BF2S Forums Will Smith Opens Scientology School

“New Village Academy will lead the world in identifying innovative learning styles, educational best practices and the ingredients for enduring prosperity.” This quote is from the Vision Statement of the new school being funded and founded by Will Smith. Some of the “innovative learning styles” are Montessori, the Constructivist Model, and L. Ron Hubbard Study Tech, among others.

Study Tech was “developed” by L. Ron Hubbard and is used worldwide by the Church of Scientology. It is also promoted by a group called Applied Scholastics, a known Scientology front group. It combines common sense with learning techniques that have been around since the dawn of language, and gift wraps it in a shiny new package — with only 4% of the total income as the cost.

New Village Academy, along with using the Study Tech, as well as promoting L. Ron Hubbard on their Glossary page, has 6 staff members who have been confirmed to have studied Scientology. A post at the Operation Clambake Message Boards listed that Andrea Beckham, Sigrid Burket, Tasia Jones, James Oliver, Marcia Perkins, and Sisu Raiken have all taken Scientology courses between 1990 and 2006 (using the Scientology Service Completions tool from the Truth About Scientology website).

Another noteworthy aspect of the NVA is that they have a large section of their curriculum outlining the importance of learning “Ethics” (a very Scientology term). The NVA website states that “A well-established ethics system is used to help students who have made poor choices learn to make better ones.” It also says that “Our faculty, specifically teachers who are trained to work with our children on ethics, are available to students when they are having difficulties in any situation.”

The Staff who are known to have Scientology training will be, among other things, the “Education Enrichment Program Supervisor”, “Director of Qualifications” (Qualifications, or ‘Quals’ will be the program to make sure that students have a 100% understanding of things, and if they don’t they will be retaught gently what they don’t know), “Director of Learning”, as well as a position of training the teachers.