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This isn’t a joke: WeWork is seriously opening a kindergarten
“WeGrow” is the latest offering from $20B co-working company
WeWork’s newest community isn’t old enough to hold a job.
The $20 billion co-working company is starting a private elementary school for “conscious entrepreneurship” inside one of its New York City locations next fall, Bloomberg reported.
“In my book, there’s no reason why children in elementary schools can’t be launching their own businesses,” said WeWork co-founder Rebekah Neumann, the company’s chief brand officer (and the wife of company CEO Adam Neumann), who is helping spearhead the project.
Conventional education, Neumann argues is “squashing out the entrepreneurial spirit and creativity that’s intrinsic to all young children.”
The first WeWork school will most likely be built at the company’s headquarters and have a separate entrance, according to Bloomberg. The company has hired architect Bjarke Ingels and plans to have 65 students in the fall.
Neumann’s plan is to eventually open schools around the world in WeWorks in a branch called WeGrow.
WeWork has been expanding its scope to other lines of business like a company-branded gym, but not all have been hits. WeLive, the company’s housing line of business, was expected to have 36 locations this year when it launched in 2017. But so far the company has just two locations.
At the same time, WeWork’s been making more traditional real estate plays, such a purchasing Lord & Taylor’s Manhattan flagship for $850 million and the Blackstone Group’s London co-working campus for $785 million. [Bloomberg] – Rich Bockmann