Elon Musk’s Private Preschool Ad Astra gets Permit to Open in Bastrop, Texas
Source: https://www.msn.com/
Elon Musk’s Montessori school in Texas, named “Ad Astra” (Latin for “to the stars”), has received its initial permit from the state’s childcare regulator, allowing it to open. The school, located near Austin in Bastrop County, is part of Musk’s broader plans for STEM-focused education. Initially, the school will enroll up to 54 students in elementary grades and aims to provide high-level STEM education. This initiative could eventually expand to include multiple K-12 schools and even a college in Texas. The school is situated near several of Musk’s business operations.
The first students at Elon Musk’s Ad Astra school in Bastrop will be aged three to six, attending a pre-kindergarten program focused on exploration, coloring, collage-making, and studying maps and globes. After facing some delays and inspection issues, the school passed an inspection in November and received its state permit on November 14, becoming a licensed childcare program. Initially, the school can enroll nearly two dozen children, though it plans to admit 16 students, as per its application documents.
The Bastrop Ad Astra is Elon Musk’s second major venture into education. His first attempt, also called “Ad Astra,” began in 2014 as a school for his children and SpaceX employees’ kids. After his children graduated, the school became independent and transitioned into a remote-only school named “Astra Nova” in 2020. The nonprofit behind Ad Astra sold its assets to SpaceX. In 2018, a new school called “Discovery” was established on the SpaceX campus, run by Xplor Education, which also operates a Montessori school in Hawaii.
Musk’s current school plans are more ambitious, with the Musk Foundation allocating nearly $100 million through the X Foundation to build an initial primary and secondary school, with the potential to eventually open a university. Ad Astra is part of Musk’s broader network of businesses and projects. Musk, the world’s richest person, was also recently appointed by President-elect Donald Trump to oversee a new government department focused on efficiency.
Musk’s Ad Astra pre-K school in Bastrop, Texas, is starting small in a white farmhouse near Musk’s company facilities and the future headquarters of X (formerly Twitter). The school will be run by Greg Marick, CEO of Xplor Education, and staffed with three other faculty members. The curriculum focuses on exploration, with toddlers engaging in activities like buttoning clothes, coloring, and studying maps and globes. The program, inspired by psychologists Alfred Adler and Rudolf Dreikurs, aims to teach responsibility, respect, and conflict resolution. It will also incorporate self-directed learning and collaborative play typical of Montessori schools. It’s unclear if any of Musk’s young children will attend.
Ad Astra in Bastrop may resemble the Hala Kahiki Montessori School in Hawaii, also operated by Xplor Education, with similar enrollment questions and references in its permit application. There is some confusion, such as mistakenly referring to local community engagement as part of the Hawaiian school. The tuition for Hala Kahiki is $968 per month, but the cost for Ad Astra is unclear. The X Foundation’s documents indicate that Ad Astra’s elementary school could eventually expand beyond its initial 54-student capacity based on community needs and include distance learners.
Although Elon Musk’s name does not appear on the Ad Astra application materials, his involvement is evident. The X Foundation, funded by the Musk Foundation, owns the school’s property and has outlined plans for the project. The initial state application was submitted by Musk’s financial advisor, Jared Birchall. Xplor Education, which operates the “Discovery Preschool” near SpaceX, is also behind the Bastrop school and has listed job openings for it. Musk and Birchall declined to comment, and Xplor Education’s CEO, Greg Marick, also refused to speak with reporters.
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