Mark Zuckkerberg's wife Priscilla Chan-funded free Silicon Valley School to shut down next year
The Primary School
, a no-cost private institution in the Bay Area co-founded by
Priscilla Chan
, wife of
Facebook
parent Meta CEO
Mark Zuckerberg
, will reportedly cease operations following the 2025-2026 academic year, concluding roughly ten years of service to 543 students. First reported by Bloomberg, the impending closure was disclosed in a statement posted on the school's website recently. In a move aimed at preserving its legacy, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), the billionaire couple's philanthropic arm, has committed $50 million to invest in the communities the school serves -— specifically East Palo Alto, Belle Haven, and the East Bay region near San Francisco -- over the subsequent few years.
What the note on the school's website says
"This was a very difficult decision, and we are committed to ensuring a thoughtful and supportive transition for students and families over the next year," the online statement conveyed. Carson Cook, a spokesperson for The Primary School, stated there would be no further comment beyond the official announcement.
Pediatrician Priscilla Chan, 40, co-established The Primary School in 2016, implementing an "integrated health and education model" designed to support families and children from birth through high school, according to the organization's tax filings. The school's inaugural middle school cohort commenced in 2023.
The most recent tax documentation indicates that over 95% of The Primary School's students in East Palo Alto identify as under-represented minorities. The filing also revealed the nonprofit held assets exceeding $30 million as of the end of June 2023.
Mark Zuckerberg's Education Ventures
The Primary School is among several educational endeavors recently initiated by prominent billionaires.
Elon Musk
, Jeff Bezos, and Larry Ellison have all established schools in recent years. Musk's nonprofit, the Musk Foundation, has contributed $237 million to his technology-focused primary and secondary school in Austin, named Ad Astra, with future aspirations for a university. Ad Astra collaborates with the same entity that assisted Ellison in establishing his Hala Kahiki Montessori school in Lanai, Hawaii, an island largely owned by the Oracle co-founder. Amazon.com founder Bezos has created a network of Montessori-inspired preschools catering to children in underserved communities.
The closure of The Primary School coincides with significant strategic shifts within Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms Inc. as the 40-year-old founder appears to be aligning his business interests more closely with the Trump administration. Recent appointments to Meta's board include longtime Trump allies Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship, and Dina Powell McCormick, who served as Trump's deputy national security adviser during his first term.
Furthermore, Zuckerberg has appointed a Republican strategist as chief of global affairs, eliminated Meta's US fact-checking program, rolled back the company's hate-speech policies, and discontinued key diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at both Meta and CZI. This contrasts with The Primary School's documented commitment to diversity, which included conducting a diversity audit in June 2020 following the Black Lives Matter protests and forming a DEI task force in the fall of that year.
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