Build Weekend · Ages 9–16
Build your first real app.
Live on the internet by Sunday
One weekend, a room full of builders your age, and founders coaching every step. Bring an idea, and with AI build in one weekend what used to take adults a year.
What It Is
Last time, an 11-year-old turned his idea into a real product in a single weekend.
His idea? Custom 3D-printed chess sets that transform — designed and built entirely with AI. You bring your own idea. By Sunday it’s live on the internet, with a link anyone can open on their phone.
We provide the tools that are the building blocks for your app.
The same AI stack the pros use, hands-on coaching at every table, and credits that carry your ideas beyond the weekend.
The Mentors
Mentor roster announcing soon.
Every weekend is worked by people from the Founders School network — on the floor the whole time, looking at what you’re building and showing you how to make it better. We’re locking in who’s coming, and the names go up here first.
How It Runs
One weekend. One arc.
Every day raises the stakes, from Friday’s first idea to Sunday’s grand finale, with mentors alongside the entire way.
Find your idea
Friday
- 6:00 PM
Doors, dinner, meet the room
Food from the start and a room full of builders your age. Find your people before the work starts.
- 7:00
Kickoff + idea workshop
Show up with an idea — something you actually know or care about — then figure out your angle on it and put it on the wall.
- 8:00
Building starts
Tools go live and mentors start floating. Nobody leaves tonight without something real on screen.
- 9:00
Hard wrap
No overnights. Go home, sleep on it, come back hungry.
Build all day
Saturday
- 10:00 AM
Workshops that actually help
How to build the smallest version that works, how to make an app feel great to use, and how to fix it when it breaks — then straight back to building.
- All day
Long build blocks
Mentors floating table to table, demos piling up, and the wall of live apps growing all afternoon.
- 1:00 PM
Lunch with a guest founder
Someone who built a real company young. They eat with you and answer anything.
- 6:30
Dinner + Alpha Head of School fireside
Dinner with the whole room, then the Alpha Head of School takes questions in the open — nothing scripted, and nothing off the table.
Ship & win
Sunday
- 10:00 AM
Final sprint + go live
Squash the last bugs, put your app live on the internet, and film the 3-minute story of what you built.
- 4:00 PM
Parents arrive
Families show up and open what you built on their own phones.
- 4:30
Showcase
Every builder at their own station with what they made. Parents, mentors, and judges walk the floor and try it live.
- 5:15
Finals on stage
The top five builders pitch live, three minutes each, in front of everyone.
- 6:00
Awards + wrap
The winner gets announced, the ship bell rings one last time, and everyone celebrates.
This is your weekend, not a family field trip. Parents arrive Sunday afternoon for the showcase — but the rest of the time it’s you and a room full of other builders.
What You’ll Learn
Skills that outlast the weekend.
Six things to learn, in order. You learn each one by making a real app.
App Parts
What apps are made of
See the parts inside an app. Start with a blank screen, build your own app, and put it online so other people can use it.
Make It Look Good
An app people like to use
Make your app clear and fun to use. Pick simple words, colors, and buttons so people know what to do.
Save and Connect
Where your app saves things
Learn where your app saves words and pictures. Let it use other apps, and keep private codes safe.
Test It and Fix It
Find what does not work
Make a list of what your app should do. Try each part, find what breaks, fix it, and try again.
How Not to Get Hacked
Keep your app safe
Try to find ways someone could break your app. Fix them first so your app stays safe.
Show Your App
Tell people what you made
Put your app on the big screen. Show what you made, how it works, and why people should care.
No coding experience required. The AI writes the code. You decide and direct. Complete beginners ship real apps by Sunday.
The 2026 SeasonEvery weekend
Every weekend
we have dates for.
New York goes first in September. Ten Alpha School campuses follow in October. Applying takes two minutes.
Build Weekend · September 25 to 27, 2026 · Fri to Sun
Build Weekend NYC
New York City — venue shared with accepted familiesBuild Weekend · October 23–25, 2026 · Fri to Sun
Build Weekend US
Alpha School locations · 10 citiesApplications open
Apply NowAustin
Alpha Austin Campus
Apply NowBoston
Alpha Boston Campus
Apply NowChicago
Alpha Chicago Campus
Apply NowLos Angeles
Alpha Santa Monica Campus
Apply NowMiami / South Florida
Alpha Miami Campus
Apply NowNashville
Alpha Nashville Campus
Apply NowNew York
Alpha New York Campus
Apply NowSan Francisco
Alpha San Francisco Campus
Apply NowSeattle
Alpha Kirkland Campus
Apply NowWashington, DC
Alpha Chantilly Campus
Don't see your city?
Tell us where to go next.
Drop your name, email, and your city — new weekends go where the most families ask for them.
The Bigger PictureLoved the weekend?
Loved the weekend?
Our students do this every day.
Build Weekend is one taste of Founders School, the high school where the same loop runs all year: real businesses, real customers, and a real path to $1 million by graduation.
Younger Students
Explore Alpha