Lucas Alexander via Unsplash
A free lottery-based preschool program serving Oak Cliff and southern Dallas is coming this fall, courtesy Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
Bezos Academy — launched in Seattle in 2020 by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos for low income families — is coming to Dallas College. The continuing education system serving Dallas County announced Mountain View and Cedar Valley campuses will be home to the Montessori-inspired classrooms come fall of this year. Dallas will be the first county outside Washington state to welcome Bezos Academy.
Dallas College Chancellor Joe May explains, in a press release from the college, why these locations make sense.
“Nearly one in 10 children in America live in Texas, and one in four children in Texas live in North Texas. For most of these children, both parents are in the workforce. The demand for more high-quality early childhood education must be met, and it’s a big reason why we are so grateful to partner with the Bezos vision in the form of brick-and-mortar schools that will eventually serve countless families in Dallas County.”
The preschools will serve 3 and 4 year olds from families making up to 400% of the federal poverty level. For a family of three, for example, that’s $87,840, based on national poverty levels as of 2021.
The Academy covers all operating expenses, provides meals and supplies needed throughout the day.
Bezos Academy president Mike George says the schools offer year-round programming, five days a week, for children from low-income families, “using a schedule that is beneficial for children’s learning and growth, while also making it easier for working parents.”
He calls Dallas College an ideal next partner because of its “strong commitment to serving the community though education.”
“Young learners and their families need access to effective and highly trained early childhood professionals who have a strong understanding of child development and teaching strategies,” George says.
The Montessori method of education features more hands-on, collaborative curriculums rooted in an individual student’s own interests. The big-tech billionaire himself attended this type of school when he was 2, he told one Montessori Life magazine in back in the year 2000, when he was 30.
“You know, intuitively, I think it was probably a very formative experience for me to be able to go to those classes, in that environment, and be so stimulated at an early age,” Bezos told interviewer Joy Turner at the time. “I don’t actually know what the scientific research shows, but intuitively I have to imagine that it’s good for little kids.”
Dr. Robert DeHaas, vice provost of the Dallas College School of Education says Bezos Academy and the college system have “intersecting missions that place early child development and education at the forefront of where we are headed as a nation.”
In another 22 years, perhaps some of the kids benefitting from Bezos Academy will be entrepreneurs, leaders and/or ridiculously wealthy in their own rights.
Says DeHaas, “Much like Mr. Bezos, who has charted a path in space exploration while investing in the minds of future generations through education, Dallas College leaders have embraced the need for students and families to access early childhood education — which is critical to strengthening the future workforce of our region and our nation.”
Forbes did run a somewhat critical story about Bezos/Amazon and Bezos Academy to which a spokesperson for Amazon responded that while “Jeff has applied some of the principles and thinking that he did to building Amazon [to Bezos Academy], Amazon and Bezos Academy are two separate entities.”
Enrollment will be decided by way of lottery, which will be announced at a later date. For updates on that, we can all keep an eye on bezosacademy.org.
