We have been a KLS family since 2016. I have 2 boys, both who started in Kindergarten. We have seen much change throughout the years but I am truly feeling the strongest I have ever about KLS this year. I truly believe we finally have the right team in place to lead us into the next phase. The team genuinely cares about the kids and what is best for them. Especially in light of the current crisis, we have seen the team unified, communicate often + clearly, ready/able to execute a move to distance learning that executed pretty flawlessly (considering everything), adapting to feedback from students/families, transparency in communication and most important leadership during difficult times. Thank you KLS! What a journey it has been. We are grateful for all that you do. read more

My daughter has attended KLS for a year and a half. The school's approach to learning fits very well with our philosophy of bringing up children. Grouping students of mixed ages into independence levels is something that I wish more schools adopted. Focus on mastery is another thing I like. We also liked the extensive use of placement tests to figure out the right level of classes for students. Small class sizes made it easier to learn new concepts in an effective way. If your child needs to learn at a different pace (faster or slower) than the regular progression of grades would allow in a school with big classrooms, you will love how the curriculum is tailored to each student. My favorite class was the studio which combined interdisciplinary knowledge into a a sequence of projects under a single theme in a school year. One things that some families may have a hard time adjusting to is the pace of changes. This is a "lab" school which means that new ideas are introduced to improve how the school works and if the ideas don't work well, they are replaced with new ideas. This also causes a higher then ideal turnover in staff but I think that this may be a good price to pay for access to innovative teaching. read more

I have two boys who attend KLS -- one in (effectively) 1st grade and the other in 3rd. Both started there in what would be kindergarten elsewhere, so this is our 4th year w/ the school. We appreciate the philosophy with the emphasis on mastery, the avoidance of busywork, the notion of being student-led, the mixed-age approach, and the lack of formal grades (which ratchets down the ambient Silicon Valley competitiveness). The teaching quality is excellent and, the teachers are incredibly attentive and caring. The brand attracts some great talent, with the "specials" teachers (science/project-based learning, music, and art) being exceptional as well. The school has evolved over the past few years, as one would expect of an organization transitioning from start-up to stable-state. Also, it's a laboratory school: things are going to change! The school is adapting, as one would hope an organization would as it learns. For example, turns out that age matters, and socio-emotional learning doesn't scale as independently from age as academic learning. Consequently, students move more in cohorts (i.e., classes) than had been initially envisioned. The Head of School (Rachel Skiffer) has been especially strong during this past year of COVID, racial reckoning, and politically-charged news cycles. Current leadership has helped the school community navigate the many storms of 2020 with concern and professionalism. To be clear, the school isn't a fit for everyone -- no school is. There's no "perfect" or "best" school out there. But our boys are thriving and happy and learning, we've made some good friends in the community, and so have our children. read more

When we went under the shelter in place order in the spring of 2020 all of our worlds were turned upside down. It was a different experience for everyone I know. However no one else I know had anywhere near the successful start of distance learning that our KLS families got from day 1. I'm sure it was TONS of work to pull it all together (and to continue iterating), but we never saw that. I mean we did see iterations for improvements, but they happened SO FAST! On day 1 teachers delivered a pretty consistent schedule to what we'd had before and made it look so easy that it could be taken for granted. My daughter is in her 3rd year at KLS and we of course can't wait to be back on campus again when it is safe. We have a really great community of families that we miss seeing in person at drop off/pick up and the many community activities. We love our Head of School (with us for 1.5 years now), she provides a sense of calming transparency in her weekly office hour check ins for anyone who wants to join. We feel so lucky to have found KLS! read more

KLS has been a shining star during the covid-19 crisis. They are defining what a lab school should be. During the COVID-19 crisis, this school really showed up and *led* in a huge way. In particular, the speed with which they moved, quality of remote learning assignments, and adaptation to adjust things that weren't working. Speed. The school board decided on a Wednesday evening to move to remote learning with the next day being the last day for students at school. On Thursday, teachers and staff prepared everything for students to take home. By Monday morning, our children were learning online. Quality of remote learning. My children had real work for all subjects and continued learning without a gap. They still had 1x1s and group times with teachers as times where they listened to reading or had discussion. For the older child, they had structured work and schedules provided to move through their day. Adaptation. Each week the teachers and staff have continued to respond to feedback and iterate on the remote learning program. For example, Google hangouts were initially used for teacher meetings, but this also meant that students were spending a LOT of time on chat. The school switched out to zoom ids where the teachers were hosting. Another example, early Kindergarten lessons required some evidence of online tool work, teachers responded to the fact that this was more of a burden than a benefit and removed it. read more

We're so grateful that our daughters have been able to attend KLS for the last 5 years! The school has the perfect level of mastery based learning so that each girl feels appropriately challenged at their own levels. I cant imagine our kids going to school anywhere else! read more

