SpaceX founder Elon Musk does not want his children to go through the traditional route of education. He found no school that he liked, so he decided to make one instead.
Business Insider reported that, in an interview on Beijing Television last year, Elon Musk revealed that his school's name is Ad Astra, meaning "To the stars." It is described as "small and relatively secretive" as it does not have its own website or any social media presence.
According to Christina Simon, of Beyond the Brochure, Elon Musk's school only had children from SpaceX employees and a few "non-SpaceX kids" last 2014. Back then, it was still "small and experimental."
In the interview, the Tesla founder confirmed that Ad Astra had 14 kids. It was expected to increase to 20 in Sep. 2015.
Moreover, Elon Musk's school aims to remove grade levels so that there would be no distinction between students. "[I'm] making all the children go through the same grade at the same time, like an assembly line," he said.
"Some people love English or languages. Some people love math. Some people love music. Different abilities, different times. It makes more sense to cater the education to match their aptitudes and abilities."
Elon Musk's school came about when he found that he did not see regular schools doing the things that he thinks should be done. He added that one of the fundamental flaws in traditional learning can be found in how schools teach problem solving.
"It's important to teach problem solving, or teach to the problem and not the tools," Musk said. "Let's say you're trying to teach people about how engines work. A more traditional approach would be saying, 'we're going to teach all about screwdrivers and wrenches.' This is a very difficult way to do it."
Instead, he claimed that it would make more sense to give students an engine then disassemble it. This way, the function of a tool, such as the screwdriver, would be more relevant. Musk noted that his kids "really love going to school."
