Astra Nova School

Astra Nova School, successor to Ad Astra, is a non-profit online school founded by Elon Musk and Joshua Dahn on the campus of SpaceX. The Washington Post said it was possibly "the most exclusive school in the world". ^[1]

History

Ad Astra (meaning "To the stars" in Latin) was launched in 2014 after Musk pulled his five children out of school, ^[2] saying in an interview that "They weren't doing the things I thought should be done." ^[3] Musk hired Joshua Dahn to design the new school and teach a small group of students, mainly Musk's own children and those of SpaceX employees, for free. ^{[4] [5]} Grades, foreign language studies, and music lessons were notably absent from the school's curriculum. ^[6] The school left SpaceX campus in June 2020 when Musk's children graduated. ^[7]

In Walter Isaacson's 2023 biography, Elon Musk, Musk states, "They went there until they were about fourteen but then I thought they should be introduced to the real world for high school. What I should have done is extend Ad Astra through high school." ^[8]

In August 2020, the former faculty and students of Ad Astra created the non-profit Astra Nova School. ^[9]

Curriculum

The curriculum focuses on first principles thinking, decision making, and collaboration. ^[10] According to The New York Times , Musk and Dahn split intellectual property of the school 50-50 ^[11] Ad Astra and Astra Nova use various open-ended scenarios, called "Conundrums", that encourage constructive disagreement. Conundrums have been used in millions of classrooms in partnership with ClassDojo. ^[7] Synthesis, a venture-backed educational technology company founded in 2020, is also based on the work of Astra Nova. ^[12]

Operations

The school is currently run by Joshua Dahn and co-founders Dr. Rosemary Rohde and Tara Safronoff. ^{[13] [7]} The school accepts students ages 10–14 and currently has an enrollment of 300 from around the world. ^{[14] [ better source needed ]}

See also

• Texas Institute of Technology and Science

References

1. Holley, Peter (June 27, 2018). "Elon Musk created a secretive 'laboratory school' for brilliant kids who love flamethrowers" . The Switch. The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286. OCLC   2269358. Archived from the original on June 27, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
2. Kosoff, Maya (May 22, 2015). "Elon Musk didn't like his kids' school, so he made his own small, secretive school without grade levels". Business Insider . OCLC   1076392313. Archived from the original on December 25, 2024. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
3. Opam, Kwame (May 22, 2015). "Elon Musk created his own grade school for the children of SpaceX employees". The Verge . Vox Media. OCLC   867048487. Archived from the original on December 7, 2024. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
4. Harris, Mark (July 5, 2020). "Would You Pay $7,500 to Educate Your Kid Like Elon Musk's?". The Daily Beast. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
5. "Elon Musk didn't like his kids' school, so he started his own". VentureBeat. May 24, 2015. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
6. "Inside Elon Musk's Ad Astra School Where Grades and Traditional Classes Don't Exist". Yahoo Finance. June 26, 2018. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
7. Jones, Sarah (August 10, 2022). "SpaceXCadets". Intelligencer. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
8. "What drove Elon Musk — onetime Democratic 'fanboy' — to troll progressive politics". Los Angeles Times. November 14, 2023.
9. "The Next Frontier in STEM Education". City Journal. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
10. Higgins, Tim. "Behind Elon Musk's Management Philosophy: First Principles". WSJ.
11. Fahrenthold, David A.; Mac, Ryan (March 10, 2024). "Elon Musk Has a Giant Charity. Its Money Stays Close to Home". The New York Times.
12. "Elon Musk's SpaceX lab school principles now molding young innovators around the world". January 30, 2021.
13. Hollier, Shireen (July 2, 2022). "Elon Musk Created A Private School For His Kids; Now, It's Been Shut Down". TheThings. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
14. "Astra Nova School". Astra Nova School. Retrieved November 14, 2023.