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4mo ago

Chan Zuckerberg’s Tuition-Free Primary School to Close After 2025-26 Academic Year

The school, serving low-income families in East Palo Alto and East Bay, will shut down as CZI pledges $50 million for student transitions.

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Kendal Sager, Sager Family Farm's executive director, opens up an observation bee hive for first grade students to peer into at The Primary School on Dec. 9, 2022. The organization received a $15,000 Holiday Fund grant to expand its nature-education programs into East Palo Alto. Photo by Magali Gauthier.
Dr. Priscilla Chan, left, and Mark Zuckerberg arrive at the 11th Breakthrough Prize Ceremony on April 5, 2025, in Los Angeles. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative announced Monday it will close The Primary School, a tuition-free private school serving low-income families in Silicon Valley, at the end of the 2025-26 school year.
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan.

Overview

  • The Primary School, co-founded by Priscilla Chan in 2016, will close at the end of the 2025-26 school year without public disclosure of the reasons.
  • The tuition-free school integrates education, health care, and family support, serving predominantly Latinx, Black, and Pacific Islander families.
  • CZI has committed $50 million over five years to fund 529 education savings plans, transition specialists, and community support programs.
  • Ravenswood City School District will absorb many of the affected students, with plans to expand family engagement and early childhood services.
  • The closure reflects broader shifts in philanthropic priorities, coinciding with Meta's scaling back of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.