kind, curious, and daring kids.
A generation of kids who contribute
good to the world.
We look for students who work hard and love to learn. We hire faculty at the cutting edge of their field who love to teach. We design each year, anew, built on first principles and try to answer the question: what actually matters?
How Astra Nova Works
Explain Astra Nova most simply.
Great teachers + Smart Classmates + Interesting Classes
We look for exceptional people who understand the frontier of their field — they have intuitions about where things are going and design classes around the most essential knowledge and skills.
Talented students from around the world enroll in live online supplemental classes (2–11 hours/week) or join our comprehensive program (12+ hours/week).
Our ambitious goal: students who are ready to contribute value to teams working on the world's hardest problems now.
What kind of school is Astra Nova?
Astra Nova is an online, non-profit, WASC-accredited school. We have a middle school (ages 11–14) and high school (ages 14–18). Astra Nova is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is founder-driven and supported by an independent Board of Trustees.
How many students are in Astra Nova?
Astra Nova has 315 middle school students from 45 countries. Astra Nova will launch its high school in the 2026/2027 school year.
How are classes taught?
All courses are taught live in English on Zoom — class sizes generally range from 6–16 students.
What is the Astra Nova community like?
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.
Astra Nova is widely recognized as one of the most innovative schools in the world — expect new ideas each term.
When are classes?
Classes are held in seven one-hour blocks, Monday through Friday. Once accepted, register for the blocks that fit your family's schedule. Most students take between 4 and 16 class hours per week for the duration of the school year.
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How often do classes meet and for how long?
Some classes meet 1x per week while others meet 2 or more times a week. Math, for example, meets for 4 hours each week for the duration of the school year.
Each block is 60 minutes long.
2026/2027 School Calendar
What ages do you work with?
We work with students ages 11–18, roughly 6th through 12th grade.
What courses do you offer?
We create new classes each term. Here is a glimpse of courses offered in a previous semester: Winter 2026 Courses.
What about math?
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.
Do you provide transcripts and college support?
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.
How much does Astra Nova cost?
Tuition is $2,400 per class hour for the entire school year with a minimum of 2 class hours ($2,400 * 2 = $4,800). Most families enroll in the 4–16 hour range, so tuition most commonly ranges between $9,600 and $38,400.
What are your thoughts on tuition?
Astra Nova is a nonprofit tuition-based school — we do not have an annual fund, we do not actively solicit donations from families, and we do not receive money from the state or federal governments. Astra Nova uses tuition to pay for teachers' salaries, student supplies, and other program expenses. It is critically important to us that family finances should not prevent a child from attending Astra Nova. From the earliest days of Ad Astra to today, we have met 100% of demonstrated financial need for all families.
How does financial aid work?
We use Clarity, a financial aid system used by some of the best private schools in the country. It is designed to be streamlined, fair, and easy to use. You can complete the application on your mobile device, and for most families the process will take less than 20 minutes.
Once a family successfully completes the financial aid application, we are bound by our Board of Directors to honor the tuition amount that Clarity calculates. We share all financial aid offers at the time of acceptance.
How do I apply for financial aid?
- Please have your child apply to the school before the next deadline.
- If we invite your child to the next round and you would like to be considered for financial aid, please complete the Clarity process here: Clarity Application.
- Clarity charges a non-refundable application fee of $60. Astra Nova purchases fee waivers for applicants with total family incomes of $75,000 or less — email tara@astranova.org to request one.
What is your policy on financial aid integrity?
We are unapologetically judicious with the financial aid we give out. We expect everyone in the Astra Nova community to operate with the highest standard of integrity. If that trust is breached, we will not be able to move forward with your family.
Does Astra Nova have in-person experiences?
Yes. In addition to being an online school, Astra Nova offers optional in-person experiences throughout the year — immersive, hands-on trips designed to deepen learning and bring the community together.
Available to middle school students enrolled at Level B or Level C.
Available to high school students on the Graduation Track. The Corporate Collaborative places students inside a real company for a week — the partner varies each year.
The entire Astra Nova community — students, families, and faculty — is invited to Los Angeles in early June to spend a few days together.
Apply in three steps
We think a single "admissions season" is an outdated idea and charging money to apply is silly. We accept applications year-round and review submissions twice a year.
