By Luca Cacciatore
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is opening up another experimental private school, this time in the small Austin-area town of Bastrop.
The school is named Ad Astra, Latin for “to the stars,” and plans to serve children aged three to nine by providing Montessori-style education, which focuses on self-directed and hands-on learning as well as collaborative projects.
According to its website, only 48 students will be enrolled in the school. Of those 48, 18 will be between the ages of three to six, and 30 will be between six and nine.
“Ad Astra’s mission is to foster curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking in the next generation of problem solvers and builders,” the website reads.
The school also hopes to “tailor learning experiences” to the unique needs of each child regardless of “any race, color, national and ethnic origin.” Its curriculum will center around science, technology, engineering, and math.
Parents can begin submitting applications now for their children to attend the school. Classes are set to kick off in September.
Musk had previously invested in a less formal Montessori school in Los Angeles for his five children and several of their friends. He got the idea after being disaffected with the instruction provided by his children’s prestigious private school.
In 2020, the former faculty and students of the school decided to continue the project as the more established Astra Nova School, which offers a similar curriculum structure but is entirely virtual.
Musk’s investment in Ad Astra adds to his growing presence in the Austin area. The school is only about one mile away from offices for Musk’s The Boring Company and SpaceX.
In addition, the Greater Austin metropolitan area features Tesla’s massive Texas Gigafactory—a 10 million square foot complex where electric vehicles are assembled domestically by around 20,000 workers.
Tesla was reincorporated in Texas in June, several years after Musk decided to move the company’s headquarters there.
The billionaire recently announced that he would move SpaceX’s headquarters from Hawthorne, California to Starbase, Texas as a result of Gov. Gavin Newsom attacking parental rights in new legislation.
In a later post, Musk confirmed that the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, will also move its headquarters to Texas.
Originally published by the Texas Scorecard. Republished with permission.
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