The school is now considered a licensed childcare facility in Texas.
Billionaire Elon Musk's private preschool is reportedly one step closer to opening soon in Central Texas. Musk's Montessori-style school, Ad Astra, was recently given the greenlight to open its doors in Bastrop according to records obtained by Fortune.
The school obtained its first state permit on Thursday, November 14 and it is now considered a licensed childcare facility in Texas, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. This means Ad Astra, which is Latin for "to the stars," can begin teaching 3 to 9-year-olds, focusing on STEM-based curriculum.
Fortune recently published an inside look into Musk's plans for the school in Bastrop County, east of Austin, which has become home to several of his companies in recent years. The school is the first of many education plans the Tesla CEO has as he hopes to also open a K-12 school in the Austin area and a university in Texas.
In August, Ad Astra began accepting teacher job applications for the 2024-2025 school year with the intention to start classes in September. However, Fortune found that the school had "experienced some initial application snafus and inspection delays," until eventually passing inspection earlier this month.
Ad Astra may eventually enroll up to 54 students in upper and lower elementary grades, but for now the school is expecting 16 initially, according to state documents the school submitted obtained by Fortune via a Freedom of Information Act Request. The first Ad Astra students will be between 3 and 6 years old who will be tasked with coloring, collage-making, and studying maps and globes.
Fortune says the school's curriculum includes periods for "work" and "play" and has children learning to sweep, apologize to others, and learn how to "solve a conflict," is inspired by the work of Alfred Adler and Rudolf Dreikurs, two psychologists and educators, to "teach young people to become responsible, respectful, and resourceful members of our community," according to Ad Astra's permit application. There will also be 21 faculty members and services like after-school child care and snacks provided to students, according to the HHSC's operation details online.
Located on a 40-acre former horse ranch in a white farmhouse, Ad Astra is about a mile away from Hyperlook Plaza, where Musk's The Boring Company and SpaceX reside along with X's (formerly Twitter) new headquarters will be built. Musk also leads Neuralink and Tesla's Gigafactory in Austin, which is about 33 miles away from Bastrop.
Fortune reports that the school will be run by the CEO of Xplor Education, Greg Marick, according to preschool's state application, and three other faculty members have been hired, as of this summer. It's unclear if any of Musk's six youngest children (out of at least 11 total) who are under the age of five and may live in a $35 million compound in Austin will be attending Ad Astra.
MySA reached out to Ad Astra for comment.
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