CanDo StudioApplying to Astra Nova: the online school born at SpaceX
Online, people call it “the Musk school.” What is it really? How does the three-step application work? What does it cost? Why does the schedule suit Canada’s west coast? And how can you try the free Conundrums first? We checked every claim against the school’s own site.
0. One-minute overview
| What it is | An online school. It was born in 2014 on the campus of SpaceX (Elon Musk’s rocket company), where it was called Ad Astra. It has been independent since 2020. Nonprofit, WASC-accredited |
|---|---|
| Who it takes | Middle school takes ages 11–14, high school takes ages 14–18 (the first group starts in August 2026). It enrols students worldwide. All classes are in English, live on Zoom (video-meeting software) |
| How to apply | Three steps: your child records a short “Conundrum” video, you write a one-page parent letter, and together you fill in a basic form. No application fee |
| When | Applications are accepted year-round and reviewed twice a year. This round closes 2026-10-15, at 11:59 p.m. Los Angeles time, for January 2027 entry |
| Cost | Priced by how many hours a week your child takes: US$4,800 to US$36,000 for a school year. Financial aid goes through Clarity |
| For BC families | Class blocks run on Los Angeles time. Most of BC is in the same Pacific time zone, so there is zero time difference. East Kootenay and Peace River families: check, you may be one hour ahead |
Ready to act? The application is in section 4. Section 7 shows how to try it free first.
1. Where this school comes from — and what Elon Musk actually has to do with it
First, let us set the record straight. The opening line on the school’s own site is “Born at SpaceX.” Here is the history the school publishes:
- 2014: Josh (full name Josh Dahn) co-founds Ad Astra at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, CA. At the start it is a school for the children of SpaceX employees and Los Angeles families;
- 2014–2020: Ad Astra runs inside the SpaceX campus for six years. In those years it builds a way of teaching around three things: curiosity, problem-solving and intellectual courage. Its signature activity, the Conundrums, comes out of those six years, and so does Synthesis, which later spun off as a separate company;
- 2020 onward: the school becomes Astra Nova, an independent online nonprofit school, open to students worldwide.
The school has three co-founders, who are also its co-executive directors: Josh Dahn, Dr. Rosemary Rohde and Tara Safronoff. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (that is the US tax category for tax-exempt nonprofits) and it is WASC-accredited (WASC is a US school accreditation body). It also has an independent Board of Trustees. The school states that all of its income comes from tuition: it solicits no donations and takes no government money. The middle school currently has 315 students from 45 countries.
2. What school looks like there
This is not a regular school moved online. It is closer to a school where you choose your own intensity: you and your child decide how many hours a week to take. Classes have 6–16 students. Everything is taught live in English on Zoom. New courses launch three times a year. Most students take 4–16 class hours a week.
| Division | Ages | Tiers |
|---|---|---|
| Middle school | 11–14 | A · Supplemental: 2–7 hours a week, courses only |
| B: 8–11 hours a week, courses plus two camps a year (Sea Camp in San Diego, Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama) | ||
| C · Comprehensive: 12 or more hours a week, courses plus camps plus a math class that runs all year | ||
| High school (first cohort Aug 2026) | 14–18 | 1: 2–7 hours a week, courses only |
| 2: 8 or more hours a week, courses plus two weeks of in-person Intensives each year | ||
| 3 · Graduation track: 12 or more hours a week for 3–4 years, courses plus Intensives plus a one-week project with a company each year |
How does math work? School faculty teach Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II and Pre-Calculus. For students who go further, or who need something different, the school arranges it with Art of Problem Solving (AoPS, a math education organization). Math meets 4 hours a week, all year. In-person events are all optional. There is also an end-of-year family gathering in Los Angeles.
What about credentials? The school issues its own transcripts and recommendation letters. It says many graduates go on to highly selective private schools. Notes for BC families are in section 8.
3. The schedule: zero time difference for BC
There are seven one-hour blocks from Monday to Friday. Not all seven run every day; see the table. Once your child is accepted, you pick the blocks. The blocks run on Los Angeles time. Most of BC sits in the same Pacific time zone, so the times below are the times on your own clock. There is nothing to convert:
| Block | Pacific time (= BC time) | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Block 1 | 7:00–8:00 | Tue–Fri |
| Block 2 | 8:30–9:30 | Mon–Fri |
| Block 3 | 10:00–11:00 | Mon–Fri |
| Block 4 | 11:30–12:30 | Mon–Fri |
| Block 5 | 13:00–14:00 | Mon–Fri |
| Block 6 | 14:30–15:30 | Mon–Fri |
| Block 7 | 16:00–17:00 | Thu–Fri only |
Some classes meet once a week, others twice or more. Math meets four hours a week. For families in Asia, these blocks fall in the middle of the night. For BC families, they are a rare chance: your child attends on a normal local schedule.
4. The three-step application (no fee)
The application has three steps and two documents, and that is all. The site even takes a swipe at the industry habit: “charging money to apply is silly.” So there is no application fee.
The official question bank holds 63 Conundrums, and all of them are public on the YouTube channel. Your child picks any one and records a 30-second to 2-minute video answer. Audio only is accepted if your child would rather not be on camera. What the school wants to hear is how your child thinks it through. It says clearly: do not have your child read from a script.
