Guru Nanak Khalsa School (GNKS)

What it is: Guru Nanak Khalsa School (GNKS) is the Sunday school of Sikh Gurdwara San Jose in California. Its own website calls it a "Program of Sikh Gurdwara San Jose". The gurdwara, in the Evergreen hills, says in its own history that it was founded in 1984.

How it is run: The school's site groups children into Nickay-baal and then Levels 1 to 8. A Sunday runs from noon to 6:30 pm, with diwan and assembly at 2:00, Punjabi, Gurmat and Gurbani classes from 2:25 to 4:10, and keertan and tabla from 4:30. The subjects it lists are Punjabi with the Gurmukhi script, Gurmat, Gurbani, keertan and tabla, and it also names Sikh history. A separate "College Prep" programme is linked from the same page.

Who leads it: SALDEF's undated profile of Pushpinder Kaur says she began teaching Punjabi at the school in 1989 and has run the whole school since 1992. It says she wrote the Stepping Stones PSL (Punjabi as a Second Language) curriculum, now used in schools in the United States, Canada and Australia, and has helped start or run more than 50 schools. SALDEF describes GNKS as a model for curriculum and organisation.

Key moments

• 1984: Sikh Gurdwara San Jose is founded.
• 1989: Pushpinder Kaur begins teaching Punjabi there; in 1992 she takes over the whole school.
• On the expanded gurdwara campus, India Currents counts 12 classrooms for the more than 600 children in the weekly Khalsa school.
• SALDEF's profile puts enrolment above 700 students.

Where it stands: The school is running, and its website announces a school year starting on Sunday 23 August 2026.