Heather Clayton Staker

Background

• Extensive experience in education innovation, specializing in blended learning and disruptive models.
• Formerly with the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, focusing on blended learning. Authored influential papers and taxonomies (e.g., Flex model).
• Served on the California State Board of Education as a student member.
• Business background includes HBS and McKinsey.
• Founded "Ready to Blend," a firm that assisted schools in implementing blended learning models (e.g., station rotation, flipped classroom).
• Deep expertise in the Acton Academy model:
  • Moved her family to Austin for the first Acton Academy (6 students initially).
  • Wrote the foreword to an Acton Academy book.
  • Helped systematize the Acton Academy school model.
  • Her children attended Acton Academy.
• Aware that Alpha Schools' model has roots in Acton Academy DNA.
• Started "Guide School" in September 2024, initially aimed at broader K-12 teacher retraining, partially funded by Joe Lonsdale's team (Niraj).
• Currently the lead guide for Alpha's project in Malawi, implementing learning solutions with 49 students and 15 teachers, including tech support.

Current Focus

• Pivoting "Guide School" to primarily serve Alpha Schools' immediate and significant need for qualified guides.
• Developing an 80-hour basic guide training program, with a target completion date of mid-July 2025 (specifically July 14th).
• Collaborating with Steph (from Alpha) on incorporating Alpha branding into Guide School materials and producing videos featuring Steph.
• Actively filming content for Guide School, including observing and deconstructing middle school practices at Alpha.
• Leading guide training and providing tech support for Alpha's initiative in Malawi.
• Exploring models for scaling guide training, including a potential "lab school" adjacent to an Alpha campus.

Key Insights & Strengths

• Profound understanding of disruptive innovation in education, particularly the "Flex model" which fundamentally changes the teacher role to that of a guide, as opposed to "sustaining innovations" like station rotation.
• Strong conviction in transitioning from traditional "teachers" to "guides."
• Identifies crucial gaps and opportunities in Alpha's current guide hiring, onboarding, and ongoing training processes.
• Believes current Alpha practices (e.g., "launch" meetings) can be significantly improved with structured protocols, better scaffolding, and clearer purpose.
• Emphasizes the importance of the "spiritual core" or "immaterial core" in education, focusing on holistic child development.
• Extensive hands-on experience in training teachers and guides effectively.
• Acute ability to discern and articulate the strengths and weaknesses of various school models, including Acton Academy and Alpha Schools.
• Passionate about genuinely disrupting and improving the traditional education system, not just implementing superficial changes.
• Practical, on-the-ground experience with Alpha's tech and curriculum through the Malawi project.
• Articulates a clear need for better "soft systems" and cultural development within schools.

Collaboration Areas with Alpha Schools

• Leading the development and scaling of a comprehensive guide training program ("Guide School") tailored for Alpha.
• Assisting in defining clear criteria, archetypes, and assessment methods for recruiting and hiring high-quality Alpha guides.
• Potentially spearheading or advising an "Alpha school startup agency" to facilitate the zero-to-one launch of new Alpha schools, particularly for corporate campuses.
• Improving the "soft systems," cultural practices, and overall learning environment within Alpha schools.
• Advising on best practices for guide hiring, including pre-assessment tools.
• Designing and implementing a "lab school" model for immersive guide training and development.
• Developing innovative tech solutions for guide training and support, such as an AI-powered social skills assessment bot or "light tech" educational tools for underserved regions like Malawi.
• Providing strategic input on scaling Alpha Schools, especially concerning the new corporate campus initiative and ensuring quality control.
• Helping to document and systematize best practices from Alpha and other successful models.

