Rex Academy

Rex Academy provides a comprehensive, turnkey curriculum for K-12 schools and districts focused on computer science, AI, and cybersecurity. The company’s primary clients are educational institutions, including public and private schools, as well as workforce development organizations, operating within the EdTech market. Its business model is primarily subscription-based, licensing its curriculum and platform to schools on an annual basis.

The company was founded in 2015 by Sandhya Padala, a software engineer who previously worked at Harley Davidson. Her journey began when she sought to find a computer science program for her nine-year-old son and discovered a significant gap in the educational landscape. Drawing from her own experience of overcoming poverty in India through a career in technology, Padala was motivated to make computer science accessible to all students. She started by teaching her son and his friends, which quickly expanded into running 45 summer camps. This initial success highlighted the broader need and led to the creation of Rex K-12 to provide a scalable solution for schools facing a shortage of qualified computer science teachers. By 2019, the company pivoted to a SaaS model to broaden its reach.

Rex Academy's core offering is a browser-based, AI-driven technology learning platform that delivers a project-based curriculum. The platform is designed to be used by teachers who are not computer science experts, featuring interactive video lessons, simulations, an online lab environment in Microsoft Azure, and automatically graded assessments. This self-paced, hands-on approach removes the need for students to install complex software or require powerful hardware. The curriculum covers subjects such as Python, game development, cybersecurity, and AI, and is aligned with various state and national standards, including Common Core, CSTA, and TEKS. A key benefit is its ability to help schools overcome the computer science teacher shortage by either equipping non-specialist teachers or by providing remote instructors to run classes. The company reports significant success, citing an instance where a Texas school's AP Computer Science exam pass rate increased from 70% to 100% after implementing their program.

Keywords: EdTech, K-12 computer science, cybersecurity education, AI curriculum, online learning platform, SaaS, teacher shortage solution, project-based learning, STEM education, digital literacy, coding for kids, IT skills training, workforce development, educational curriculum, virtual labs, AP computer science, Sandhya Padala, remote teaching, standards-aligned curriculum, K-12 education