Written By: Dr. Ivan Khan
Thirty years ago, my mother and I were returning from my Kaplan class when I noticed our family friend’s car outside of our home.
I excitedly asked whether we had a last minute dawat (gathering). My mother corrected me and said that my Dad had a 90 minute tutoring session to help my friend for their entrance exam.
We were both preparing for our SHSAT exam and my father was more than happy to help. While my Dad wanted to teach her for free, my friend’s father had insisted that my father be paid for his time. My father reluctantly accepted $25 for their 90 minute class and Khan’s Tutorial was born.
Within a few weeks, word started spreading that Mansur Khan, PhD candidate and High School Math teacher at Economic & Finance was taking on new students. The early demand provided a niche role for my mother Nayeema, a Masters graduate and teacher herself, to coordinate appointments and help new families that were constantly calling our home and requesting classes.
A few years later, I was already a sophomore at Bronx Science when my father had to organize his tutoring work into an official company. “Ivan, I need to give this a name, what should I do?” he asked. “Why don’t you call it Khan’s Tutorial?” I replied. I jumped onto Microsoft Word and printed our first logo with the scroll.
By our 8th year, our family was forever changed when my father was diagnosed with Bone Marrow Cancer. By now, Khan’s Tutorial had helped hundreds of students gain entrance into the Specialized High Schools, top colleges, and early professional careers. The next few years were some of the most challenging times for my family, yet our collective faith, fighting spirit, and the prayers of loved ones and supporters in our community helped us persevere through.
Today, Khan’s Tutorial is humbled to return to 8 locations across New York City. Our track record of helping nearly 5,000 students into NYC’s Specialized High Schools is unmatched.
Our work in helping thousands of high school students into college and onto professional careers is directly tied to our mission to create upward mobility for all families through education, free community workshops, and scholarships.
Our more recent work to help younger families navigate childhood development conditions while focusing on emotional intelligence will be a focal point for years to come. We couldn’t have embarked on this segment without the leadership of our Chief Operating Officer Tasneem Imam Khan, and our children Arianna, who now takes SHSAT classes, and Ian, who is a proud member of our online classes.
As we embark on our fourth decade, I would like to thank every teacher, student, and parent that entrusted their time and academics with our team. There are too many memories and milestones to list out, but our time together are some of the proudest moments of our lives.
30 years is a long time to work in an incredible space like Education in New York City. Thank you again for being a part of this ride, and we can’t wait to create what’s next with you all!