Career Center

Khan Lab School
Lower School Director (K-6) 

Palo Alto, California
July 1, 2022

OVERVIEW

In 2012, Sal Khan wrote The One World Schoolhouse, in which he outlines how modern education developed and how Khan Academy came to be. But, most importantly, the book outlines a vision for the future of both in-person and online education given the tools we have and the need for many more people to participate in the knowledge economy. In 2014, He founded Khan Lab School to test and refine these ideas in an actual school setting.

Today, Khan Lab School has grown to be a K-12 independent school on two campuses serving over 240 students in Silicon Valley.  The K-8 program is located in Palo Alto. California. The high school is located in Mountain View, California. We are seeking a Lower & Middle School Director to lead the K-8 grade program in Palo Alto, CA, beginning no later than July 1, 2022.  

This position is an opportunity to contribute to, and shape, an innovative, early stage lower-middle school that will have graduated two senior classes as of this June. The upper campus enrollment is projected to have 80 students in 2022-23, with an expectation that the program will grow to approximately 200 students in the next few years.

KLS is a community of learners and partners that have a deep commitment to our work. The staff and administration believe that in our highly collaborative environment that anything is possible.  We tackle tough questions without ego, are results oriented, and have high expectations for the school and our students.  Decisions are made through the lens of what is best for students.

KLS is a community of learners and partners that have a deep commitment to our work. The staff and administration believe that in our highly collaborative environment that anything is possible.  We tackle tough questions without ego, are results oriented, and have high expectations for the school and our students.  Decisions are made through the lens of what is best for students.

From its founding, the core ideas of the School have been:

Student centered.  Students need to have the space and encouragement to take control of their learning. 

• Teacher-guides focus on student motivation, unblocking academic or social-emotional hurdles, and guiding students through student-driven experiential learning.
• Teacher-guides create the context and conditions for student independence.
• Teacher-guides may question, prompt or provide short explanations, but they do not lecture. 

Mastery learning. Students should always have the opportunity and incentive to fill in any gaps in learning and prove mastery. This is in contrast to traditional models where a student may receive an 80% on a test (showing a 20% gap in what happened to be on the exam) and then be forced to move to the next topic that builds on those gaps. This results in a majority of American students entering college needing to remediate at the middle school level. Through mastery learning, we believe that all students can learn more.

Personalization of pace with high expectations. Students’ academic progress should not be tied to age. In support of mastery learning, students need to be able to gap fill, refresh, or move ahead at a pace appropriate for their individual needs. But with personalization, we believe that most students should be able to master more learning per year relative to traditional expectations due to our extended calendar, mastery learning, and targeted use of technology.

Everyone’s a student; everyone’s a teacher. Students are given the opportunity to learn from and teach each other. Students can and should aspire to become peer teachers themselves. Adult teacher-guides should always be looking for ways for them to step back so students can step in. Adult teacher-guides should also feel comfortable learning and teaching new domains.

Using online tools to unlock experiential learning.  By leveraging online tools for core skill development/mastery (especially Khan Academy for STEM), students not only learn standards faster (1.3x traditional expectations), but it also frees time in the school day for more experiential learning. Through the experiential learning (including teaching), students can supplement their evidence of mastery with a portfolio of meaningful work, service, and experiences.

Learning not bound by time or space. The educational experience should not be bound by the walls of a classroom or the traditional academic calendar. When learning can happen outside the classroom, it should. For younger students, this could be just spending as much time as possible outdoors (ideally by having outdoor classrooms), as well as field trips. We should also have an extended academic calendar to avoid long-gaps in learning. At the same time, by having an extended school day that coincides with parent schedules (9am-6pm) , students should have a chance to complete all their work during the school day to get proper time for family and rest at home. For older students this could also include internships, travel or specialized off-campus academic/arts/sports programs. Through use of video conferencing (and other asynchronous mechanisms), students and teachers are not constrained to only working with people in the same physical space. 

Blurring the arbitrary boundaries between high school and college (and between middle and high school). There is no reason that students with a strong mastery-learning foundation can’t master college-level content well before graduating high school. Even more, when this is done in a supported, mastery learning environment, the high school-aged students can actually learn and retain the material better than most college students. When this happens, students should get dual high school and college credit that allows them to enter college at a far more advanced level.

Content knowledge matters. We believe that both skill development and content knowledge are crucial. Students who have a solid base of knowledge along the lines of E.D. Hirsch’s Core Knowledge Sequence will be more culturally literate and have a fact base from which to draw connections and develop higher order insights.

Less is more. We need to be hyper focused on the essential content and skills that prepare students for their future journeys. By not overloading students with content or seat-time requirements, it:

• Increases the chances that the focus areas will be mastered.
• Creates time, space and flexibility for students to go deeper in areas and experiences that matter to them.

An affordable, replicable model. Too many private schools make up for inefficiencies/complexity/lack-of-focus with more and more staff which drive up costs and squeeze out space for students. We believe that a truly great school that embodies all of the above can be implemented (once at scale) to be cost comparable with local public schools.