Describe your family, what you are looking for in a school, and what you hope your child will find at Astra Nova. One page at most. The school says to treat it as a short email and not to worry about grammar or spelling. (Online you may read that “any language is accepted.” That claim appears nowhere on the site or the form, so we suggest writing in English.)
Fill in the basics on the official form: parent emails, your child’s name and birthday, your address, middle school or high school, how many hours a week you plan on, and which Conundrum was answered. Upload the two files. Sign electronically as the lawful parent or guardian. Then submit.
How selective is it? The site says about half of applicants move to the next round, which is a small-group interview.
5. Timeline: when to apply, when you hear back
This school has no “admissions season.” Applications are accepted year-round and reviewed twice a year. Here are the dates for the current round, the October 2026 one:
- 2026-10-15, by 11:59 p.m. Los Angeles time: applications close;
- around 2026-11-01: shortlisted applicants have their small-group interview;
- 2026-12-15: decisions come out;
- 2027-01-04: new students start class.
The 2026/27 school year runs like this. Classes begin August 26. The year has three terms. Term 1 runs to Dec 11. Term 2 runs Jan 4 to Mar 12. Term 3 runs Mar 29 to Jun 2. The end-of-year family gathering is in Los Angeles on June 4.
6. Tuition and financial aid (USD)
Tuition is set in tiers, based on how many hours a week your child takes. One tier price covers the full school year, August through June. The figures below are for a full school year. The site does not say whether students who start in January pay a reduced amount, so ask the school directly once your child is accepted:
| Hours/week | Tuition per year (USD) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | US$4,800 | The lightest tier. It is still a full enrolment, not a trial period |
| 3–4 | US$9,600 | |
| 5–7 | US$14,400 | |
| 8–11 | US$24,000 | From this tier up, your child can join the camps and Intensives |
| 12–15 | US$31,200 | The intensity of the comprehensive and graduation tracks |
| 16+ | US$36,000 |
If full tuition is out of reach, do not walk away yet. Financial aid is assessed through Clarity, the aid assessment system many private schools use. The site says most families finish it in under 20 minutes. The Board promises to honour whatever amount Clarity calculates. Your aid offer arrives together with your acceptance. The school also says that since the Ad Astra days it has covered 100% of every family’s demonstrated financial need. It says just as plainly that it is very strict about honesty in aid applications.
7. Try it free first: the Conundrum library is public
This may be the lowest-barrier taste of an “elite school” anywhere online. The Conundrums used in admissions are all public on the official YouTube channel (@astranovaschool). Each one is a short thought-experiment video. There is no right answer. What they test is imagination, logic and independent thinking. The names are vivid: BLUE COMET, TREASURE, FOX, NASA, DRAGON, MOONSHOT. The application form lists 63 of them, and your child answers any one.
- Step 1: watch two or three together, and talk them over at the dinner table;
- Step 2: let your child pick the one they have the most to say about, then have them talk it through once or twice, with no script;
- Step 3: record the real answer, 30 seconds to 2 minutes, in a natural voice. The school wants your child’s reasoning, not a performance.
There are two more free doors. The first is the public course menu (menu.astranova.org): see which courses light your child up. The second is ClassDojo. Since 2021 the school has worked with that education platform for schools and families to bring Conundrums to children worldwide. Even if you never apply, these questions make great material for family conversation.
8. Three things BC families should think through first
1) The English-language classroom is a real bar. Every class is a live English discussion on Zoom with 6–16 students. Your child has to speak up, not just follow along. The site mentions no Chinese-language or multilingual instruction.
2) Your child’s school-enrolment status in BC is your homework, not the school’s. Astra Nova issues its own transcripts and is WASC-accredited. But it does not handle your child’s compulsory-schooling registration in BC. Families usually take one of two routes. The first: treat it as an after-school supplement, using only blocks that do not clash, such as 1 and 7. The second: register under BC’s homeschooling or online-school route first, then add Astra Nova on top. We cover the BC registration rules and where to find Online Learning BC in guide No. 4. If you are unsure, ask your current school district first.
3) Budget in US dollars. Tuition is priced in USD; see section 6. Allow for exchange-rate swings. And fill in the Clarity aid assessment carefully.
9. Myths, corrected
Fact: Musk co-founded its predecessor, Ad Astra. That ran from 2014 to 2020, on the SpaceX campus. Astra Nova has been an independent nonprofit since 2020. It is not run by SpaceX, and it is not run by Musk.
Fact: neither the site nor the form says that, and instruction is explicitly in English. So we suggest writing the letter in English, like a short email. The school itself says not to fuss over grammar.
Fact: courses are not sold separately to outsiders. Even the lightest tier means applying first and being accepted first. Without applying, what you get is the free Conundrums and the course menu.
Fact: the school explicitly recommends not reading from a script. A video of 30 seconds to 2 minutes is enough, as long as the reasoning is clear. Audio alone is fine.
Fact: there is none. In the school’s own words: “charging money to apply is silly.”
10. Official links (each verified 2026-08-29)
We opened and checked every link below on 2026-08-29. What the school’s own pages show is what counts.