Ali said the word about his center, which provides opportunities to learn STEM subjects—or science, technology, engineering and math—has spread organically.
“Because it's $100 a month, I don't have a whole boatload of cash to be advertising the way other people do,” Ali said. “So my 300 students [are all by] pure word of mouth—one parent telling another.”
His primary focus is providing accessibility to learners of all ages and abilities, as these are the tools needed to excel in school and even further into their careers, he said.
“This should be available to every kid out there, because they are the ones that are growing into this world,” Ali said.
Smart Core Labs starts teaching kids as young as five years old scratch-coding and robotics, Ali said.
His curriculums were developed by professionals from NASA and Rice University, he said. His current instructors are educators, with some even trained in special education.
“For an eight- or nine-year-old to be coding in Python ... is pretty amazing,” he said. “Our entire program was built in such a way ... that's not so complicated. We just break it down, [teach] the fundamentals and move from there.”
They go beyond the STEM subjects to teach web development and artificial intelligence, which Ali said are also skills necessary to equip students for a constantly evolving world.
“These are things that are going to be determining the future for us,” Ali said. “The earlier the kids get into this, the better it is for them.”
The early learning center partners with both Pearland and Alvin ISDs, as well as area private schools, for in-school and after-school programming, Ali said. He opened a new facility in Manvel in May.
This increases his reach to about 4,000 kids across southeast Houston, he said.
Ali said he has considered franchising the business to put locations in more areas of Greater Houston, but right now, he wants to maintain a focus on student experience over rapid expansion.
“I don't want this to become a kind of machine, ... I look at everything as a parent. Would I send my kids there, what do they achieve from that?” Ali said. “For me, for all my instructors and my staff, this is more of a passion.”
- 2809 Miller Ranch Rd., Ste. 401, Pearland
- www.smartcorelabs.com
