Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences is a K-12 independent, coeducational day-school with two campuses, located a few blocks apart, in Santa Monica, California.
Founded in 1971 by Paul Cummins and Rhoda Makoff, Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences opened its doors in the fall of 1971, in three rented rooms in a Baptist church, with an initial enrollment of just over 30 students in seventh and eighth grades. Over the decades, it moved and expanded, now serving around 1,200 students in kindergarten through high school.
Crossroads students represent 107 zip codes. 56% of students and 46% of faculty identify as people of color. One in four students receive some form of financial aid through the SchoolâÂÂs Affordability Program.
Crossroads Upper School participates in a full range of interscholastic athletics as a member of the CIF Southern Section. Teams include baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, tennis, volleyball, beach volleyball, cross country, track, golf, and swimming.
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 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.
On the Dec. 11, 2025 episode of Amy PoehlerâÂÂs podcast âÂÂGood Hang,â alumna Maya Rudolph said of Crossroads, âÂÂIt was such a fâ¦g great, creative, cool school. It was so punk and weird and artistic.âÂÂ
On the Sept. 19, 2024 episode of the podcast âÂÂWTF with Marc Maron,â alumnus Jason Ritter said of Crossroads, âÂÂI really loved it. ⦠ThereâÂÂs a class where we passed around a stick and talked about our feelings. It forced 14- and 15-year-olds to be like, âÂÂI guess this is whatâÂÂs going on inside my heart and brain.âÂÂâÂÂ
On the Mar. 24, 2025 episode of the podcast âÂÂThe Diary of a CEO,â alumnus Evan Spiegel said about his introduction of the practice of Council at Snap, Inc., âÂÂCouncil is something that I stole from the school that I went to growing up called Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences, which is quite a unique schoolâ¦(Council) really creates an opportunity for people to listen to one another because you're taking turns going around the circle, but you get to know people in a very very different way and I saw how powerful it wasâ¦âÂÂ