(2019-06-28) Altschool Rebrands Itself Altitude Learning As Cofounders Step Aside

AltSchool rebrands itself Altitude Learning as cofounders step aside. In the early years, AltSchool expanded what it called “lab schools” at a rapid pace, adding locations in New York and scouting sites in cities like Chicago. But operating schools is complicated, particularly when your goal, in part, is to reinvent the very idea of school. The company retrenched, consolidating its ambitions into just four school sites. And now, it is making a more formal break.

Going forward, AltSchool’s four lab schools will be operated by a new partner, Higher Ground Education. AltSchool, in turn, will rebrand itself Altitude Learning this fall and refocus resources on the development and expansion of its personalized learning platform, used today by 40 districts and schools representing 300,000 students.

In addition, Ventilla and his fellow cofounder, Bharat Mediratta (also an ex-Googler), will graduate to board roles, paving the way for Ben Kornell and Devin Vodicka, two leaders with deep education backgrounds, to take the reins.

In its next iteration, the company will follow a more traditional education playbook, in terms of sales strategy, and expand the services it offers in conjunction with its core learning platform.

Vodicka, a former superintendent who will serve as chief impact officer, says teachers in particular want exemplars, something to start with so they’re not building content from scratch.

one of the central challenges of personalized learning: Meeting the needs of each student in the context of a particular school environment and pedagogical approach, without asking teachers to create thousands of tailored lessons.

Of the new contracts for the coming school year, half are public schools.

Zuckerberg-Backed AltSchool Gives Up on Schools and Focuses on Tech. Though AltSchool spent $30 million a year on the schools and the software, it was slow to sell its tech product. It charged as much as $150 per student per year for the software while schools could get similar software for free or for just $10 from competitors. Last year AltSchool’s revenue came to only $7 million. A company spokesperson told the publication EdSurge, which covers edtech, that it would announce new pricing in the fall.

Larry Cuban: Goodbye AltSchool, Hello Altitude Learning. AltSchool “micro-schools’ were ungraded, used project-based learning complete with individually designed “playlists,” small classes, and experienced young teachers. Were John and Evelyn Dewey alive, they would have enrolled their six children in AltSchool.

And what did Ventilla learn as he stepped aside as leader. Here is the lesson he learned after six years running AltSchool: People often ask what I wish I’d known before starting AltSchool and I say: However difficult you think working in education is…multiply that by 10. Life at a startup is hard, but education is exponentially harder.