McCarver’s kindergarten in Tacoma, a Seattle suburb, isn’t quite ordinary. First of all, it is a Montessori school. At the beginning of the school year, the week of September 5, pupils aged 3 to 5 found the type of material designed by the famous Italian teacher to develop autonomy in her light-colored classrooms: alone or in small groups. , on a table or carpet on the ground, they will draw in a sandbox, count with pebbles and papers decorated with numbers …
Another originality, the establishment does not welcome the usual wealthy families of Montessori schools: free and located in a disadvantaged neighborhood, it targets 50% of Americans deprived of asylum, because they are too rich to access free public classes and too much. poor to pay $ 13,000 (€ 13,000) a year for a private school.
Finally, an even more distinctive sign is written in white letters on a blue sign at the entrance: Bezos Academy. In fact, McCarver is one of five Montessori preschools opened since 2019 by the philanthropic fund of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. This structure specifies what it wants to create “Another 17 between 2023 and 2025, in the State of Washington, Florida and Texas”, to pour “1,300 students”.
“Create a prototype, improve it and distribute it widely”
The rise of these schools of a new kind is, for the moment, “modest”, notes Mira Debs, director of the education science department at Yale University (Connecticut). But Bezos Academy and its president, Michael George, did “a precise approach, inspired by companies like Amazon”, says this author of a book on Montessori schools, who, during a signing session in 2019, received a visit from this veteran of the e-commerce company where he spent sixteen years. “Their approach is to build a prototype, then improve it, then distribute it widely”, she analyzes.
“We will use the same principles as Amazon, particularly a true obsession with the customer. The student will be the customer. Mr. Bezos had theorized when announcing the project. What does M thinkmyself Debts of the Bezos Academy? She was “Pleasantly surprised” that the organization makes contact with the Montessori community, but also establishes collaborations with municipalities, donors or retirement homes, which make them available. But, the academician regrets, Mr. Bezos could have done it “An even greater impact” also supporting existing Montessori organizations that already work with disadvantaged populations.
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