We are so grateful that our child has been able to attend the Khan Lab School (KLS).  The new administration (who came in starting in the 2018-2019 school year) has been top notch - both personally and professionally.  Our child is known and cared for, and challenged but not overly stressed.  He has blossomed into an independent teen who is self-motivated and takes ownership of his learning.  He has truly taken advantage of some of KLS's unique offerings like its partnership with Foothill College and the ability to move through classes at the student's own pace. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the school moved online without missing a beat.  The classes and learning have continued very robustly.  Plus, the teachers and staff have remained incredibly accessible to both the students and the parents (like online advisory for the students and weekly parent office hours), and the school has communicated with an enormous amount of transparency. Four years ago when we came to KLS, we knew that we were signing up for a new school with a different philosophy.  We were not sure how it would turn out, but we took a leap of faith and are so glad that we did it. read more

A wonderful school with incredible leadership both from a new bench of administrators as well as fully engaged faculty. Students are challenged but not stressed out. Teachers have the flexibility to tailor the learning experience to the passions and curiosities of their students. It's a small and supportive community and I'm proud to be part of it! read more

Our son attended Khan Lab School from Sept 2016 to Jan 2017. He left because the school's director Dominic Liechti terminated our contract on 3 business days' notice. Our son had been doing well and was sad to leave. We were not expecting this, were very disappointed, and would have preferred to address whatever issue the school had with us. As far as I know we did not violate any requests nor written rules. We believe the school breached contract. After much haggling the school reimbursed us about 2/3 of the year's tuition, but none of our legal costs. In retrospect, we had not realized how like an early startup KLS is. After 5 months at the public Landels Elementary School which our son attended after his 4 months at KLS, I went through all the materials that he brought home from both schools. In the Landels curriculum one topic builds on the previous in what's clearly a thought-out plan, with a focus on literacy as the bedrock of learning. In contrast, the KLS curriculum seems like a disjoint set of projects, and with substantially less writing. (For a much more detailed analysis, find my blog.) We chose KLS to support a new educational model - important if your child is about to become an experimental subject in curriculum development. We decided to enroll before Dominic Liechti was hired, when the school openly allowed parents to see what their children were doing and to participate in running after school clubs. KLS had changed: The school our son attended was closed, with our son disappearing down a hallway without allowing us a glimpse of how he feels in his learning space, how he relates to his peers, or how his teacher relates to children. In as much as I understand, we were kicked out for asking about such things. Since public schools rely on parent volunteers and PTAs and the MVEF (Mountain View Education Foundation), and since Dominic dramatically limited parent involvement at KLS, public schools may afford us more opportunity to support curriculum modernization than KLS. Since our son returned to public school I've met a number of excellent, thoughtful, experienced public school administrators. Dominic stands out to me as a contrast, from his focus on glossy marketing to his policies isolating parents from their children's learning process. I've been impressed by how capable our public school teachers are, much more so than with my son's main KLS teacher. Half of KLS teachers have no teaching experience prior to KLS, quite unlike our public schools. I didn't appreciate the unadvertised excellence of our public schools, and maybe even assumed that paying more means getting more. That said, KLS students will probably do just fine, and the school's success metrics will clearly reflect the supportive and wealthy families whose focus on education will propel their children. read more

My child has been attending this wonderful school for 4 years now in the upper school, and not only is she thriving, but she loves it there. She's not one to enjoy academics, preferring to spend her time more creatively, but this school understands and respects that, helping her to get through the (uninteresting to her) subjects at her own pace, as well as exploring the topics she does find interesting. Our college counselor is also helping her find her particular passions/interests to match her to good fit colleges. Many confuse this school with having a STEM focus, when really it encompasses a holistic curriculum. KLS also does not offer grades/GPA, so parents have to really understand and believe in Sal Khan's idea of mastery-based learning before applying. Further, it's a very small school on the bottom floor of the Khan Academy office, so while there is a playground and black top, there is no track, tennis court, pool, etc., and not many sports, clubs, dances, etc. offered. Because it's a new school, direction, processes, rules, staff and classes can change quickly as they strive to improve every year, so might be challenging to adjust for the risk averse. By the same token, KLS was agile enough to quickly pivot to online, remote learning when the pandemic deemed it necessary, and I would guess the same would happen with any hurdle it encountered. Lastly, what we are most impressed with, and why we return every year, is that the staff, administration, parents and students are all kind and caring people, putting the best interest of the kids in the forefront. It also doesn't hurt that the heads of school (and Sal Khan himself) are all intelligent, articulate, forward-thinking educators who are totally approachable and accessible. read more

