Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences is a private/independent, college preparatory school in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, United States. The school is a former member of the

G30 Schools G30 Schools, formerly G20 Schools, is an association of secondary schools founded by David Wylde of St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown, South Africa and Anthony Seldon of Wellington College, Berkshire, United Kingdom in 2006. The G30 Schools ha ...

group.

History

The school was founded in 1971 as a secular institution affiliated with St. Augustine By-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Santa Monica. Although the founders, and many of the school's original students, came from the former St. Augustine By-the-Sea Episcopal Day School in Santa Monica, Crossroads School has always been a secular institution. Crossroads started with three rooms in a Baptist church offering grades seven and eight, and an initial enrollment of just over 30 students. The name Crossroads was suggested by

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American Colloquialism, colloquial speech, Frost frequently wrote about settings from rural life in New E ...

's poem, " The Road Not Taken", in which Frost writes:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

As St. Augustine's grew to junior and senior high school, the founders started Crossroads with a separate board of directors and separate campus, which eventually merged in the 1980s under the name Crossroads. Co-founder Paul Cummins became the first headmaster and served until 1995.

In the media

The 2004 book '' Hollywood, Interrupted'', by Andrew Breitbart and Mark Ebner, dedicated a large section to Crossroads; it depicted the school (and the celebrities who send their children there) in a negative light, focusing mainly on a handful of high-profile parents and "drug problems" stemming from the 1980s. The school was also featured in a May 2005 issue of ''Vanity Fair''; like Breitbart's book, it also focused on the school's celebrity clientele. In his 2023 biography,

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman. He is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has been considered the wealthiest person in th ...

alleges that Crossroads teaches “full-on communism,” and blames his daughter's transition, alleged communist ideology, and decision to cut him out of her life on Crossroads.

Notable alumni

* J. A. Adande, sports journalist *

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, actress * Sean Astin, actor, director and producer * Henry Baum, writer, blogger and musician *

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, film director and producer * Z Berg, musician *

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, actor, comedian, and musician *

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, actor and author *

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, actor, comedian, and writer * Austin Croshere,

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basketball player and TV broadcaster * Baron Davis, NBA basketball player and TV commentator * Emily Deschanel, actress, director and producer *

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, actress, model, and singer-songwriter *

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, actor * Maya Erskine, actress and TV writer * Zack Fleishman, professional tennis player * Robert Francis, musician *

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, professional tennis player * Lauren Greenfield, artist, photographer, and filmmaker * Petra Haden, musician and singer * Rachel Haden, musician * Tanya Haden, artist, cellist, and singer *

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, actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and comedian * Oliver Hudson, actor *

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, actress, author, and fashion entrepreneur * Bronny James, basketball player * Brody Jenner, television personality, disc jockey and model *

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, television writer, producer and director *

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, film and television writer, producer, and director * Alexandra Kyle, actress *

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, actress and musician * Milo Manheim, actor * Shareef O'Neal, basketball player * Michael Ojo, basketball player *

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, actress, businesswoman and author * Amy Pascal, business executive and film producer * Austin Peralta, jazz musician * Whitney Port, television personality and fashion designer *

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, actor *

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, actor and producer *

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, actress, comedian, singer, and voice actress * Tamir Saban (born 1999),

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basketball player * Blake Schwarzenbach, musician *

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, businessman, co-founder of

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* Dayna Tortorici, writer * Liv Tyler, actress and former model * Andrew von Oeyen, classical musician * Gillian Welch, musician * Vivian Wilson, daughter of Elon Musk * Jessica Yellin, journalist

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1971 establishments in California Buildings and structures in Santa Monica, California Educational institutions established in 1971 Organizations based in Santa Monica, California Preparatory schools in California Private K–12 schools in Los Angeles County, California Schools in Los Angeles County, California