With more than two decades of experience in school, research, and business environments, Kim leads the KLS middle and upper school.  Most recently, she was the Chief of Academics at US Performance Academy — an online middle-high school for elite athletes. During her career, she has held key leadership roles and led strategic initiatives at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, National Sports Academy, Emergent Academy and LRN.  She has also been a consultant for a diverse set of companies and organizations. Kim holds a B.S. in Physics from Marlboro College, an M.S. in Astrophysics from the University of Arizona, and an M.Ed from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  Kim and her husband love traveling, hiking, kayaking and trying to keep up with their four children.

Chi-Ray graduated from Stanford University with B.A. and M.S. degrees in Biomechanical Engineering. He spent a few years applying his studies as General Manager for a local company, prototyping and manufacturing coronary stents. Soon, he decided to pursue his interest in system thinking, and he became an operations generalist for small-to-mid-sized organizations. Chi-Ray has held a number of roles similar to what he does at KLS, including serving as Director of Operations, Technology, and Facilities at a large church in Boston; working as Program Director for the Digital Media Academy at Stanford; and most recently, working as Director of IT and Employee Services at One Kings Lane (the online home goods retailer). In his spare time, Chi-Ray has been known to lead scouts, root for the New England Patriots, play banjo, listen to country music, wish he had a pick-up truck, and dream of seeing the U.S. on an extended RV trip with his wife, Erica, and kids, Timothy and Megan. You'd never guess he was born in Boston and raised in L.A. Chi-Ray has been a member of the KLS team since its founding in 2014. 

Originally from Sacramento, Janan has a “Nor Cal” background, having also graduated from the University of San Francisco with a B.A. in Politics. During her time as an undergraduate, she studied abroad in Cairo, Egypt and had a transformational educational experience. So after graduating college she returned to Egypt to study Arabic intensively at the American University of Cairo. She worked in the NGO sector, writing grant proposals and fundraising for the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights, but eventually she returned to education in order to help other students have life-changing educational experiences, as she did. 

Janan worked as an EducationUSA advisor, a program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, to advise students, free of charge, on how to apply to U.S. colleges and universities at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. During this time the Egyptian Revolution occurred (and she was evacuated twice!), which eventually led her to Jordan. In Jordan she worked for King’s Academy, a liberal arts boarding school. While there she managed the school’s standardized testing, counseled over 200 students through the college admissions process, and raised awareness among higher education institutions about the new school. 

She is still in touch with many of her former students, who have gone on to graduate from colleges and universities around the world. Some of which are even working and studying right here in the Bay Area! Nothing brings her greater joy than helping students achieve their dreams and hearing about their successes later on in life. In her free time, Janan enjoys hiking, yoga, cuddling with her dog, and traveling the world. She’s traveled to 30+ countries so far and can’t wait to see more!

Originally from a small town in Wisconsin, Jessica graduated from college in Minnesota and then her adventurous spirit brought her West.  First to Portland, Oregon, then to Santa Barbara, and finally to the Bay Area. While in Portland, Jessica volunteered for a year of service as part of the AmeriCorps program which then led to pursuing her Masters degree in Public Health at Portland State University. After working in program development and implementing community-based programs in the non-profit public health sector for several years Jessica eventually settled in the Bay Area. It was here that Jessica decided to shift her career and pursue a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. While gaining the clinical experience required for obtaining licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) Jessica discovered her interest in working with children and families by working in several different schools from San Francisco to San Jose and in between. Jessica finds school-based mental health services to be a particularly effective way to connect with children, adolescents, and families in order to promote a holistic approach to supporting students.

Jessica has provided school-based counseling support for the past six years and in 2016 became a licensed MFT. In addition to her time at KLS Jessica works as a therapist in private practice where she sees children, adolescents, and adults. Jessica enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter, cooking, traveling, reading, hiking, cheering on the Green Bay Packers, and exploring all of the amazing food and experiences the Bay Area has to offer.

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As a Utah native and newcomer to the Bay, Parisa is excited about being a part of the KLS team because of the focus on a technology-empowered, student-centered, mastery-learning approach to education. Her research during her B.S. and M.Ed. from the University of Utah (Go Utes!) focused on the power of effective technology integration and instructional design in the classroom, specifically with an emphasis on technology as a cognitive partner in learning to foster analysis, evaluation, communication, collaboration, and creation. With more than five years of experience in different learning settings, including public, charter, and private school, tutoring, and educational summer camps, working with students from Kindergarten up through 6th grade, Parisa comes ready to support deep thinking processes and the social-emotional learning of diverse students populations. She believes in the power of using authentic problems, project-based learning, and hands-on experiences to help her students discover the intricacies and relationships among math concepts in real life. Her favorite part about teaching is the joy of igniting a passion for learning in her students, just as she loves the thrill of discovering a new topic about how our world works. Parisa is excited to continue growing the KLS vision of reimagining the way education empowers youth to find their individual, fullest potential. When Parisa is not in the classroom or reading about teaching and learning, she enjoys even more reading, listening to music, watching and playing sports, and exploring the amazing outdoor and cultural opportunities of the Bay area with her family and friends.

Mikki taught 9-12 grade English for 24 years at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino.  Her classes included Speech and Debate, English Language Learners, and Advanced Placement English.  At Monta Vista she founded programs such as the New Student Support Program, Art and Literature Course, and the Life Skills Summer Training. She joined Khan Lab School for two years as Level 4 and Level 5 Advisor and as Upper School Administrative Assistant.  For two years she ventured to Oxford Day Academy in East Palo Alto as their Founding High School English Instructor and Staff Coordinator.  She is grateful to return to Khan Lab School to continue to challenge and widen her practice, and to support the growth of the school community.  Her work history demonstrates consistent passion for education, innovative creativity, and giving the underdog a voice.

