A new Montessori school is opening outside of Austin, backed by Elon Musk.
The Tesla CEO cofounded the school, which will open on a 40-acre property in Bastrop, Texas, that used to be a horse ranch. Bastrop is also the home of Musk’s Boring Company.
The school, named Ad Astra, will be open to children between the ages of 3 and 9, and will focus on science, technology, engineering, and math. Applications are being accepted now, with the school tentatively beginning classes in September.
“Ad Astra’s mission is to foster curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking in the next generation of problem solvers and builders,” the school’s website proclaims.
Only 50 students will be accepted: 18 between the aged of 3 and 6, and 30 lower-elementary students between 6 and 9.
Musk moved to Texas in 2020, after growing frustrated with California during the pandemic. He has become so enamored with the Lone Star State that he’s also in the process of building his own town, which would become a de facto suburb of Austin. Musk has reportedly bought thousands of acres of land about 35 miles outside of the city, adjacent to the Boring and SpaceX facilities under construction in the area.
The proposed municipality is said to already include some modular homes. Signs hang from poles reading “welcome, snailbrook, tx, est. 2021.” Snailbrook is the name of Boring’s mascot.
Musk reportedly wants to offer rental houses to workers at well below local averages. One ad allegedly put the price of a two- or three-bedroom home at $800, compared to $2,200 a month in Bastrop.
Texas law requires an area to have at least 201 residents before it can incorporate. Plans reportedly call for the construction of 110 more homes in the area where Snailbrook is located.
It’s unclear if his investment in the Montessori school is tied with the in-the-works suburb.
Musk’s anchor to the area is the Gigafactory manufacturing facility in Austin. The facility covers 2,500 acres along the Colorado River with over 10 million square feet of factory floor. That makes it the second-largest building in the world.