Elon Musk’s foundation is pouring millions of dollars into a new private school in Texas, just minutes away from SpaceX headquarters, that’s heavily influenced by the tech billionaire’s educational vision, according to a new report and a look inside.
Ad Astra (which means “to the stars” in Latin) is located in rural Bastrop, Texas, outside Austin, just five minutes from a corporate complex that’s home to SpaceX, the Boring Company and, shortly, Musk’s X social media company.
The school, for students in two groups ages three to nine, is owned by an Austin-based company linked to the X Foundation. The X Foundation doesn’t have any formal association with Musk, but it has 736,500 shares of Tesla Inc. stock and was given $100 million for the new school by the Musk Foundation, reports The Texas Tribune.
The curriculum is inspired by the Montessori educational philosophy, which emphasizes hands-on learning and real-world skills through self-directed learning depending on children’s interests. The school also focuses on a STEM approach: science, technology, engineering and math.
Educators encourage “individualized exploration,” according to its website and a copy of the curriculum obatined by the Tribune. The school can reportedly accommodate up to 21 students.
All the students learn in a small white farmhouse, according to the Tribune. There is also a playground and basketball court on the property. Photos of the interior show child-sized wooden desks, a kitchen area, wooden shelves with various supplies and a bright blue rug.
Trained Montessori educators teach at the school, with days structured into work periods and recess periods. In the morning, children do three hours of “uninterrupted” work, including activities that satisfy “their natural curiosity and affinity for exploration.” There is another similar period in the afternoons, when attendance is optional.
The students also have two 45-minute outdoor recess periods.
“I just didn’t see that the regular schools were doing the things that I thought should be done,” Musk told Ars Technica in a 2015 interview. “So I thought, well let’s see what we can do. Maybe creating a school will be better.”
Musk has supported Donald Trump’s vow to shut down the federal Department of Education, and said last month that education should be “as close to playing a video game as possible.” He added: “If you can make it interactive and engaging, then you can make education far more compelling and far easier to do.” Its wasn’t immediately clear how Ad Astra fulfills that particular vision.
“I do think we need significant reform in education,” Musk said during a Trump campaign event in October. “The Department of Education seems to regard as its primary duty foisting propaganda on our children as opposed to getting them a good education. It’s insane.”
Musk launched an earlier Ad Astra school in 2014 on SpaceX’s former California campus before Musk moved his businesses to Texas, but it closed in 2020. Children of SpaceX employees and other high-profile tech personalities attended (an onine version run by a co-founder of that school continued as Astra Nova). The current school will likely be “Musk’s biggest foray into education to date,” the Tribune noted.
Musk now also wants to build out his overall empire in Texas even further. Musk said he wants to transform Starbase, the SpaceX headquarters, into its own city.
“SpaceX HQ will now officially be in the city of Starbase, Texas,” he wrote on X last month.
Musk moved SpaceX to Texas from California after Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill prohibiting school districts from disclosing students’ gender identity.
“This is the final straw,” Musk wrote last year of the California law. “Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas.”
Texas Governor Greg Abbott praised the move: “This cements Texas as the leader in space exploration.”
