San Francisco’s ALT School Coming to Brooklyn Heights

By on November 13, 2014 10:52 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Kids

The San Francisco based ALT School, founded by Max Ventilla an entrepreneur and former Googler, will be opening at 82 Montague Street next Fall.

The school is accepting applications for PreK- 8th grade now and will be hosting information sessions on Wednesday December 3rd. The Brooklyn Heights ALT School will have 3-4 classrooms consisting of “blended age students.”

A spokesperson for the organization tells us they have started the accreditation process in New York but “are not officially accredited yet.” And adds, “AltSchool currently operates schools in San Francisco and is registered as a private school in the State of California and follows the private school requirements of the California Department of Education.”

In March, ALT School raised $33 million.

Forbes: How he chose education as the specific huge problem to take a run at is a classic founder’s story. “At the end of 2012, I was starting to look at preschools for my daughter, and looking ahead to elementary schools – this crazy notion that if you don’t pick the right preschool, you won’t get into right elementary school you need to get into the right high school you need to get into the right college.

“I was shocked by the degree to which the best programs and the worse programs had barely changed since I went to school in any kind of foundational way, and by the degree to which we really have diseconomies of scale.”

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  • mandboy

    Is this going to be located in the old Design Within Reach space?

  • BrooklynBugle

    That is 76 Montague Street which is where Friend of a Farmer will be moving. This is above Heights Cafe. http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/18807094/82-Montague-Street-Brooklyn-NY/

  • Lois

    It’s where the old “York School” was years ago. At one time, there were two private schools on Montague Street: The York School and Brooklyn Academy which was on the corner of Montague & Henry above where Ann Taylor is now. Both spaces were very suitable for classrooms.

  • Carlotta

    All children? Or those whose parents can afford it?

  • CHatter

    This is very exciting. Putting aside your view of their educational philosophy, methods, etc. (which actually sound reasonably compelling to me), and whatever your view of independent education generally, anything that increases the educational options for families in the neighborhood, and potentially relieves some of the overcrowding at PS8, is a good thing in my book. Welcome to the neighborhood!

  • Felix Unger

    Schools don’t open so quickly — look at BASIS in Red Hook, for example, which is running a year behind schedule. Also, how will this place accommodate K-8 at 82 Montague? Three kids per class? I guess there’s a couple built-in (lousy) cafeterias downstairs, between Heights Cafe and Dellarocco’s…

  • triscuit

    I called to inquire and found the curriculum not too impressive. This is a good place for kids that can’t sit in a classroom but it clearly resembles the blue school in Manhattan (I understand it is the same director).

    Don’t expect solid academics here. It is all about kids having “fun”, “child led”. Nice buzz words but that does not translate into a good education. Also, expect even more screen time if you send your kids there. They are really into software and tablets. Way to go with even more screen time then kids already have.

  • Mom

    I feel sorry for your child.

  • ltap917

    Public schools are free for every child. Private schools are not.
    What’s affordable to one family may not be affordable to another.

  • ltap917

    The tuition is $27,500 for the lower grades.
    You can Google the founder and find the website for his Alt school.
    Lots of info there.

  • BrooklynBugle

    There a links to info in story above as well

  • Cindy Sm

    Hey, all the schools in my area were “kid
    Directed” the guys learned t hot wire
    Cars and have perfect pompadours
    And the girls…well we learned some
    Real girl skills…so someone has to
    Pay gazillions in tuition for having a
    Fun school? Hello? (By the way, we
    all turned Out fine…and normal)

  • PS8 Parent

    Public Schools are not free. Even our own PS8 runs on contributions made by parents.