Thrilled

We were thrilled when our son was accepted to Khan Lab School for 2016-17. We had applied twice, as we were not among the few applicants accepted the first time (for 2015-16). The teachers we'd met were engaged and enthusiastic. Parents of enrolled students gushed about the school. The school has a wonderful mission: "Designing student-centered global learning experiences, accessible to the world." The idea of running an experimental school and sharing what they learn is especially unique. The proximity to our house let us walk to school. We like the mixed age format.

Rough Start

Moby's first week at Khan Lab School (KLS) was rough. Not for Moby; for us parents.

The school we had toured was very open and parents spoke in clear detail about individual teachers and why their children thrived. The school our son attended felt like a fortress. I could share more about my day at Tesla than I knew about my son's day at KLS.

Moby started school on Tuesday, September 6. Between the preceding month and that first week of school we received 14 emails from the school, some short, some many pages. Yet when we walked in to the Back to School Night event for parents on Monday, September 12, we didn't even know who Moby's teacher was.

For a week we had been leaving our 6 year old in the lobby, watching him disappear down a hallway. Drop-offs and pick-ups did not provide a glimpse of the classroom nor a brief glimpse of his teacher, unlike his public school the previous year. We did not see whether our son was lost or enthralled in the classroom. We had no idea whether he was making friends or feeling left out from existing cliques as one of very few new students to his grade level. Being a 6 year old boy, he mostly shrugged off our questions. We had no sense of the gist of his day.

Unbenownst to us, Moby was thriving.

Also unbenownst to us, we had received an email from our son's teacher. Her email introduced her as "Lead Advisor for Level 2 and French Language Specialist." While page 11 of the 33 page of the KLS Family Handbook explains the concept of an "Independence Level", the incoming flow of information was so overwhelming that we had not yet internalized that "Level 2" means "1st grade". We also didn't know there was only one IL2 teacher, and so that "Lead Advisor" effectively means "homeroom teacher".

We walked into Back to School night on Monday, September 12 eager for a glimpse into this fortress.

And then it was great

With time things got easier. We asked a lot of questions of a lot of people and by mid-December had seen enough to feel confident that Moby was learning a lot and happy.

Kicked out

Then we got kicked out of the school. There was no clear warning that this was under consideration, though we knew the director, Dominic Liechti didn't like us. On Friday, January 6, Dominic told my husband that our son's last day would be the following Wednesday. Dominic gave us 3 business days' warning. We had paid for the year up front, over $23,000. Moby had lost his spot in the excellent neighborhood public school where he'd gone to kindergarten. We were very sad and very upset and very confused.

We suspected this boiled down to a miscommunication. Perhaps our questions aimed at understanding the gist of our son's day and how he was adjusting had been misconstrued as requests for even more academic feedback. KLS showers parents with the teacher's impressions of academic progress through a "Goal Tracker" spreadsheet for each child, while we were looking for gist and socioemotional well-being. We sent out emails and made phone calls, hopeful that since there was no difference in substance between what we wanted for our child and what the school provided perhaps we could reconcile whatever issue the director, Dominic, had with us.

Sal Khan did not reply. Dominic stood firm, insistent that we leave, and still offering no cause. Another board member politely declined to intervene.

On Tuesday, January 10, Dominic emailed the parents in our son's grade to say that Moby had been "withdrawn". Since the process for "Withdrawal" in the school's handbook had not been followed, I felt placed in the middle of a lie.

Why?

I don't know, honestly. Dominic and KLS never clearly stated a reason. I can only speculate.

Where is your son now?

He lost his spot at our excellent and over-enrolled neighborhood school. He's attending another school in the same public school district. He still asks about KLS sometimes and I'm not sure what else to tell him. Other parents have asked: "How is this in the best interest of the child?" and I sadly don't have an answer for them, either.

And your $23,750 tuition?

The school reimbursed us about 2/3 of the year's tuition.

We bore the costs of losing our spot in our local neighborhood school, our son's emotional turmoil, and legal fees.