Khan Lab School (KLS) is a non-profit, mastery-based school founded by Salman Khan in 2014 to extend Khan Academy’s student-centered philosophy into a physical school environment. Furthering his vision for Khan Academy, Khan wrote and published The One World Schoolhouse, in which he argues for mastery-based, blended, and mixed-age learning coupled with a departure from traditional letter grades. Today the KLS community is bringing that vision to life on its own campus and also sharing knowledge within education more broadly.

In each academic area at KLS, progress is decoupled from age; the time it takes a student to finish a course will vary but the depth of mastery is constant. We believe that students cannot “master” a course by performing well on one assessment. Instead, students are expected to demonstrate mastery of all skills and content before they can obtain foundational credit, thereby reducing the number of “gaps” in their education.   

Every student is assigned to a mixed-age cohort, which they can expect to be part of for two to three years. There are currently six cohorts for students ages 5 to 18+. Students also partner with faculty to explore their passions and deepen their learning. The quality of learning remains high but as a lab school, instructional methods are constantly being reimagined and tested. Learning is supported through weekly 1-1 advising, real-world application, and a culture that fosters student agency. Faculty and students do not simply adhere to the status quo in education. As a lab school, KLS is a model for innovation in education.