Parent Letter
Tell us about your family. What are you looking for in a school and what do you hope to find at Astra Nova? No more than one page — think of it as a short email.
Upload Documents
Fill out the basic information on the application and upload the CONUNDRUMS RESPONSE and PARENT LETTER. Typically, about half of applicants move to the next round of the admissions process.
We meet 100% of demonstrated financial need for all families.
High School
For 12 years, the #1 request from families has been to build a high school. Starting in August of 2026, we accepting students for a 3–4 year graduation-track program pairing rigorous academics with real-world experience.
- Rigorous technical courses — biotechnology, physics, engineering, artificial intelligence
- Courses in conversation with the wisdom of humanity — great literature, philosophy, mental models, history
- Two momentous workweeks a year
- Intensive experiences that build skills and intuitions
- In-person from morning until night
- Make friends and form foundational memories
- Work on real problems at companies pushing the frontier
- Embed in the culture of a company trying to solve difficult problems
- Understand team dynamics and the interplay of project details and big-picture realities
- Directly interact with the real world
Middle School
Open courses, uniquely designed, to explore the frontiers of knowledge and help students build the skills to make any team better.
- 2–7 class hours per week per year
- Mix and match courses across any subject area
- No commitment to a specific curriculum path
- 8–11 class hours per week per year
- Mix and match courses across any subject area
- No commitment to a specific curriculum path
- 12+ class hours per week per year
- Math taught at Astra Nova
- Best preparation for Astra Nova High School
School at a rocket factory.
The first article written about Ad Astra declared that it was "the most exclusive school in the world." We had been operating for less than two months with nine students and two full-time teachers. A few years later, The Washington Post said that we "created a secretive 'laboratory school' for brilliant kids who love flamethrowers."
The school was exclusive because it was small. It was secretive because it wasn't properly zoned. The kids were bright, but kindness and eagerness to learn (and parents that worked at SpaceX) were the only criteria for admission. We had a chemistry lab but not flamethrowers.
The location at a rocket factory and our association with Elon Musk made Ad Astra one-of-a-kind. But beyond the hype and hyperbole, Ad Astra was special because we had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to design a school from first principles. We did not have limitations of any mandated structure or curriculum. Our only directive from Elon was to "make it great." And from the terror and opportunity of that challenge, Astra Nova was born.
If you go through a school-design thought experiment, it's almost impossible not to end up with something that echoes a traditional school. You can eschew traditional subjects, but one way or another, you end up with some form of math, reading, writing, and science. And if like me, you have the opportunity to hire brilliant colleagues who are experts in their fields, you do so without hesitation. But it's quite easy to fool yourself into believing that you are creating an innovative school that can scale to the world when you've only leveraged your advantages in a limited setting.
Providing a superlative experience and rich learning community for a few dozen families is not trivial, but it falls woefully short of our mission. True success, in my mind, is the extent that we design better learning experiences for students that are not our own. We do this directly by scaling ideas like Conundrums and Synthesis, and we do this indirectly by giving schools around the world some cover to try bold experiments. If Astra Nova does it, perhaps there is a principal or superintendent or politician that will empower educators to design more schools that children love.
At Astra Nova, we make progress by challenging ourselves to be maniacally creative; we design each year anew. And we focus our energy on what really matters to the development of our students: their disposition towards learning and complexity, their ability to work effectively in teams, and their capacity to make ethical decisions. Every class and experience starts with these principles.
So I humbly welcome you to Astra Nova School — an eleven-year experiment that has been the challenge and joy of my life. We are a small team of dedicated educators and entrepreneurs who work with around 300 students across our programs. Ad Astra was the school at SpaceX that served 50 students; Astra Nova is the online school that aims to reach millions by sharing the insights from our work.
Racially Nondiscriminatory Policy as to Students: Astra Nova School admits students of any race, color, national, and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, and scholarship programs.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement: Astra Nova School provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to employees and applicants. Employment at Astra Nova School is based solely on the person's merit and qualifications. We do not discriminate against any employee or applicant based on race, creed, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, or any other basis protected by law. We comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws related to nondiscrimination and employment.
Image Credits: Don Petit, NASA. USGS. Tomoko Sato.
© 2026 Astra Nova School