituency of the school," a parent of a former AltSchool
> student told Business Insider. "We were not the ones [Ventilla] had to be
> accountable to."_

But I'm rooting for AltSchool. Educational institutions have a way of falling
into orthodoxies of tradition and standardization that don't necessarily serve
the interests of students — especially in a changing world. It's good to see a
little bit of experimentation, so long as it follows the right incentive
structure.

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StudentStuff
$27k a year for school is crazy expensive, especially in the lower grade
levels. 20+ kids paying that is a cool half million dollars, and for what
appears to be substandard education.

Then again, nearly every private school I or my friends has attended has been
a bad learning environment, you pay for crappier teachers (that couldn't get
hired by the school district) and get to deal with whatever tertiary
motivating factor these schools have (religion, computer free Montessori
schools, or experimenting with children ala AltSchool).

Worse yet, in Seattle private schools are bringing back horrible diseases that
were once eradicated. Nasty AF that private schools are a okay with spreading
and breeding crippling diseases.

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jgamman
ad blocker pop-up. no thx.

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nikolay
At those prices, no wonder!

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StudentStuff
I know, the margins must be incredible. A 20 student classroom is a cool half
million a year in revenue at 27k each, let alone if you pack those classrooms
with more students.

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guiambros
> _the margins must be incredible._

I highly doubt it. Running a school is a resource-intensive and expensive
business. Hypothetical case: having 2 experienced teachers in NY/SFO should be
around $80K each, +30% taxes/benefits, and you're already at $200K. Now add in
school location, G&A, insurance, security, infrastructure, content
development, and they should be close to break-even (considering the 10-25
students on avg).

Now factor in all the pedagogical research, software development, and all the
other things that AltSchhol is trying to develop, and they're likely several
million dollars in the red.

Given that AltSchool is a private school (and with wealthy investors backing
it), I'd guess parents are going to be a lot less engaged with fund raising
events, volunteering, and such. This adds yet another burden to their
financials.

The wildcard, of course, is their new (potentially profitable) software
licensing business, which is probably why they're trying to get out of the
messy and expensive business of running schools.

