Ad Astra – will Elon Musk's private school become accessible to ordinary people?
Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2025 6:06 am
Do you have a child between the ages of 8 and 13 and wonder why they should spend so much time learning foreign languages when real-time computer translation could be coming soon? If you live in the Los Angeles area, Elon Musk has a solution for you: Ad Astra, a private school.
Ad Astra opened on the SpaceX campus in Hawthorne in 2014, shortly after austria number data Musk took his five sons out of the Mirman School for Gifted Children. He brought in one of Mirman’s teachers, Joshua Dana, to lead the new school. In Ad Astra’s first year, Musk’s children (twins born in 2004 and triplets born in 2006) made up more than half of the student body, with the rest coming from families of SpaceX employees.
Later, Ad Astra expanded a bit: by the end of 2018, more than 30 students aged 7 to 14 (including Musk’s children) were studying there. The school teaches science, mathematics, robotics and artificial intelligence. Almost everything at Ad Astra is arranged in an unusual way — from grades (which are completely absent) to the secrecy surrounding the school’s admissions process. Previously, it was reported that only children of SpaceX employees could enter there — and only those who received a special invitation.
“I’ve heard from various families at SpaceX that they never got any information about the school, even though it was mentioned as one of the benefits of working for the company,” Christina Simon, co-author of a book about private elementary schools in Los Angeles, told The Hollywood Reporter.
It seems that the situation has changed recently. While not long ago the school's website consisted only of a logo and an email address, now it includes information about admission and a link to a password-protected portal for parents.
Ad Astra opened on the SpaceX campus in Hawthorne in 2014, shortly after austria number data Musk took his five sons out of the Mirman School for Gifted Children. He brought in one of Mirman’s teachers, Joshua Dana, to lead the new school. In Ad Astra’s first year, Musk’s children (twins born in 2004 and triplets born in 2006) made up more than half of the student body, with the rest coming from families of SpaceX employees.
Later, Ad Astra expanded a bit: by the end of 2018, more than 30 students aged 7 to 14 (including Musk’s children) were studying there. The school teaches science, mathematics, robotics and artificial intelligence. Almost everything at Ad Astra is arranged in an unusual way — from grades (which are completely absent) to the secrecy surrounding the school’s admissions process. Previously, it was reported that only children of SpaceX employees could enter there — and only those who received a special invitation.
“I’ve heard from various families at SpaceX that they never got any information about the school, even though it was mentioned as one of the benefits of working for the company,” Christina Simon, co-author of a book about private elementary schools in Los Angeles, told The Hollywood Reporter.
It seems that the situation has changed recently. While not long ago the school's website consisted only of a logo and an email address, now it includes information about admission and a link to a password-protected portal for parents.