3 ms·

AltSchool, funded by tech execs, is closing schools, losing students

19 points by coloneltcb 9y ago

nikolay 9y ago
At those prices, no wonder!
- StudentStuff 9y ago
  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.
  - guiambros 9y ago
    > 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.
ChanningAllen 9y ago
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.
- StudentStuff 9y ago
  $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.
jgamman 9y ago
ad blocker pop-up. no thx.
ALee 9y ago
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.

19 points by coloneltcb 9y ago

nikolay 9y ago

At those prices, no wonder!

StudentStuff 9y ago
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.
- guiambros 9y ago
  > 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.

ChanningAllen 9y ago

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.

StudentStuff 9y ago
$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.

jgamman 9y ago

ad blocker pop-up. no thx.

ALee 9y ago

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.