2026 Cohorts

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Cohorts & Course Descriptions

The New Commons offers a communal, extracurricular study environment for core texts that will appear on AP®, SAT®, and ACT® exams. While the curriculum is based on these texts, we also read and consider authors, cultural artifacts, and works of art by living creators who are often excluded from the traditional “canon,” and whose work offers important comparative analysis to our generation’s most urgent ethical questions.  

Spring Cohorts

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Why does Hamlet delay revenge? Is Hamlet really “mad”? What exactly is Gertrude guilty of? Why does the geopolitical side-plot with Fortinbras matter? In this four-week course, students will engage with these questions in a deep reading of one of William Shakespeare’s most famous and complex plays, Hamlet.

Meeting Time: 1pm to 2:30pm PST / 4pm to 5:30pm EST
Tuition: $349
Location: 🌀 Online via Zoom

Cohort I: Saturday Session Dates—Grades 9 and 10

  • Saturday, March 14, 2026

  • Saturday, March 21, 2026

  • Saturday, March 28, 2026

  • Saturday, April 4, 2026

Status: Spots Available!

Cohort II: Sunday Session Dates—Grades 11, 12, & Pre-College

  • Sunday, March 15, 2026

  • Sunday, March 22, 2026

  • Sunday, March 29, 2026

  • Sunday, April 5, 2026

Status: Spots Available!

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Why does Victor Frankenstein run away from The Creature he has made? How is language a theme in Frankenstein? What defines “the monstrous"? How does The Creature (as well as other monsters that we will look at) threaten, transgress, or represent “othered” bodies and communities? In this four-week course, students will engage in a deep reading of Mary Shelly’s novel, Frankenstein.

Meeting Time: 1pm to 2:30pm PST / 4pm to 5:30pm EST
Tuition: $349
Location: 🌀 Online via Zoom

Cohort III: Saturday Session Dates—Grades 9 and 10

  • Saturday, April 11, 2026

  • Saturday, April 18, 2026

  • Saturday, April 25, 2026

  • Saturday, May 2, 2026

Status: Spots Available!

Cohort IV: Sunday Session Dates—Grades 11, 12, & Pre-College

  • Sunday, April 12, 2026

  • Sunday, April 19, 2026

  • Sunday, April 26, 2026

  • Sunday, May 3, 2026

Status: Spots Available!

Summer Cohorts (Intensives)

Cohort V-VI: Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Harlem Renaissance

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Meeting Time: 11am to 12:30pm PST / 2pm to 3:30pm EST
Tuition: $549
Location: 🌀 Online via Zoom

Cohort V — Incoming 9th and 10th Graders (Mondays and Thursdays): 

  • Monday, June 8, 2026

  • Thursday, June 11, 2026

  • Monday, June 15, 2026

  • Thursday, June 18, 2026

  • Monday, June 22, 2026

  • Thursday, June 25, 2026

Cohort XI — Incoming 11th and 12th Grade + Pre-College (Tuesdays and Fridays):

  • Tuesday, June 9, 2026

  • Friday, June 12, 2026

  • Tuesday, June 16, 2026

  • Friday, June 19, 2026

  • Tuesday, June 23, 2026

  • Friday, June 26, 2026

Status: Spots Available

Cohort VI: Hamlet in Performance and Global Contexts

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Meeting Time: 11am to 12:30pm PST / 2pm to 3:30pm EST
Tuition: $549
Location: 🌀 Online via Zoom

Cohort VII — Incoming 9th and 10th Graders (Mondays and Thursdays): 

  • Thursday, July 9, 2026

  • Monday, July 13, 2026

  • Thursday, July 16, 2026

  • Monday, July 20, 2026

  • Thursday, July 23, 2026

  • Monday, July 27, 2026

Cohort XI — Incoming 11th and 12th Grade + Pre-College (Tuesdays and Fridays):

  • Friday, July 10, 2026

  • Tuesday, July 14, 2026

  • Friday, July 17, 2026

  • Tuesday, July 21, 2026

  • Friday, July 24, 2026

  • Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Status: Spots Available!

Cohort VII: The Iliad Seminar

Learn More Soon!

Meeting Time: 11am to 12:30pm PST / 2pm to 3:30pm EST
Tuition: $549
Location: 🌀 Online via Zoom

Cohort IX — Incoming 9th and 10th Graders (Mondays and Thursdays): 

  • Monday, August 3, 2026

  • Thursday, August 6, 2026

  • Monday, August 10, 2026

  • Thursday, August 13, 20261

  • Monday, August 17, 2026

  • Thursday, August 20, 2026

Cohort XI — Incoming 11th and 12th Grade + Pre-College (Tuesdays and Fridays):

  • Tuesday, August 4, 2026

  • Friday, August 7, 2026

  • Tuesday, August 11, 2026

  • Friday, August 14, 2026

  • Tuesday, August 18, 2026

  • Friday, August 21, 2026

Status: Spots Available!

Fall Cohorts

Details coming soon — stay tuned!

All 2026 Dates and Times

Spring: 

Cohort I: Hamlet — 9th and 10th Grade | Saturdays, March 14, 21, 28, and April 4, 2026: 1:00-2:30PM PST
Cohort II: Hamlet — 11th and 12th Grade | Sundays, March 15, 22, 29, and April 5, 2026: 1:00-2:30PM PST
Cohort III: Frankenstein — 9th and 10th Grade | Saturdays, April 11, 18, 25, and May 2, 2026: 1:00-2:30PM PST
Cohort IV: Frankenstein — 11th and 12th Grade | Sundays, April 12, 19, 26, and May 3, 2026: 1:00-2:30PM PST

Summer:

Cohorts V: Their Eyes Were Watching God & The Harlem Renaissance — Incoming 9th and 10th Grade | June 8, 11, 15, 18, 22, and 25, 2026: 11:00AM-12:30PM PST
Cohorts VI: Their Eyes Were Watching God & The Harlem Renaissance — Incoming 11th and 12th Grade + Pre-College | June 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 2026: 11:00AM-12:30PM PST
Cohorts VII: Hamlet in Performance and Global Contexts — Incoming 9th and 10th Grade | July 9, 13, 16, 20, 23, and 27, 2026: 11:00AM-12:30PM PST 
Cohorts VIII: Hamlet in Performance and Global Contexts — Incoming 11th and 12th Grade + Pre-College | July 10, 14, 17, 21, 24, and 28, 2026: 11:00AM-12:30PM PST 
Cohort IX: The Iliad Seminar — Incoming 11th and 12th Grade + Pre-College | August 3, 6, 10, 13, 17, and 20, 2026: 11:00AM-12:30PM PST 
Cohort X: The Iliad Seminar — Incoming 11th and 12th Grade + Pre-College | August 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, and 21, 2026: 11:00AM-12:30PM PST 

Fall: 

Cohorts IX - XII: Details coming soon!

Apply to Join a Cohort!

15% discounts are available for Early Bird applicants! Check out each cohort page for specific deadlines.