Meet Vanessa Kahlon

Vanessa Kahlon, M.A., has spent nearly two decades developing programs for exceptional children who are strong willed. As Founder and Executive Director of Kahlon Family Services (KFS) and KFS School, she has combined clinical psychology, educational practice, and family engagement into a model that produces measurable outcomes for both students and parents.

Vanessa began her career with a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and quickly recognized the absence of cohesive support systems for families. In 2008, she launched Kahlon Family Services to provide behavior consultations, social skills groups, support professionals in schools, and structured parenting programs. Unlike traditional models, KFS was designed to adapt to the needs of each child. Specialists often begin in the home, where children are most comfortable, before extending interventions to classrooms and community environments. The approach ensures that strategies are both practical and sustainable.

Curriculum Development and Data-Driven Methods

Vanessa has created interventions that extend beyond individual families. YEAS Yoga, short for Yoga Education for Autism Spectrum, helps children improve self-regulation and body awareness. The curriculum is now used in both social skills groups and professional training programs. These methods are also implemented within KFS School itself, reflecting the institution’s commitment to integrating proven practices directly into everyday learning environments.

She also designed the 3R Method, short for Redo, Rewind and Repair, a bilingual English and Spanish social-emotional learning curriculum. It is implemented district-wide in San Bernardino, California, with Tier 3 families who require intensive support. The program includes parenting workshops and consultation for schools. Data from participants shows consistent outcomes: more stable home environments, clearer boundary setting, and stronger academic performance. By directly linking emotional development with educational progress, the 3R Method has provided school districts with a framework that produces results in both areas.

Establishing KFS School

In 2016, Vanessa founded KFS School, a nonprofit K–8 program in San Francisco designed for students who do not thrive in traditional environments. The school incorporates movement desks and other tools that strengthen the connection between physical activity and cognitive focus. Lessons are structured with embedded supports, reflecting Vanessa’s belief that academic progress depends on emotional regulation and thoughtful classroom design.

KFS School demonstrates what education can look like when behavioral science and pedagogy are integrated. It shows how schools can better serve children and other students with diverse needs without lowering academic expectations. The methods Vanessa developed are applied daily at KFS School, reinforcing her commitment to ensuring that her approaches are not only theoretical but actively practiced.

Publications, Media and Public Engagement

Vanessa is the author of two books, How To Do Parenting With Confidence and Parenting With An Open Heart: A Self-Help Journal. Both focus on giving parents actionable tools for managing daily struggles while fostering healthier family dynamics.

Her expertise reaches the public through “Parenting with Vanessa Kahlon,” a weekly segment on 95.5 The Drive in Napa and Sonoma Wine Country. The show provides insights on child behavior, family communication, and strategies that parents can implement immediately. She has been featured on CBS’s This Is SF as well as in Forbes, Bloomberg, and the New York Journal, solidifying her role as a national voice on child development and education.

A major profile in SF Weekly recognized Vanessa as one of the “Top 5 Women Transforming Family Support and Unique Learners’ Education in California.” The article highlighted her integrative approach to education, noting how her programs support both parents and educators while offering tools that enhance learning outcomes for students with unique strengths and challenges.

Recognition has followed. She was named Woman of the Year by the National Association of Professional Women and later recognized among the Top 30 Influential Entrepreneurs by Entrepreneurs Herald. She also lectures widely across California, offering training in behavior management and professional development for schools and organizations.

A Philosophy of Flexibility and Accountability

At the core of Vanessa’s work is the principle that no two families require the same plan. At KFS, specialists design clear, goal-oriented strategies in collaboration with parents, educators, and advocates. Each plan includes timelines, benchmarks, and measurable outcomes, ensuring that families see progress rather than entering into indefinite cycles of support.

This structure addresses a common frustration in educational services: the lack of accountability. By combining flexibility with data-driven practices, Vanessa ensures that families experience both immediate relief and long-term development.

Implications for Education and Family Services

Vanessa’s work is relevant far beyond the communities she directly serves. Across the United States, schools face growing pressure to address behavioral health alongside academic instruction. Teacher shortages, the demand for social-emotional learning, and widening achievement gaps reveal the limitations of traditional systems.

The programs Vanessa has developed, particularly the integration of movement-based learning at KFS School and the measurable outcomes of the 3R Method, offer a blueprint for how institutions can adapt. Her work demonstrates that supporting exceptional children who are strong willed and addressing diverse needs are not separate challenges but interconnected goals.

For policymakers and educators, the lesson is clear: lasting change requires flexible, evidence-based frameworks that recognize the realities of both the classroom and the home. For families, her model provides practical solutions that lead to better communication, stability, and stronger academic outcomes for children.

Conclusion

Through KFS, KFS School, and her published work, Vanessa has established herself as a leader in rethinking how families and schools support children with diverse needs. Her combination of clinical training, entrepreneurial initiative, and data-driven methods has produced programs that are replicable, scalable, and results-oriented.

By aligning support for exceptional children who are strong willed with academic development, Vanessa has shown that children and families can succeed when given the right tools and environments. Her work sets a new standard for the future of education and family services, one built on accountability, adaptability, and measurable outcomes.

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SUCCESS STORIES

Jennifer Jones

“KFS School is a place for all children who can be who they are and my son has been working with Vanessa for 8 years doing yoga. He is learning self regulation such as breathing and communication skills when he is gets upset and we have seen a ton of progress! “

Yvette Edwards

“ Highly recommend!! Kahlon Family Services is truly an exceptional program. The Director, Vanessa, and her team are creative, patient, and provide educational experiences to children that are innovative and fun! This includes children like mine, who many “educators” think have no interest in learning. “

Jay Shaffer

KFS is simply amazing. Vanessa is the child whisperer! She gets it and the whole KFS team is compassionate, thoughtful and top notch.

Sahel Anvarinejad

Vanessa dedicates everything to her students. She is very passionate in what she does and I highly recommend her school to everyone that can be apart of it.