Recently, The Daily World learned that Bezos Academy Pacific Beach, which is located inside Pacific Beach Elementary School, was slated for closure on June 27. Parents were notified by regular mail last week.

Founded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, there are 10 other Bezos Academy preschools in Washington state, with a new one planned for Centralia. All 10 are actively accepting applications for the 2025-26 school year. The new location, which has not started accepting applications just yet, will be housed in the United Learning Center of Lewis County in downtown Centralia.

Bezos Academy tuition-free (for eligible families) all-day preschools are also located in Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky and Texas.

A Facebook page titled “SAVE the Pacific Beach Bezos Academy” was started the same day The Daily World published a story announcing the preschool’s closure. A Change.org petition was also launched by Leigh Rowley.

The associated Facebook post reads, in part:

“If you are a parent or community member within 25 miles of Pacific Beach, join us in asking Bezos Academy NOT TO CLOSE OUR PRESCHOOL. Read the story and sign our petition if you can support its mission in the Grays Harbor community on Change.org.

“We kindly urge you to consider this petition and the collective efforts of parents who believe in the value of this preschool. Together, we can secure the future of Pacific Beach Bezos Academy for the next generation of children and continue to provide our children with the foundation they deserve.”

That post can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16LA5fF3s8/

A Bezos Academy spokesperson cited low enrollment as the reason for the closure.

“Pacific Beach was among the earliest schools we made plans to open at Bezos Academy. Since then, we’ve learned a lot about the space we need to effectively run a preschool,” said Allison Leader, Bezos Academy director of communications, via email regarding the reasoning behind the closure. “Operating in this community has been a wonderful experience, but unfortunately, we haven’t been able to attract the number of families we had hoped. Despite efforts from us and many members of the community, we just can’t fill our seats at the level we need to continue. We are working closely with both families and staff to support them during this transition.”