Special to Independent Newsmedia
Bezos Academy will open its first preschool in Glendale this August.
The first of two planned campuses within the city will be housed at Desert Garden Elementary School, 7020 W. Ocotillo Road. Bezos Academy is building a network of tuition-free, Montessori-inspired preschools in under-resourced communities.
Bezos Academy, funded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, currently operates more than 20 preschools across Florida, Texas, and Washington, and this fall are expanding with four campuses within the Valley.
Bezos Academy preschools offer full-day programming five days a week, for children ages 3 to 5.
The Academy covers all operating expenses for its preschool programs at no cost to the families they serve. Bezos Academy hires, trains, develops, and pays educators.
Bezos Academy’s only eligibility requirement is that families earn up to 400% of the Federal Poverty Level (about $128,600 for a family of four).
The Academy has announced plans for five tuition-free preschools in Arizona, with capacity to serve 400 total students. In addition to the Glendale site, other locations enrolling students now for the 2025-26 school year include:
Bezos Academy Glendale – Sahuaro Glenn, its fifth preschool planned for Arizona, is in development. The preschool will be located at Glencroft Center for Modern Aging, a nonprofit senior living community.
Details on eligibility and the lottery-based selection process are available at https://bezosacademy.org/eligibility/.
While each school looks a bit different, as this photo from a different campus shows, the shelves, materials and classroom set up are intentionally very similar.
(Photo provided by Bezos Academy)