In addition to working for students, Mikki enjoys reading, hiking, laughing with friends, and hanging out with her three children who continually grow love and wisdom in her life.

Jacob was born and raised in San Francisco and first performed music professionally at 15. After seeking a BA in Music Performance at UCSC, he pursued a MOM at SF State University with an emphasis in Music History. He has toured and recorded with some top artists in the field including Nicki Minaj, Zap Mama and Chris Isaak, scored movies and theater productions. In between performances and recordings, Jacob taught at Universities in US and Canada and helped to design the music curriculum for Waldorf elementary and middle school.  He is passionate about music education and excited to become a member of the Khan Lab School team.

With a lifelong passion for teaching and education, Tooba is excited to be a part of KLS. She received her Bachelor’s in Business and Information Technology (BBIT) followed by her Masters in Business and Economics from University of Reading (U.K). Her Masters dissertation was on “Competition in the Airline Industry: International Airline Alliances and Low Cost Carriers”, where she did an extensive research by using various mathematical and statistical modeling techniques and tools such as E-views and SPSS to prove her hypothesis. She was also part of “UK Women Entrepreneurship Project” which empowers and supports women entrepreneurs throughout the United Kingdom.

Prior to joining KLS, Tooba worked in UK’s leading private schools for 11+ years, thus bringing a wealth of UK’s educational practices to KLS. Tooba has worked as a lecturer for A-levels (High School) in Business and Economics. She was also involved in teaching Pre-calculus and Calculus courses in mathematics. Aside from work, Tooba enjoys cooking, baked, and spending time with her two kids.

Melissa helps students make giant leaps in learning by maximizing student engagement and ownership of the learning process. While earning her master’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Florida, Melissa gained a keen interest in blended learning and technology. Her research into educational technology led her to complete a pilot internship with Florida Virtual School and become a counselor for UF’s Digital Kids Tech Camp. Upon graduating, Melissa returned to her hometown of Tampa, FL where she taught for seven years in Title 1 elementary schools. Melissa began her career as a second grade teacher for predominantly low-income students, the majority of whom spoke English as a second language. She researched and incorporated alternative teaching methods, such as inductive teaching and project-based learning, to continually encourage critical thinking and discussion in the classroom. After two years, she transferred to Dunbar Elementary, an inner-city magnet school focused on medical and scientific exploration. Melissa taught second grade and gifted Math and Science before eventually becoming a fifth grade Math and Science instructor. In this role, Melissa challenged students to learn through engagement in authentic and open-ended problems they are likely to face in the future. This problem-based, student-centered approach to teaching and learning fostered 100% active participation and mastery of standards. Melissa recently spent a year in the Philippines, where she had the opportunity to learn more about her heritage and assist in opening a school for children in rural Leyte. When Melissa isn't learning something new with students, she enjoys playing the ukulele, going on adventures, and winning at board games. She is most excited about collaborating with students in her day-to-day work. 

Born in Mumbai, India, Nikita moved with her family to California when she was two years old. Nikita grew up in the Bay Area and attended college at UC Berkeley where she received her B.A. in Public Health. Her first major foray into the field of education, from which she would never look back, happened when she joined Teach for America as a 5th grade teacher for Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada. After a few years of roaming the Red Rocks and enjoying the Vegas sunshine, Nikita returned to her beloved California. She spent two more years as an upper elementary Literacy teacher at a San Jose charter school before a short stint as a Curriculum Designer at an EdTech startup in San Francisco. Since her very first year in the classroom, Nikita has valued the importance of personalized and deeper learning and has strived to find the balance between inquiry and mastery in her teaching and learning experiences. Nikita is passionate about children's literature and loves to spend her free time hiking, trying (and often failing at) new recipes, and traveling.  

Viet joined KLS in 2018 as the Computer Science Specialist for IL5 & IL6. At KLS, he strives on introducing programming languages to middle & upper school students, and encourages them to apply their knowledge into solving some of the real world challenges. Viet holds a B.S in Computer Science from University of California in Davis, an M.S in Computer Science from San Jose State University. Currently, Viet is pursuing his Ph.D in Computer Engineering in University of California in Santa Cruz, where his research topics focus on applying Computer Vision and Machine Learning into assistive technology for people with visual impairments. Prior joining to his doctoral program, Viet collaborated as a software engineer for several tech company in the Silicon Valley. Aside from academia and industry, Viet is a traveler, scuba diver, backpacker, and miniature hobbyist.

Devin Harris, GrowFit Educator

We are happy to welcome Devin Harris as our Outer Wellness teacher. Devin has over 13 years of experience working with students. Prior to joining GrowFit, he was an outdoor education teacher and basketball coach for both elementary and middle school students. In his spare time, he enjoys being outdoors, dancing, and playing baseball. Devin is currently pursuing a degree in child development and looks forward to a long career in physical education.

Joe Callinan, GrowFit Co-Founder & CEO

Six years ago, Joe co-founded GrowFit to help provide physical education programs to schools in the Bay Area. He believes in empowering students to learn at their own pace through developmentally appropriate learning progressions. Joe's dedicated team encourages a love of fitness by creating a non-competitive environment grounded in self-improvement and mastery. As an organization, GrowFit utilizes outstanding instructors, deep research, and a focus on fundamental motor skill development to prepare students for healthy and active lives. The GrowFit curriculum incorporates significant amounts of aerobic exercise to provide students with immediate health benefits. Prior to GrowFit, Joe spent eight years working for a $4 billion dollar technology company. During that time, he was a Product Leader for QuickBooks Self-Employed and QuickBooks Financing. Joe earned his B.A. and M.A. from California Polytechnic State University and is a Certified Public Accountant.