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What is the Khan Lab School?

Updated

 

Khan Lab School (KLS) is a mastery-based, independent, coeducational day school serving TK–12 students across two Silicon Valley campuses in Palo Alto and Mountain View, California. Sal Khan founded KLS in 2014. He also founded Khan Academy and wrote The One World Schoolhouse (2012). Today KLS serves more than 300 students.

The school’s motto sums up its approach: “Everyone’s a student. Everyone’s a teacher.”
 

Key features of Khan Lab School:
  • Learner-Centered & Student-Led – Students take ownership of their learning in a supportive environment where teachers foster independence, collaboration, leadership, and peer learning.
  • Mastery-Based & Personalized – Students receive ongoing opportunities to close gaps, revisit learning, demonstrate mastery, and progress at a pace that reflects their readiness within a framework of ambitious expectations and targeted support.
  • Content-Rich & Skill-Driven – KLS values both deep content knowledge and essential skills like critical thinking, collaboration, and communication.
  • Purpose-Driven & Whole-Child – Academic growth is supported by social-emotional well-being, personal responsibility, and opportunities for students to pursue meaningful interests and passions.
  • Flexible & Authentic – Learning extends beyond the classroom through real-world experiences, interdisciplinary projects, outdoor learning, community partnerships, and thoughtfully integrated technology that enriches—not replaces—human learning.
  • Essential by Design – KLS focuses on essential content and flexible exploration, helping students build a strong foundation while pursuing personal interests.
  • Advancement-Ready – Students have opportunities to engage in accelerated or college-level work as readiness allows.
  • Open-Minded & Critically Engaged – KLS nurtures independent thinkers by welcoming diverse perspectives and encouraging respectful exploration of complex ideas.
  • Replicable by Design – By focusing on academic mastery, character development, and student passions, KLS offers a high-quality, efficient educational model that can be adopted by others.
How is KLS connected to Khan Academy?

Khan Lab School and Khan Academy are separate nonprofits, both founded by Sal Khan. They share a commitment to personalized, mastery-based learning. KLS was founded to test, refine, and share these approaches in an in-person school.

How does KLS use technology and AI in the classroom?

KLS uses technology intentionally, with tools such as Khan Academy, Khan Academy Kids, and Khanmigo selected for specific learning purposes appropriate to students’ ages and subjects. In the early grades, technology use is kept to a minimum. Across the school, technology supports teacher-led instruction and peer learning while preserving productive struggle, independent thinking, and classroom community.

Additional information:

Khan Lab School's website

Khan Lab School's YouTube