Alpha School, a network of AI-powered private schools, has filed a zoning application to move into the former Roycemore School building at 1200 Davis St.

A development associate from CDS Development, a Dallas-based construction firm, filed the zoning analysis application on behalf of Alpha School on Aug. 10, the Evanston Roundtable reported. The application proposes no structural changes to the building, only minor interior cosmetic work such as painting and new furniture, Evanston spokesperson Cynthia Vargas said.

Neither Roycemore nor Alpha School officials responded to requests for comment, according to the Roundtable. It remains unclear whether Roycemore's board has put the building up for sale or lease.

Roycemore's board announced July 15 that the 111-year-old school would suspend operations and cancel its 2026-27 school year. The board cited low enrollment and a prolonged financial crisis, according to The Daily Northwestern. Fundraising efforts earlier in 2026 fell short of covering remaining salary commitments.

Alpha School, founded in 2014 in Austin, Texas, replaces traditional classroom instruction with two hours of daily AI-driven academic work. The rest of the day is spent in workshops. Instead of licensed teachers, Alpha hires "guides" who coach and motivate students. Guides earn at least $100,000 a year, Axios reported in August.

The network planned to grow from roughly a dozen campuses to about 50 in the 2026 school year, with Chicago among 27 target markets. Alpha already operates a Chicago location.

Alpha's website lists tuition at $55,000 per year, according to the Roundtable. Tuition across the network ranges from $10,000 to $75,000 depending on location, CNN reported in January.

"AI allows us to finally, truly transform the educational system and not just have it be a little tool that keeps a traditional, one-teacher-in-front-of-a-classroom model going," co-founder MacKenzie Price told Axios in August when discussing the network's national expansion.

Alpha says its students place in the top 5% nationally, a figure that has not been independently verified.

No date has been announced for a zoning hearing or city council review of the application.