Whole child. As important as academic mastery is, mental and emotional well-being and resilience is even more important. KLS has an explicit emphasis on student mindfulness and social-emotional learning.

PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA
Palo Alto, known as the “Birthplace of Silicon Valley,” is home to 69,700 residents. The City of Palo Alto offers robust community amenities including 36 parks, 39 playgrounds, five community and youth centers, 41 miles of walking/biking trails and five libraries.  The City of Palo Alto is more than 100 years old, and is named after a majestic 1000 (not 250) year old coastal redwood tree along San Francisco Creek, where early Spanish explorers settled. The blend of business and residential areas anchored by a vibrant downtown defines Palo Alto’s unique character. A charming mixture of old and new, Palo Alto’s tree-lined streets and historic buildings reflect its California heritage. At the same time, Palo Alto is recognized worldwide as a leader in cutting-edge technological development.

Within easy driving distance are the adjacent communities of Sunnyvale, Mountain View, and Los Altos.  Santa Cruz and the surrounding beach communities are less than one hour away.  Many academic institutions, including Santa Clara University and Stanford, are also nearby, not to mention a rich outdoor and arts scene.

THE LOWER SCHOOL

Faculty and Administration
Khan Lab School’s faculty and administrators foster a community who love to learn. We work diligently to ensure consistency in mastery across disciplines, while also maintaining a commitment to meeting students where they are. The quality of teaching and learning remains consistently high, even as our lab school regularly reimagines and tests new approaches. Our team is committed to this model and to sharing lessons learned with educators locally and globally.

Academics
Our school uses a mastery-based learning model, creating the time and space for what matters most. Students are expected to demonstrate an understanding of all competencies and skills identified in a course before moving on, thereby filling any potential “gaps” in their education. While the time it takes a student to finish a course may vary, the depth of mastery remains constant. Khan Lab School creates space within the academic day for students to explore their passions. In this space, they further develop their skills and apply their learning within contexts that are meaningful to them—and frequently develop expertise at a far younger age than many would expect. Wellness, caring, and creative expression are also central to community life. 

THE POSITION
The Lower School Director reports to the Executive Director and works closely with the founder and other senior school leaders to oversee the K-8 campus and all programming.  They must be an academic leader with a clear understanding of mastery-based learning in the context of the Khan Lab School experience.  More specifically, the Lower School Director will collaborate with faculty, administrators, and students in the following areas:

• In collaboration with the High School Director, develop a clear and common understanding of how mastery is implemented in the teaching environment and then operationalized in progress reports and mastery transcripts.
• Build and grow a strong community by leading the teaching team, supporting parents/guardians, ensuring the experience for each child is of the highest standard, and supporting KLS best practices.
• Further develop the school’s student advisory program.
• In collaboration with the school’s leadership, refine the School’s programming and approach to the daily schedule.
• Build on the School’s increased local interest and thoughtfully increase enrollment.
• Oversee the day-to-day operations of the Lower School and work with the team to design, coordinate, and develop the enrollment management process in order to quickly grow enrollment and attract and retain staff. 
• Lead searches for faculty positions and lead inservice, back-to-school night, and other school events. 
• Oversee the facilities of the Lower School campus including the remodeling effort of an on campus facility.
• Support the admissions and development team with marketing and fundraising.
• Co-lead the school’s WASC accreditation and Cognia renewal.
• Work with the leadership team to further develop the KLS Institute.
• Work collaboratively with the Summer and After School Director and the High School Director.

The Lower and Middle School Director also works closely with Sal Khan, the Executive Director, and other senior leaders to hone the instructional vision, structures, and systems of the school, consistent with Khan Lab School’s mission, philosophy, values, and goals for education and ensures the overall success of the academic program.

The ideal candidate will have:

• A passion for designing and implementing new student-centered education models.
• Direct experience in a mastery-based environment.
• Experience in curriculum development or as an Academic Director.
• Experience hiring and mentoring staff.
• A try, test and refine attitude.
• A commitment to an affordable tuition model.  
• Working with the Director of Admissions, have a vision and desire to build a more diverse student community.
• Experience with Khan Academy tools (ideally having implemented them with students).
• Strong alignment to the school’s core ideas as outlined above.
• A commitment to building authentic relationships with parents, staff, and colleagues, and other partners.
• Non-traditional approach to compensation and recruiting.
• A commitment to developing lab school style weekly and student scheduling.
• Experience developing and supporting student-led conferences, exhibitions, student portfolios, progress reports, and Habits of Work.
• Prior direct early-stage school design and teaching experience, a plus.

APPLICATION PROCESS

To apply for this position, please share

• A cover letter
• A resume
• Names and contact information for three references
  
  

Successful candidates will have a demonstrated familiarity with the Sal Khan’s school model outlined in his book The One World Schoolhouse.

Compensation. Competitive compensation commensurate with experience.
Health, dental, and vision benefits

Start Date: By July 2022

Location: Palo Alto, CA

Khan Lab School is an EOE and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, place of national origin, sex, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, physical handicap, or any other category which may be protected by applicable state or federal law in its employment practice.