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In a move that would increase its enrollment, Khan Lab School in Mountain View is looking to bring its K-8 students to Palo Alto, a proposal that will be discussed at a virtual community meeting on Tuesday, June 15, at 7 p.m.
The nonprofit school has set its sights on 3223 Cowper St. near Loma Verde Avenue in the St. Claire Gardens neighborhood, where it’s looking to share the 7.44-acre site with Our Lady of Rosary Church and Silicon Valley International School’s preschool and kindergarten programs.
The move would be an upgrade from the school’s current location in Mountain View, where it previously had about 30 students. It has since grown to almost 200 students, which breaks down to 142 children in the lower school and 47 at the high school level. The Villa Street campus lacks a play structure and a portion of the parking lot has been converted into outdoor space.
The migration won’t happen unless the city approves Khan Lab’s conditional use permit, which was submitted last month and is under review. The school estimates 160 students, 23 teachers and eight staff members will be on campus at the start of the 2021-22 school year. About 20 to 25 students would be added each year until the school hits its proposed student population of 262 students, a nearly 25% increase from its current enrollment limit of 210 students.
Khan Lab’s review of the city records shows a school has operated on the Cowper Street property since the 1950s and the last conditional use permit for the site issued in 2007 allows for no more than 210 students. The school would hold classes at the site’s current school buildings, where it plans to turn the space into 15 classrooms and make “minor changes to doorways and access points to improve ADA accessibility.” The school also wants to make some modifications to a portion of the church’s Dermody Center, which would turn into five “flexible shared teaching spaces” for science, technology, engineering, art and music instruction.
The campus can accommodate the needed 40 parking spaces for every “teaching station” required by the city, according to the school’s permit application.
Founded by Salman Khan, Khan Lab School operates year-round with six breaks that last one to two weeks long.
The public will have an opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback at the virtual meeting, which will be held on Zoom. Those wishing to join can do so at zoom.us/j/3349356938 or by dialing 669-900-9128 and using meeting ID 334 935 6938.
