Kalyan “Kal” Balaven, head of school at Dunn School in Los Olivos, has been named to the inaugural class of The 100, a national recognition honoring 100 educators advancing innovation across U.S. independent schools.

The 100 recognizes educators whose work is creating meaningful impact in three areas: curriculum innovation, artificial intelligence and emerging technology, and leadership and systems change, the organization said.

The 2026 cohort was selected by an independent panel of education leaders and thinkers, including Denise Pope, Stanford Graduate School of Education senior lecturer; Jay McTighe, curriculum expert and Understanding by Design co-creator; Eric Hudson, former Global Online Academy chief program officer.

“Balaven’s recognition comes as Dunn has emerged as a testing ground for a distinctly human-centered approach to education in the age of artificial intelligence, one that seeks to embrace the possibilities of new technology without allowing technology to replace the experiences, relationships, reflection and intellectual struggle at the heart of learning,” according to Dunn School.

“This recognition belongs as much to Dunn as it does to me,” Balaven said. “We have been asking a fundamental question here: How do you prepare young people for a world transformed by artificial intelligence without surrendering the very things that make education human?

“Our answer has not been to run from AI or race blindly toward it. It has been to become much more intentional about what only human beings can do.”

Central to that approach is Balaven’s application of David Kolb’s experiential learning cycle — experience, reflection, conceptual understanding, and experimentation — to the emerging challenge of AI in schools.

In his recent writing on AI and education, Balaven has argued that the central question is not simply whether students should or should not use AI, but whether schools are designing learning that still requires students to think.

“AI can short-circuit the learning cycle, but used differently, it can accelerate it,” he has written. “The smarter our machines become, the more intentionally human our schools will need to be.”

Balaven expanded on that philosophy in his 2025 book “Speaking Truth, Teaching Humanity: What I Learned from Mr. Lindsey to Teach and Lead in the Age of A.I.”

Part memoir and part practical guide for educators, the book examines how schools can preserve voice, dignity, belonging, moral courage and authentic human connection as artificial intelligence transforms education.

“Kal’s recognition is a reflection of something we see every day at Dunn: innovation here is not innovation for its own sake,” said Marissa May Carroll, Dunn School’s associate head of school. “It is grounded in students, teachers, and the relationships between them.

“What is particularly exciting about this recognition is that it brings national attention to ideas being developed right here in our community that can ultimately benefit educators and students well beyond Dunn.”