Perspective from my son, age 13: I'm a student at Khan Lab School in the sixth Independence Level. At KLS, if you, the student, have an idea of how to better the school, you are encouraged to express and advocate for it. Brandon, the Head of Middle & Upper School, set up a whiteboard specifically for student ideas, and it has received usage.    In KLS's Middle & Upper School, students rotate the responsibility every week of maintaining our space. All that was given to us was a list of the seven students, including me, who would be the week's cleaners. On day one of cleaning duty, there was no organization; everyone grabbed wipes and, by the end, each table had been wiped clean three times. Great for the tables, not great for the dirty door handles and furniture and the in-need-of-sweeping floors. By Thursday, however, in our ten-minute morning meeting, a staff member brought up the disjointed effort and requested that door handles and side rooms be wiped and that floors be swept.    I took charge. Raising my hand, I suggested that all students on cleaning duty meet me to organize who would do what. Everyone was eager to improve our process, and that day I learned a key lesson in team management: ensure that everyone has a clear task that they can see contributes to an end goal. Our space was also significantly cleaner with the new system.    But I didn't want my revelations to be forgotten the following week with the new rotation, so, after the fateful Thursday's cleaning I wrote down two suggestions on Brandon's public ideas forum to streamline the process for the future. Sure enough, by the next day's meeting, Brandon had seen and considered my ideas, and he asked me to type them up and email the document to him!    My ideas had been heard and wanted, but more could be done. A fellow student who had helped with cleaning on Thursday brought up the issue of the Clorox wipes we were using to clean. They were chemical to the touch and smelled very strongly of cleaning agents. With the mindset that a problem at KLS is an opportunity for improvement, this student and I talked to Chi-Ray, the Head of Operations & Technology, and expressed our feelings. He told us that if we could find a better alternative that didn't cost more and was a disinfectant, he would implement it.    That's why this student and I spent two hours researching a better solution to KLS's cleaning, and we found it. We wrote a short report laying down the numbers and demonstrating that, if KLS adopted our proposal, it would save over $100 by the end of the year!    Khan Lab School is still growing in many senses. What I'm most confident in, however, is the mentality that, if there is a problem, you, student or faculty, can fix it. read more

Our child attended KLS for the first time this calendar year and she is excited to continue on! We had very high expectations joining KLS after hearing Sal Khan, Rachel Skiffer, and Kim Dow speak at the upper school open house. It sounded like a dream school: mastery based learning (instead of grade level learning), collaborative learning, individualized learning opportunities, small class sizes with mixed age groups, interdisciplinary studies, SEL focus, fostering student agency, and opportunities for students to pursue their passions. This all sounded great on paper and we were anxious to see how it could be realized. What impressed us at the open house were current KLS students conducting a Q&A with prospective families. They were enthusiastic, informative, and well spoken. They demonstrated the KLS culture: collaboration and student agency in action. After a year at KLS, we can sincerely say that KLS met all expectations and more. It's never easy to enter a new school but KLS students were quick to welcome our child and include her from day one. Our child is thriving and flourishing at KLS. It provides the right mix of structure and autonomy. During the pandemic, KLS teachers and support staff rose to the occasion and delivered top-notch online education. Our child was engaged and continued to love school. We cannot say enough about the head of school, head of upper school, and head of lower school. They are amazing guardians and advocates for the students, teachers, and the school as a whole. We have never met a more caring group of passionate teachers and support team. You can tell that everyone who works there genuinely wants to be there. We love that there is a dedicated advisor/director in charge of project-based learning. He supports the teachers by handling the details so they can focus on the big picture curriculum. The teachers and support team respect each and every child. Every child has a voice - every child is seen and heard. This is clearly demonstrated when we read our child's progress reports several times per year. Each teacher provides valuable feedback, which is unique to the child. There are a few more things we would like to mention. KLS is a lab school. If KLS finds a better way to serve the students, they will turn on a dime. Our child has no issues with this but if a child or family wants things to be same old same old, this school is probably not a good fit. Another comment we have is regarding homework. In our opinion, there is a substantial amount of homework (I know this is not unique in our area) though what make KLS different is that they do not give meaningless busy-work. One meaningful long-term project involved our child to pursue a passion project of her choice. This happens in certain grades. This project was a big stretch for her. It involved a lot of moving pieces, goal setting, time management, course corrections, and interfacing with various mentors. In the end, she persevered and gained confidence from managing her project. She was not alone. Everyone's passion project in her class was outstanding and unique to who they were. The teachers were always ready-to-support but also allowed students the autonomy to chart their own course. Lastly, math. The math classes rely heavily on the Khan Academy (KA) courses and curriculum. Though KA coursework is solid, it is less than ideal. To be fair, there are potential math collaborative opportunities during school for those who find study buddies. All in all, KLS is a great fit for our child. We can't imagine a better learning environment. She is not only provided with a rich curriculum but she is surrounded by good humans: the teachers, support teams, and fellow classmates are all smart, kind, and generous. We want to raise a good human who is self-aware, takes care of herself and will do good in the world. In our opinion, KLS creates an environment that promotes this. Thank you, Sal Khan, Rachel, Kim, Sonia, Chi-Ray, and all the amazing teachers and support staff. We didn't name everyone but they all rock! We are grateful to be part of the KLS family. read more

Children love school everyday & come home with deep encompassing content understanding &/ or mastery