She helped imagine Khan World School. Then Amy McGrath chose it for her own kids.

McGrath has spent much of her career exploring how innovative educational models can create new possibilities for students. When it came time to choose a high school for her own children, she found herself asking the same question she has asked throughout her career: What if?

Her children had attended a K–8 school that was a great fit, with a classical, hands-on approach centered on projects and learning by doing. But high school brought new considerations. After trying both private and public school options, McGrath began looking for a model that could offer more academic rigor while giving her children greater control over their time.

The question became: What if high school could be built around the opportunities that mattered most to each student, rather than asking students to fit everything else around school?

“We should be able to modularize this, like Lego blocks, and build our own,” she says.

For her family, that could mean combining high school coursework with college credit, athletics, work and more flexibility.

McGrath suggested Khan World School as a possibility, but she made sure the decision belonged to her children.

“I was very upfront saying, ‘This is not something that I’m putting on you,’” McGrath explains. “‘This is a choice that you get to make.’”

She also made sure they understood the tradeoffs. Online learning requires students to develop structure, manage their time and take greater responsibility for their own learning.

“It’s mastery, and it does require a bit of synchronous grit,” she told them.

Ultimately, all three of McGrath’s children and their cousin Cameron chose Khan World School.

Three mornings a week, the four cousins log in from Florida to join a small synchronous seminar with students from around the world. Rather than simply listening to a lecture, students come prepared to analyze information, defend their ideas and engage in open discussion.

The topics aren’t exactly typical small talk for a high school morning. Students might discuss genetic modification or debate whether the United States should provide financial assistance to countries struggling to escape economic poverty.

For the four cousins, there’s another layer to the experience: They have their own text thread where they tease about one another’s participation in seminar or challenge one another’s arguments.

For McGrath, it’s entertaining, but it’s also one of the things she finds most impressive about the model.

Khan World School was recognized as one of the world’s 10 most innovative schools, earning a place among the finalists for the World’s Best School Prize. The recognition reflects an approach to learning that combines mastery-based education with live seminars, small-group tutorials and independent coursework, giving students opportunities to demonstrate what they know rather than simply complete assignments or put in seat time.

For McGrath, seeing that approach play out with her own children has given her a new appreciation for the level of rigor and accountability Khan World School maintains in an online environment. 

Recently, her daughter Reese took a math assessment that required her to do more than simply solve problems and submit her answers. She had to verbally explain her mathematical thinking, watch and grade two other students and earn at least an 80% to demonstrate proficiency.

“It’s the neatest thing,” McGrath says. “To be able to listen to her explain her math problems is pretty powerful. That’s how she’s being assessed.”

For McGrath, the value goes beyond the math itself. The process helps students practice public speaking, listen carefully, assess what they are hearing and articulate complex thoughts clearly.

“I love that the kids are developing confidence and resilience,” she says. “These are life skills.”

That firsthand experience has given McGrath a deeper appreciation for the model and a new perspective on what KWS can offer families.

“I don’t even know where to start with all of the benefits,” she says. “To see the program that I’ve been a part of building for so long through the lens of a parent has been pretty incredible.”

One of the biggest changes for the McGrath family has been what happens when school no longer consumes the entire day.

Instead of fitting their commitments around a traditional school schedule, KWS gives them greater control over when and how they complete their schoolwork.

For Grady, that flexibility was an easy sell. He could sleep later, complete his coursework, play football and work. For Nolan, who plays golf, that same flexibility creates room to build school around the rest of his life.

And that freedom has become one of the most tangible benefits of KWS for the entire family.

Before, McGrath might not see her children for 12 hours on a school day. Now, they’re home. They’re sticking their heads into her home office to ask questions. They’re sometimes heading to a coffee shop together with laptops in tow.

And when McGrath runs errands or travels, Reese sometimes comes along.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the family is less busy. In fact, McGrath jokes that having everyone home has created new challenges, including a house that isn’t nearly as clean and a renewed emphasis on chores.

But it does mean they’re sharing more of their everyday lives.

“Those extra hours have been a game changer,” she shares.

One recent road trip perfectly captured what McGrath finds so exciting about the possibilities of KWS.

Reese had her laptop with her in the car, working through a Dreamscape Learn simulation while McGrath drove.

The experience was particularly meaningful because Reese and her brothers had encountered Dreamscape Learn years earlier, when the immersive learning technology was still being developed. Now, Reese was using it as part of her actual high school experience.

And that wasn’t the only unusual thing happening in the car.

Reese was taking BIO 100 through Arizona State University while simultaneously earning high school biology credit through Khan World School.

McGrath shared a photo of her daughter working from the car on LinkedIn, writing:

“College credit. High school credit. With immersive learning. In 9th grade. From wherever she happens to be. Available to anyone, anywhere, anytime.”

For McGrath, that moment represented more than flexibility. It showed what can happen when students aren’t forced to choose between meaningful opportunities simply because those opportunities don’t fit neatly into a traditional school schedule.

And they can begin building a high school experience around who they are and where they want to go.

McGrath is quick to point out that her family is still early in its KWS experience. The four cousins have only been in the program for a few weeks, and each will develop a different relationship with the experience as the year unfolds.

But one thing has already become clear: McGrath is experiencing these years with her children differently than she expected.

With her oldest son entering his final year of high school, those everyday moments feel especially meaningful. McGrath is on what she jokingly calls an “11-month countdown” until he leaves for college.

After years of helping imagine new possibilities for students, she’s now watching those possibilities unfold in her own home. And perhaps the biggest surprise isn’t academic at all.

She’s getting more time with her kids.

“It’s been such a gift,” McGrath says. “This is the best.”