Dive Brief:

• A new learning strategy referred to as a "micro school" takes around 15 students of various ages and grades, mixing them together in one classroom that relies on digital and personalized learning with customized lesson plans.
• Described as a modern one-room schoolhouse approach, the technique is being tested at the tech-focused AltSchool, a private school founded by former Google exec Max Ventilla. 
• In Texas, Austin's Acton Academy is an example of a Montessori-style micro school network, with trademark small class sizes and tuition that runs parallel to typical U.S. private school costs.

Dive Insight:

Thus far, the experimental techniques used at Ventilla's expanding AltSchool, which is eyeing a new Chicago location in addition to its Brooklyn and Bay Area schools, are still playing out. At the AltSchool micro schools, there's no traditional K-12 structures, no grade levels, and no set curriculum. Students engage in quarterly individualized progress assessments and are videotaped so teachers can review learning.

Despite its youth, the model has been popular. According to AltSchool, it has received 4,000 applications for around 200 slots across its network as of October 2015.

Concerns have been raised over student data and privacy, however — an issue that worries many traditional schools, as well.