Born at SpaceX, Astra Nova is an online school for kind, independent, and daring kids.
— available worldwide to students ages 10-15.
Courses
We offer around 300+ unique courses each school year. Taught by world-class faculty and built on first principles thinking, we get our students as close as possible to the cutting edge. See the full list of this term’s classes here.
A Few Examples of Courses This Term
The School*
(1) Astra Nova is an online-only non-profit school.
(2) We start with the question, “what matters most?” For us, the answer is the development of independent thinking and collaborative problem solving. The absolute goal is a generation of kids who can contribute good to the world.
(3) our school operates on Pacific Time (PT) although students join us from 45 countries and counting).
(4) all courses are taught live in English on Zoom— class sizes generally range from 6-16 students.
(5) we work with students ages 10-15, roughly 5th-9th grade
(6) our admissions process is need blind, and we meet 100% of demonstrated financial need for US-based and international families.
(7) tuition is $2,300 per class hour per school year with a minimum of 2 class hours— most students enroll in the 4-12 hour range.
(8) our academic calendar for the 2025/2026 school year can be found 👉 [Astra Nova Calendar]
(9) our faculty teach algebra I, geometry, algebra II, and pre-calculus— we work with Art of Problem Solving to support students who need a different math class.
(10) we provide guidance and support, including Astra Nova transcripts and letters of recommendation— many Astra Nova graduates attend the most selective boarding and day schools in the country.
(11) we are a small community of kind, curious, and ambitious people working together on big ideas— any insights we glean from our school, we humbly share with the world: Conundrums and Synthesis are two projects born at Astra Nova that have impacted millions of students to date.
(12) Astra Nova is widely recognized as one of the most unique and innovative schools in the world— expect new ideas each term.
How to Apply
Three simple steps by October 15— admissions decisions no later than December 15— no cost to apply.
STEP#1.
Students: watch a 1-minute Conundrum and record a response.
Respond to one of these videos below [The Puppet Conundrum, The Dragon Conundrum, The Game Conundrum] or any of the 55 others here: youtube.com/c/astranovaschool
STEP #2.
Parents: write a letter telling us more about your family.
We would love to know about your family. Please give us a sense of what you are looking for in a school and what you hope to find at Astra Nova. No more than one page, please. Please think of this as a short email, and do not worry about grammar or spelling. All languages are welcome.
STEP #3.
Parents: fill out basic information and submit by October 15, 2025 for enrollment in January 2026.
Please expect us to be in contact with you no later than November 1, 2025. Typically, about half of applicants move to the next round of the application process. Final application decisions are made no later than December 15, 2025.
In 2014, Ad Astra was co-founded by Josh Dahn and Elon Musk. Located on the campus of SpaceX’s Hawthorne rocket factory from 2014-2020, Ad Astra was an experimental school from first principles focused on collaborative problem solving.
In 2020, Ad Astra graduated its final class of students and spun out a fully independent non-profit accredited online school called Astra Nova. Co-founded by Josh Dahn, Dr. Rosemary Rohde (Ad Astra’s Director of Science), and Tara Safronoff (Ad Astra’s Director of English), Astra Nova’s mission is to bring space age education to students worldwide.
Our Story
