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The 2-Hour School Day: A Mom’s Perspective After 10 Years in Public Education

After spending a decade in the classroom I often wondered if the impact could have been even greater academically. Now, as a mom, I find myself struggling with a sense of guilt every morning when I send them off to school. After years inside the system, I know firsthand how much of the school day is wasted on things that have nothing to do with actual learning. But what if school could be better? What if learning was fun, fast, and freeing

The School Day Time Trap: Where Do the Hours Go?

Let’s do the math. Take something as simple as switching classes—students typically get around three minutes between each of their seven periods. That’s 21 minutes a day just walking through hallways and stopping at lockers. Over the course of a 180-day school year? That’s over 60 hours—nearly two and a half days—spent just moving between classes.

Then there’s the issue of pacing. A student who finishes a test in 20 minutes has to sit quietly for another 40 while others finish. Multiply that across multiple assessments per week, and kids who work efficiently end up wasting dozens of hours every year waiting for the rest of the class to catch up. Teachers can’t move on without leaving some kids behind, so everyone is stuck in this inefficient cycle.

And let’s not forget the time spent on non-academic activities—lining up for lunch, waiting for other students to settle down, school-wide assemblies that often have little educational value, and excessive review sessions that repeat what some students already know. Even recess, which is meant to be fun, often involves unnecessary rules and wasted transition time. The reality is that most kids are sitting in a building for seven hours a day, but only a fraction of that time is spent actually learning.

A School Model That Breaks the Mold

Then I learned about Alpha School, and it completely flipped my perspective on what education could be. A two-hour school day that actually teaches kids efficiently? AI-driven learning that allows students to master content without all the fluff and wasted time? Where was this when I was in the classroom?

Alpha School isn’t just an alternative; it’s a revolution. By using AI to deliver personalized, focused learning, students can absorb the same material in a fraction of the time. That means no more waiting around for others to finish, no more wasted hours spent on classroom management, and no more excessive busywork. Just effective, exciting education that gets straight to the point.

Teachers: From Paper Pushers to Passionate Mentors

When I was teaching, so much of my time was consumed by grading, behavior management, and administrative tasks that had nothing to do with helping kids learn. At Alpha, teachers focus on coaching and mentoring instead of just delivering standardized lessons. They encourage independence, creativity, and a love for learning—something that is nearly impossible to do in a traditional school setting where teachers are stretched thin.

The Big Question: Why Are We Sticking to the Old Way?

As a mom and a former educator, I can’t ignore the inefficiencies of the current system. We tell our kids that school is preparing them for the future, but are we actually giving them the best tools for success? Or are we just making them sit in a classroom for seven hours because that’s the way it’s always been done?

I do think we can have engaging and fulfilling classes with the current model – a lot of that is up to the teacher & the culture of their classroom – however, a lot of the ‘good stuff’ is surrounded by fluff. Fluff from the natural flow of the public education school day.

If kids can learn what they need in two hours, what are we doing with the other five? And more importantly—how much more could they accomplish with that time back?

I don’t have all the answers, but I know this: the way we educate our kids can and should be better. And maybe, just maybe, a two-hour school day is the start of something amazing!