the-biz

Will Smith Opens School for Scientology

by Michael P on Jun. 30, 2008 10:00 AM / 4 Comments

Tom Cruise buddies Will Smith and wife Jada Pinkett Smith deny they are Scientologists. But they will open an elementary school in Los Angeles that will use a teaching method based on L. Ron Hubbard's controversial religion.

The couple are among the founders of the "nondenominational" New Village Academy, which is set to open on Sept 3 and will employ Scientologist teachers. Children of all religious backgrounds are reportedly welcome to enroll.

"New Village Academy was born of a simple question: Is it possible to create an educational environment in which children have fun learning?" Will asks. "Jada and I believe the answer is yes."

The Hubbard "study technology" focuses on "hands-on experience, mastering a subject before moving on and not reading past words students don't understand," according to E! Online. The school will feature classes in robotics, yoga and etiquette and have a no-sugar policy.

Oh, yeah, it's for nondenominational robots, all right.

Quotables /

“Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith are joining the leagues of Oprah Winfrey, Andre Agassi and Tiger Woods, and have created a new school. Called the New Village Academy the private school will have pre-kindergarten through sixth grade and teach subjects in the areas of literacy, math, living skills, Spanish, karate, yoga, robotics, technology, etiquette and art.

Robotics? Not only that, the school will be using a methodology called study technology which was deveoped by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Also, there is a lot of Scientology lingo on the school website, including people involved in "qual" which involves the Scientology auditing process.

Will still maintains that he is not a Scientologist, and the school says teaching Scientology is not on its agenda.

"New Village Academy was born of a simple question, 'Is it possible to create an educational environment in which children have fun learning?' he said. "Jada and I believe the answer is 'Yes.'"”

Socialite Life

“Will Smith seems smarter than this, but he’s an actor and actors are idiots so I guess it's not surprising. Actors will fall for anything. If you can get really one big one the rest will follow and do what he does. You could get a Moose costume and tap dancing shoes, then all you need to do is convince George Clooney that TapaMoose can tap, tap, tap away your insecurities with tophats and razzmatazz, and by the end of the week you’d be rolling around in mountains of money like Scrooge McDuck.”

Tell Us / Would you send your child to New Village Academy even if you didn't believe in Scientology?

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Comments / 1-4 of 4

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thrudawire 1 yr 4 mos ago
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will they be teachers?
bawwow 1 yr 4 mos ago
Reply

Id love for will smith to be my teacher. i would NEVER miss class.
sharkbait 1 yr 4 mos ago
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scientology is the devil
gorillasayz 1 yr 4 mos ago
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Why would he create a school for something he doesn't believe in himself?