Khan Lab School
Khan Lab School is a TK-12 independent day school in Silicon Valley founded by Salman Khan in 2014. It is one of the strongest profiles in this batch because the school publishes a current school profile, tuition schedule, admissions process, accreditation list, enrollment figures, and graduation structure. Its outcomes should still be described carefully because the published college and enrollment claims come from the school's own profile and involve relatively small cohorts.123
Snapshot facts
| Field | Current research finding |
|---|---|
| Official name | Khan Lab School.1 |
| Operating status | Operating as a coeducational independent day school.1 |
| Founding | Founded in 2014 by Salman Khan.12 |
| Grades served | Transitional kindergarten through grade 12.1 |
| Locations | The school profile lists 1200 Villa Street, Mountain View, California. The tuition page lists Middle and Upper School at 1200 Villa Street in Mountain View and Lower School at 3233 Cowper Street in Palo Alto.13 |
| Enrollment | The 2025-26 school profile lists total enrollment of 310, Upper School enrollment of 89, and 25 students in the class of 2026.1 |
| Leadership | The 2025-26 school profile lists Kim Dow as Executive Director, Laura Khanna as Upper School Director, and Shane Brent-Maldonado as Director of College Counseling.1 |
| Tuition | For 2026-27, Lower School TK-5 is listed at $34,750. Middle School 6-8 and Upper School 9-12 are listed at $38,850. Published fees include a $750 registration fee, a 10 percent deposit, and $250 annual Family Association dues per student.3 |
| Accreditation | The 2025-26 school profile lists WASC, Cognia, NWAC, and SACS CASI.1 |
| Assessment and transcript model | Khan Lab School says it uses mastery-based learning, does not use traditional grades or class rank, and does not offer AP courses, though it proctors AP exams.1 |
| College outcomes | The 2025-26 school profile says 100 percent of graduates enroll in four-year colleges and lists college acceptances and matriculations. This is school-published data.1 |
What it is
Khan Lab School is a private, in-person, mastery-based school. It is non-traditional, but it is not a virtual school or a homeschool platform. The school grew out of Salman Khan's educational ideas about mastery, pacing, peer learning, and using technology and time differently from conventional schools.2
The school's current profile describes it as a TK-12 independent day school, which places it closer to a private school with an experimental academic model than to a microschool or online school.1 This distinction matters for parents. The tradeoffs include Bay Area private school tuition, in-person location constraints, and a more established institutional structure than most online or microschool alternatives.
Educational model
Khan Lab School's central model is mastery-based learning. Its academic pages say students demonstrate understanding before progressing and that learning is not organized around traditional grades and class rank.61 The school profile states that Upper School graduation requires 21 Mastery Credits and that the requirements meet University of California A-G expectations.1
The model is personalized, but not unstructured. Khan Lab School has a defined graduation framework, an accredited school profile, college counseling, dual enrollment options, and course sequences. The non-traditional element is mainly how progress is measured and paced, not whether the school is accountable for curriculum.
Student experience
The available public sources do not provide a minute-by-minute daily schedule, but they do show a school organized around mastery, student agency, peer learning, and project or capstone work.261 The school profile describes a senior capstone and opportunities for dual enrollment through Foothill College.1
The lack of traditional grades is a central student-experience feature. Students and parents should expect narrative, standards, or mastery-based reporting rather than a conventional GPA-first experience. Families transferring into or out of Khan Lab School should ask how the school translates mastery records into external transcripts.
Curriculum and instruction
Khan Lab School publishes graduation requirements totaling 21 Mastery Credits. Its 2025-26 school profile states that those requirements meet University of California A-G categories, which is important for California college eligibility.1 It also states that the school does not offer AP courses, but can proctor AP tests. Students may take dual enrollment courses through Foothill College, and seniors complete a capstone.1
This structure will appeal to some families and concern others. Students seeking a conventional AP-heavy transcript may find the model less familiar. Students who benefit from mastery and project work may find it more coherent than a traditional grading system.
Technology and AI
Khan Lab School was founded by the creator of Khan Academy, and the founder page describes a philosophy that includes personalized pacing, peer learning, knowledge-gap tools, and learning not bound tightly by time or space.2 The sources reviewed support describing Khan Lab School as tech-informed and mastery-oriented. They do not support describing the core school model as an AI school. For taxonomy, Khan Lab School belongs in mastery-based, lab school, competency-based, and personalized-learning categories.
Locations and availability
Khan Lab School is physically located in the Bay Area. The Middle and Upper School campus is in Mountain View, and the Lower School is listed in Palo Alto.3 This makes the school much less geographically flexible than the online profiles in this batch.
Because the published total enrollment is 310, with 25 students in the class of 2026, availability may be constrained by grade level and cohort size.1 Families should verify openings before doing deeper fit analysis.
Tuition and admissions
Khan Lab School publishes a full tuition schedule. For the 2026-27 academic year, tuition is $34,750 for Lower School TK-5 and $38,850 for Middle and Upper School. Additional published fees include a $750 registration fee, a 10 percent tuition deposit, and Family Association dues of $250 per student.3
The admissions page uses Ravenna and lists application components such as student questions, videos, school reports, teacher evaluations, a parent conversation, and a student visit. The 2026-27 admissions timeline listed a priority deadline of January 15, 2026 and admissions decisions in March 2026 for several grade bands.4 Current applicants should confirm late-application availability and grade-level openings.
Evidence and outcomes
Khan Lab School publishes stronger formal documentation than many schools in this batch. Its school profile lists enrollment, demographics, student-teacher ratio, accreditation, graduation requirements, and college outcomes.1 The profile states that 100 percent of graduates enroll in four-year colleges and provides a multi-year college acceptance and matriculation list.1
Those data are still school-published. They should not be framed as independent proof that the model outperforms conventional schools. The class sizes are small, the student population may be selective, and the school does not use traditional grades or rank. Parents should ask for the latest school profile, college counseling outcomes by graduating class, and how colleges evaluate the mastery transcript.
Best fit
Khan Lab School may fit families seeking an established private school that is still meaningfully non-traditional. It is especially relevant for students who can work well in a mastery-based environment, do not need a conventional AP-and-GPA transcript, and are comfortable with a school that asks colleges to read a different kind of record.
It may be a weaker fit for families seeking low-cost alternatives, fully online flexibility, traditional grades, large-school athletics, or a conventional AP-heavy high school path. It also may be less suitable for students who need the predictability of traditional grading or who are applying to systems that do not understand mastery-based transcripts.
Questions parents should ask
- How does Khan Lab School convert mastery records into transcripts for transfer or college applications?
- What are the current grade-level openings and waitlists?
- How many graduates were included in the latest four-year college enrollment claim?
- How are students supported if they fall behind on mastery credits?
- What learning support is available, and what needs are beyond the school's capacity?
- What dual enrollment courses are commonly taken, and how do they appear on the transcript?
- How do colleges evaluate Khan Lab School applicants without traditional grades or class rank?
- What is the total cost after fees, devices, lunch, after-school programs, trips, and other extras?
Research notes and open questions
School Decision did not identify major public-record gaps during this review. Families should still confirm current tuition, admissions, availability, and accreditation or credit details directly with the school.