West Hollywood’s Center for Early Education (CEE) — which charges over $19,000 for their Toddler Program — hosted singer Beyoncé Knowles at its 75th Anniversary gala on Saturday.
Knowles performed a cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” — which, as Rolling Stone noted, Whitney Houston famously covered in 1992. The gala preschool performance also included Knowles’s hits “XO” and “Crazy In Love.”
Reports have indicated that 4-year-old Blue Ivy, the child of Beyoncé and singer Jay-Z, attends the elite West Hollywood school, according to Vanity Fair.
Controversy recently erupted around the singer’s Super Bowl 50 halftime performance, which paid tribute to the Black Panthers and black liberation politics. Knowles and husband Jay-Z have also pushed the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Lee Stranahan of Breitbart News has reported that Jay-Z pledged $1.5 million from a struggling music streaming venture to BLM and other groups.
Beyoncé declared during the event that she was there to celebrate Reveta Bowers, Head of CEE, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Tuition at the Center for Early Education (CEE) ranges from around $19,000 per year for the Toddler Program to almost $30,000 for Elementary Grade 6 in the 2015-2016 school, year according to the school’s website.
Bowers told reporters that proceeds from the gala event were slated mainly for financial aid at the school, according to the Times. She indicated that gala ticket prices varied with ability to pay, but would not give further details. Bowers herself is retiring from 44 years in teaching and administration.
CEE’s website states that 21 per cent of students receive financial aid or tuition remission. Of 119 financial aid applications, 106 were awarded assistance. The FA Applicant Income Range, as listed on the website, ranges from $20,000 to $405,000. Of those, 25 percent are in the $225,000 or greater income range.
Enrollment is listed as 538 for the toddler-to-Grade 6 range, with 51 per cent “diversity” in the student body. The CEE mission statement describes the school as “a socio-economically and culturally diverse independent school for children.” According to the CEE website, “The Center for Early Education was founded in 1939 by a group of parents, most of whom were professional psychoanalysts.”
Social media posts gave an inside view of the night’s performance:
https://twitter.com/BeyonceReigns/status/706479698818240513
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana
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