A small cohort of 10 to 12 families will make up the inaugural class at The Drew School, a new AI-powered private school opening this fall inside Mead Hall, the oldest building on Drew University's Madison, New Jersey campus. Tuition for grades 1 through 8 is set at $30,000 a year, and students will spend their mornings on adaptive artificial-intelligence coursework before turning to other activities in the afternoon.
The school was later reported by Summit Area News. Mead Hall was built in the 1830s and became the campus centerpiece in 1867; it is on Madison Avenue. As News12 New Jersey reports, Drew University is the first higher-education partner for 2hr Learning, the AI curriculum platform used by Alpha School, and Brian Holtz, a co-founder of Alpha School, will lead The Drew School.
Under the 2hr Learning model, core academic instruction is compressed into a two-hour adaptive AI session each morning, while the program also includes public speaking, financial literacy, and real-world projects, according to the same Summit Area News report. Holtz told News12 the program is intended to give students more freedom to pursue individual interests, and students will progress at their own pace using the adaptive technology while receiving support from learning coaches rather than traditional classroom teachers.
A Campus Built for Learners Age 6 to 60
Drew University President Hilary Link has framed the primary school as part of a broader 60-plus-year learning trajectory meant to turn the campus into an intergenerational hub for learners aged 6 to 60 and beyond, a vision that also includes an Empty Nester Semester for older adults, per the same Summit Area News account. Link told News12 that rethinking every stage of learning from age 6 to 60 and beyond is important to the university's strategy.
Students at The Drew School will have access to university faculty members and Drew's facilities. Among them is poetry professor Natasha Rao. The 2hr Learning platform is used by Alpha School.
How Drew's Price Tag Stacks Up Nationally
Drew's $30,000 tuition is lower than the $75,000 charged by Alpha School's San Francisco campus in 2025. The Drew School will operate on a university campus through its partnership with 2hr Learning.
The compressed-day model has also drawn attention outside higher education.
Questions About Screen Time and Certified Teachers
The broader AI-schooling movement has drawn scrutiny from teachers' unions and education advocates, who have warned about unregulated screen time, the absence of certified human classroom teachers, and unstudied long-term effects on child development. Union leaders, including those with United Educators of San Francisco, have urged caution about replacing human teachers with digital applications. Whether North Jersey parents embrace an AI-driven model for their first- through eighth-graders, and whether the approach can match traditional academic rigor, remain open questions as The Drew School prepares to welcome its first students this fall.
