Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith will open the New Village Academy private school outside of Los Angeles in September amid controversy of some of the school’s planned teaching techniques.
The Smiths seek to create a school environment in which students can feel "happy, positive and exicted about learning," Will Smith says. Eighty percent of the students at the New Village Academy will receive financial assistance, ensuring that the student body will not only be children from families who can afford the high tuition.
There is controversy surrounding the school and their use of "study technology" a teaching method created by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology. Some critics are saying that the New Village Academy will further the agenda of this controversial religion.
The Smiths are not Scientologists and have denied any accusations that the school with teach the tennants of Scientology or any religion. Study technology is a method for teaching and can be applied to any subject matter; it does not pertain to any aspect of Scientology but was merely created by the same person who created Scientology.
Jacqueline Oliver, the school’s director said that New Village Academy has no religious affiliation. Some of the staff are Scientologists, she said, but others are Christian, Jewish and Muslim.
The New Village Academy is slated to open in Calabasas, CA on September 3 with an expected enrollment of 40 students between pre-kindergarten and sixth grade. To find out more information about the school, visit http://newvillageacademy.org/.
source: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/celebrity/la-me-newvillage29-2008jun29,0,4515213.story
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