Talk:AltSchool

Key people update
I work for Rubenstein and on behalf of AltSchool, I'd like to revise the key people section as well as the "Series B" section, which mention Coddy Johnson, who is no longer with AltSchool. 

I'd like to replace Johnson in the key people section of the infobox with Devin Vodicka (Chief Impact Officer).

In addition, I'd like to either remove the Johnson sentence from the "Series B" section or revise the sentence to note his tenure in addition to adding Devin Vodicka and Ben Kornell.


 * Coddy Johnson, former executive of video game company Activision, joined the company from 2016 to 2017. In 2017, the company hired Devin Vodicka, former Superintendent of Vista Unified School District in California and three-time California Superintendent of the Year,  to serve as its Chief Impact Officer.  Ben Kornell, former COO of Envision Charter Schools, joined the company as Vice President of Growth.

NinaSpezz (talk) 18:42, 14 December 2018 (UTC)

Reply 14-DEC-2018
 Spintendo   20:50, 14 December 2018 (UTC)

Lead Section Updates
I work for Rubenstein and on behalf of AltSchool, I'd like to correct the founding year in the lead section and expand:

Founded in 2013, AltSchool is a San Francisco-based education and technology company. It is a Certified B Corporation and a public-benefit corporation. AltSchool has developed a platform to help schools offer a learner-centric education in their classrooms.

NinaSpezz (talk) 17:39, 10 January 2019 (UTC)

Reply 10-JAN-2019

 * 1) ✅ The sources indicate that in 2013 there was one school. and for the 2014-2015 school year, additional schools were added. This has been reflected in the lead and infobox. If possible, a final tally should be provided for both sections.
 * 2) ❌ The information on the school's B Corporation status is a private designation which does not warrant being mentioned in the lead.
 * 3) ❌ The information on the school's public benefit corporation status involves a legal definition as ascribed by California law (where it's headquartered). A reference should therefore be provided which originates from ca.gov servers. This information is already displayed in the main section of the article.
 * 4) ❌ Information on what the subject "helps" others to do is promotional in tone. What the company does should be described simply as what the company does, and nothing more (i.e., a hair salon should not describe themselves as "helping patrons to become blonde", but rather, "The salon provides hair-coloring services.")

Regards,  Spintendo   22:28, 10 January 2019 (UTC)
 * 1) Information on the school's software platform was omitted because it discusses what the company's "aims" are regarding their platform. What a company aims for involves the WP:FUTURE.

Revised Lead Addition Request
I work for Rubenstein and on behalf of AltSchool, I'd like to add the following sentence to the end of the lead section:


 * AltSchool developed a software platform for schools to transition from the factory model of education to a learner-centered education.

NinaSpezz (talk) 22:06, 14 January 2019 (UTC)

Reply 14-JAN-2019
Regards,  Spintendo   07:01, 15 January 2019 (UTC)
 * The proposed claim contains a motivational construct, in that the company is offering what their motivation was behind the development of a software platform.
 * Motivational constructs which guide companies in their endeavors are inherently promotional, in that the natural inclination when discussing them is to offer it as some sort of testament to the validity of that motivation. The validity offered in the phrase "factory model" implies certain negative aspects to the old system — thus the newer system as proposed by the article's subject is to be taken as their promotion of an improvement in the state of education. This promotion is not the purpose of Wikipedia.

Additions & Corrections
I work for Rubenstein and on behalf of AltSchool, I'd like to make the following revisions to this article.

Add to end of the lead section:
 * The company developed a learner-centered software platform used in partner schools and school district classrooms.

Add to the Schools section after the "In October 2016..." sentence:
 * AltSchool’s partnership program includes 25 public and private schools.

Also in the Schools section, correct sentence that begins with "In October 2017..." According to the article, a single school opened in Union Square in fall of 2017, not October when the article was published. To be more clear, the sentence should say:
 * In fall of 2017, AltSchool launched a tiny private middle school in New York City's Union Square.

Also in the Schools section, the sentence that begins with "In November 2017..." is incorrect as written, according to the citations used. To be accurate, it should say:
 * In November 2017, Altschool announced it would close a school in San Francisco's Palo Alto and a school in New York City's East Village at the end of the academic year, stating "...there was a more effective and efficient approach to achieving our ambition of enabling all children to reach their full potential."

The final sentence in the Schools section should say "New York City" instead of "Brooklyn", according to information given in the citation.

NinaSpezz (talk) 17:19, 29 January 2019 (UTC)

Reply 29-JAN-2019
Regards,  Spintendo   18:05, 29 January 2019 (UTC)
 * 1) ❌ The addition to the lead section was not added.
 * 2) ❌ The claim regarding the subject company's partnerships with 25 schools was not added.
 * 3) ✅ The claim regarding the tiny school was altered but was changed to 2017 instead of "fall" or "October" which are both deprecated.
 * 4) ✅ The closing of the schools in Palo Alto and Brooklyn were clarified.
 * 5) ❌ The final sentence regarding the company's "core focus" was omitted.

Could use an explanation on #1. The current lead section, as well as the page as a whole, only describes a portion of the page subject's business, which is well-documented in news coverage. Same for #2.

In removing "core focus" (#5), you may have inadvertently removed a citation that described the East Village school closing.

NinaSpezz (talk) 18:23, 29 January 2019 (UTC)


 * "Learner-centered software platform" is a vague description of this software. By some accounts, Linux software could be described as 'learner-centered' in that the software lends itself to intuitive use. This would not help to describe what it is that Linux does or how it is different from a Microsoft OS. What would help here is a description of the software as provided by a reliable, third party reference who is unconnected to the company.
 * The claim regarding 25 partnerships is covered in the lead by the phrase "later expanded to additional schools..." Given the fluidic nature of some of these partnerships it seemed prudent not to limit their description to one particular number which might change at any moment. If the desired purpose is to keep a running tally of all the company's current partnerships, may I suggest placing that information in a form which is more easily changed, such as a list or table, per MOS:EMBED.
 * The closure of the school in the East Village may be covered by the statement "AltSchool is also consolidating a smaller New York City school..." as mentioned in the Palo Alto Online source which remains in the article.
 * Regards,  Spintendo   02:25, 30 January 2019 (UTC)