On December 16, construction officially began on the newest Bezos Academy location in Dallas.
According to its website, the school network created by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos seeks to provide “tuition-free, Montessori-inspired preschools in underserved communities” throughout the United States.
The preschools provide year-round programming, five days a week, for students aged three through five. The academy offers full-day schooling, allowing parents to more easily attend work compared to typical preschools, which are often half-day in length.
According to the Bezos Academy, a typical preschool in the United States costs $13,655 per child per year.
Since the academy takes a Montessori-style approach, children are given flexibility in deciding what they work on. The school aims to allow students’ unique preferences, strengths, and challenges to inform program design. According to the academy, the school’s principles include “using a child’s interests and movement to support learning and cognition.”
The new Dallas location is being constructed at 2101 Crouch Road next to the new Ridge at Lancaster community, a mixed-use development that will eventually see 300 apartment units, mostly income restricted, built during its initial phase.
The $75 million phase one investment is expected to provide “high-quality, workforce housing for our residents,” according to Councilmember Tennell Atkins. The final plans will see a new neighborhood with 250,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, including the new Bezos Academy, which is expected to open at the same time residents move into the new community.
The new project is not the first for the Bezos Academy in DFW. Earlier this year, the academy announced its expansion into Texas and Florida.
Forefront Living, a retirement services company, announced in January that the Bezos Academy secured a 10-year lease at its Presbyterian Village North location in Northeast Dallas, the first in the city.
While a retirement home may seem like an odd location to educate toddlers, this is not the first Bezos Academy to join a senior living community, and Tim Mallad, CEO of Forefront Living, sees a benefit in mixing the demographics.
“We believe in the power of generations interacting,” Mallad said.
As of December 21, the Bezos Academy website listed five locations in DFW that are “coming soon” or already accepting applications.
