Already started? So can you.
Joining after the cohort has already begun.
Yes, you can join mid-season. Cohorts lock their rosters the week of September 8, 2026 and keep the same small group all season, but students join throughout the year. A student joining after the start adds a 1:1 catch-up hour before their first session, so they arrive with a case in hand rather than spending that session watching one. The complimentary 30-minute joining 1:1 every new family gets covers half of that hour.
Core stays $165 a month, month to month, with no joining fee and no back-charge for the part of the season before you joined. If none of this quite fits your situation, the short version is: talk to us and we will work it out.
Why cohorts lock at all
A locked roster is the reason the format works. Six to eight students who stay together all season learn each other's arguments, debate each other repeatedly, and get coached against a moving target rather than a stranger every week. It is also why a coach can write a specific per-student note in week twelve instead of a generic one: they have watched the same student debate thirty times.
The catch-up hour exists so a new student walks in as a full participant from their first session, with a case to run and the room's current arguments already in hand.
What the catch-up hour covers
The format, compressed
Speech order, timing, and what each speech is for. A cohort covers this across the first two weeks; a 1:1 covers it in about thirty minutes because there is only one student asking questions.
Where the cohort is on the resolution
Not the topic in general, but the specific arguments this cohort has already built and the ones they have already beaten. A student who joins in week five walks in arguing the positions the room is actually running, not ones it retired a month ago.
A case they can use next session
The point of the hour is that the student walks into their first session with something to run, rather than watching one and building afterwards.
Placement, done properly
Which rung of the six-level ladder they actually start on. Placement is by skill, not by join date: a 9th grader joining in October frequently places above a 6th grader who started on day one.
Cost: the joining perk covers 30 minutes free. Beyond that, 1:1 hours run $60 an hour for Core members and as low as $55 an hour bundled, against a $90 base rate. One hour is enough for most students. Two is worth it if you are joining in the back half of a topic cycle.
Where in the topic cycle you land
Lincoln-Douglas resolutions run two months at a time. That cadence makes mid-season joining much less disruptive than it sounds, and it shapes how we use the catch-up hour.
- The first two weeks of a new topic cycle. Everyone in the room is starting the same resolution from nothing, so a student joining here starts level with the room.
- Anywhere in the first half. One catch-up hour brings the student up to where the room is, and there are still four or more weeks left on the resolution to actually use it.
- The last two weeks of a cycle. The catch-up hour goes on the incoming resolution rather than the one about to be replaced, so the student joins the cohort the day the new topic drops, already a step ahead of the room.
The current resolution and its dates are on the LD topics page, so you can see where in a cycle you would be landing before you call.
Common questions
- Can my child join a debate cohort after the season has started?
- Yes. Cohorts lock their rosters the week of September 8, 2026, but students join throughout the season. A student joining after the start adds a 1:1 catch-up hour before their first session, which covers the format, where the cohort already is on the current resolution, and a case they can use immediately. If the cohort at the right age and level is full, we hold a place in the next one at that level rather than putting a student in the wrong room.
- What does the catch-up hour cost?
- Every family joining Core gets a complimentary 30-minute 1:1 as a joining perk, which covers half of it. Beyond that, 1:1 hours are about $60 an hour for Core members, down to $55 an hour when bought in a bundle, against a $90 base rate. Most single-student catch-ups need one hour; a student joining late in a topic cycle sometimes wants two.
- Will my child be able to keep up with everyone else?
- Yes. Lincoln-Douglas resolutions change every two months, so the room resets often. A student joining in mid-October is joining four weeks into an eight-week topic, and the catch-up hour closes that gap; one joining in early November is starting a brand new resolution at the same time as everyone else. A student who joins in the last two weeks of a topic cycle spends their 1:1 time on the incoming resolution instead, so they walk into the cohort on day one of the new topic already prepped.
- Is billing prorated if we join mid-month?
- Core is a plain month-to-month subscription with no joining fee, and it starts when you start. There is no back-charge for the weeks of the season you were not enrolled for, and no minimum term.
- What if the cohort we want is full?
- Cohorts are capped at six to eight students and grouped by age band first, then skill level, so a 10th grader is never placed with 6th graders to fill a seat. If the cohort at your student's level is full, we hold a place in the next one at that level and start them on 1:1 hours in the meantime, so they arrive at the cohort ahead rather than waiting.
Tell us where your kid is and we'll work it out.
Grade, any prior experience, and when you want to start. Fifteen minutes, no obligation, and we will tell you plainly if waiting two weeks is the better move.