Suggested Next Steps & Action Items

• Heather to provide relevant materials (e.g., on Guide School, blended learning, Acton model) to Gary Sheng for his DC meetings and for review by Gauntlet engineers.
• Gary Sheng to facilitate an introduction and encourage Heather to email Joe Lonsdale (CC'ing Gary and Tim Joo) to summarize their meeting, express enthusiasm for collaboration, and outline Guide School's pivot to support Alpha.
• Plan and schedule a "fireside chat" for Heather to present her work and vision to Alpha's Gauntlet engineers, potentially leading to tech development projects.
• Gary Sheng's team to incorporate Guide School and Heather's potential agency model into budget requests for Alpha.
• Heather to ensure the 80-hour basic guide training is ready for rollout by July 14, 2025.
• Collaboratively explore the feasibility and design of a dedicated "lab school" for guide training.
• Initiate the development of a Product Requirements Document (PRD) for the "light tech" solution for education in environments like Malawi.
• Schedule a follow-up meeting on Monday (Gary, Tim, Heather) to continue strategic discussions.
• Heather to consider visiting an exemplary Acton Academy (e.g., Slope school in Provo, UT) to observe a "pristine version" and gather insights.
• Discuss and define clear responsibility handoffs between Alpha's hiring process and Guide School's training process to ensure quality intake and output.

Communication Preferences

• Prefers direct, substantive conversations focused on strategic improvement.
• Highly receptive to collaborative problem-solving and open to constructive feedback.
• Driven by a mission to create impactful and transformative educational experiences.
• Values clear articulation of goals and measurable outcomes.

Interactions

• 2025-05-08: Met with Gary Sheng (Tim Joo was present for the initial part of Gary's overview). Engaged in an extensive strategy session covering:
  • Heather's background, expertise in blended learning, Acton Academy, and the evolution of her "Guide School."
  • Aligning Guide School's mission and services directly with Alpha Schools' urgent need for effective guide training and scaling.
  • Detailed discussion on Alpha's strategic pivot to corporate campus schools, the associated Trump administration executive order opportunity, and the 75-day window for influencing policy.
  • Identified critical challenges and areas for improvement in Alpha's current guide hiring, onboarding, the "launch" process, and overall school quality control.
  • Explored innovative solutions like a dedicated "lab school" for guide training, tech-enabled assessment tools (e.g., AI bot for social skills), and a "light tech" platform for underserved areas (like Malawi).
  • Heather committed to developing an 80-hour guide training program by mid-July and expressed a desire to help Alpha build robust, scalable systems.
  • Discussed potential for Gauntlet engineers to contribute to Guide School's tech needs and a fireside chat to facilitate this.
  • Agreed on next steps, including Heather emailing Joe Lonsdale and a follow-up meeting.
  • Gary expressed strong interest in integrating Heather deeply into Alpha's scaling strategy, potentially through a funded agency model for starting new schools.
• 2025-05-09 (Mentioned in Super Builders Meeting with Stefanie Baduria):
  • Stefanie Baduria mentioned that she has tasked Heather with making guide training scalable, with the initial audience being teachers at private and public schools licensing 2R Learning.
  • Stefanie suggested that Super Builders (specifically Arpan Gupta's team) could bring value to Heather's work by integrating AI and adding rigor to measuring learning.
  • Gary Sheng mentioned meeting with Heather for a couple of hours the previous day (2025-05-08) and giving her a prompt to think about things she envisions will be frustrating to do manually, suggesting a need for tech intervention in guide training and evaluation.
  • Jack Oremus suggested that transcripts from guide-student check-ins could be used to train custom avatar students, aligning with Heather's work on guide training.
• 2025-08-03: Hosted dinner at home with Allan for Gary, Travis Oliphant, and other families. Demonstrated continuing education focus through discussions of faith-based schools, shared her Asian-American background and cultural observations, engaged in theological discussions about Jewish prophecy and cultural wars. Showed her growing friendship with Gary through their shared faith journey and Alpha Schools work. Facilitated make-your-own sushi dinner and family games, demonstrating her hospitality and community-building skills.

Transcripts

Transcript ID	Date	Summary
2025-08-03-gary-sheng-travis-oliphant-heather-clayton-staker-allan-staker-dinner-transcript	2025-08-03	Social dinner gathering with families discussing faith, technology, and business
2025-06-10-gary-sheng-matt-clayton-heather-staker-education-innovation-collaboration	2025-06-10	Gary Sheng, Matt Clayton, and Heather Clayton Staker - Education Innovation Collaboration Discussion
2025-05-08-heather-clayton-staker-strategy-discussion	2025-05-08	Strategy discussion about Guide School, Alpha Schools scaling, corporate campus schools, and guide training